Actor Kajol has been part of the entertainment industry for 34 years now. Naturally, she has seen the ups and the downs, and is used to the constant scrutiny that comes with the fame that being an actor one gets. However, her children are still new to this. While her song Yug (14) is too young to be in the media spotlight, daughter Nysa (22) has faced more than her fair share of online trolling over the years. In a candid chat with HT, Kajol addresses these nasty comments, and tells us how she enables Nysa to deal with it. (Also read: Nysa Devgan has the funniest take on Kajol’s fierce look in new Maa song)
Kajol on being a protective mother
Kajol is promoting her new film, Maa, which releases later this month. The film stars Kajol as a mother out to save her daughter from the forces of darkness. The actor admits she is a protective mother. “I used to be an Eela (a controlling parent she played in Helicopter Eela), but not anymore; I am much calmer and cooler. But yes, I am protective,” she says.
So, we ask her how she deals with the hate her children, particularly daughter Nysa, get online. ‘Being a protective parent, how do you restrain yourself from punching someone writing mean things about your child?’ we ask, tongue firmly in cheek. Kajol laughs and jokes, “Well, I would say don’t come in front of my car, otherwise I’ll drive over you.”
‘You have to concentrate on the good’
But then the actor turns serious and responds, “I keep telling them, ‘It’s just 1% or 0.1% of people who are talking like that’. I don’t even know if they are even real, to be honest. You don’t know how much of it is real.”
She shares the advice that she gives Nysa while dealing with online feedback. “You have to concentrate on the good. If you have a thousand comments, you will have 999 saying ‘she is amazing’, ‘she is beautiful’. So much love they get, so many blessings they get. Concentrate on that and don’t think too much about all these people. That’s all you can do,” says Kajol.
Nysa is Kajol’s daughter with her husband and fellow actor Ajay Devgn. Born in 2003, Nysa is currently studying overseas. In the past, both Kajol and Ajay have stated that she has no interest in joining the film industry. On the work front, Kajol will be next seen in Maa. Directed by Vishal Furia, the film also stars Ronit Roy and Indraneil Sengupta. It will be released in theatres on June 27.
