Kajol on working with her husband and her absence from Bollywood
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 26, 2017)

Two years after Dilwale, you’ve surprised many by returning to the screen with a Tamil film.
I wasn’t planning on doing a Tamil film. In fact, after I heard the script of VIP 2, I pointed out to the makers that it was in a language I wasn’t familiar with. They reasoned that 50 per cent of the dialogues are in English and for the rest, it didn’t matter if I spoke Chinese. But on the first day, they gave me three pages in Tamil and insisted, “Let’s try, let’s try.” I’m proud to say that by the third day, I was speaking my lines in Tamil and on the last day, delivered an entire page of dialogue in one shot with only my name written in English. I’ve to thank my co-star Dhanush and director Soundarya (Rajnikanth), who worked with and around me to ensure my transition was seamless.

You did Rajiv Menon’s Tamil film Minsara Kanavu back in 1997…
(Interrupts) Yes, and every night I’d sit up for two hours memorising my lines. It was like going back to school and prepping for my board exams. After that no matter how much anybody paid me, I wouldn’t take on the stress of doing a film in a language other than Hindi.

What’s keeping you from Hindi films?
My home production should roll in September. I’m really happy with the script. Good scripts in any language are hard to come by. I’ve been picky since the beginning and have only done films that interested me. It has worked for me all my life and I don’t feel the need to change it.

Is this film an adaptation of Anand Gandhi’s Gujarati play Beta Kaagdo?
Anand has scripted it but I wouldn’t know if it is an adaptation of a Gujarati play. It’s really funny. I loved it and pounced on it. We are also producing a Marathi film which should roll soon. Another Marathi film is already on the floors. Ajay (husband Ajay Devgn) and I don’t stretch ourselves, but things are happening, slowly and steadily.

Ajay Devgn is so quiet, he doesn’t interact much with the press…
(Laughs) He is like that personally too.

… But whenever we ask him about you or your kids, Nysa and Yug, his face lights up.
(Laughs again) Thank God. It should, na?

Tell us about the marriage that is the envy of B-town...
We have been married for 18 years. You need to work on relationships every day. Both Ajay and I realise that. Both of us want this relationship enough to want to make it last.

Nysa was with Ajay at the London Indian Film Festival for the premiere of Parched. Does she intend to follow in your footsteps?
She’s too young and studying at the moment. We’ll think about this later.

Your last film, Dilwale, didn’t do well. Were you disappointed?
I’m proud of all my work, no regrets. I had a great time making Dilwale.

Any plans of collaborating with Shah Rukh Khan again?
Shah Rukh and I come together once in six-seven years. That’s what we’ve been doing for 25 years so there’s another three-four years to go for our next film.

Do you want to do more women centric films?
I want to do good films, films I’d want to watch. Maybe that makes me frivolous, not serious enough to be a great actress, but I don’t want to watch films that don’t leave me with a good feeling. Performances are fine, but I need to want to wake up in the morning and go to work. This is a fantastic time for all creative people in the industry because finally they have a chance of putting their thoughts, ideas and performances on a stage in front of an evolved audience. But eventually, it’s for the actor to decide what they are attracted to. It’s a personal choice. I’ve had a wonderful time and plan to keep on having a wonderful time. The day it’s no longer wonderful, I will stop acting.

Is Ajay Devgn planning to direct you again after U Me Aur Hum?
I hope so. I have always said that he is one of the most fab directors I have ever worked with.

Are you open to TV and the digital platform?
I have no issues with TV if they give me something mind-blowing. My script is my hero, that has been an unbreakable rule.

You were offered one such television show by Rensil DSilva?
I had a chat with Rensil but I don’t think it worked out.

Your friendship with Karan snapped during the Shivaay promotions. What went wrong there?
Since you are expecting an answer, I am going to give you one. This is not the time or place to clarify. I would prefer not to speak about it.