Soha Ali Khan is looking forward to returning to acting, her fi rst book and her debut production
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 9, 2017)

It’s been five weeks since Soha Ali Khan and Kunal Kemmu became the proud parents of daughter, Inaaya Naumi Kemmu, and the new mamma admits the baby has her firmly wrapped around her little finger. “There’s no question of dividing my time because Inaaya takes up all my time,” Soha laughs, admitting that even now parenting is unchartered territory for her. “Since I was the youngest in my family, I never had to change a diaper before. My sister, Saba, helped look after me, my brother, Saif, probably helped look after Saba, I didn’t have to look after anyone. Now, suddenly, I have a baby who is dependent on me for food and comfort. She can’t even scratch herself and I feel so responsible for this life!” She admits that it’ll be a while before she wrests control of her life but right now Inaaya decides everything depending on whether she’s hungry, sleepy or playful.

Dad Kunal has just notched up a hit with Golmaal Again and Soha enjoyed the film. “I’m not just saying this because I’m married to him but Kunal stood out in the film though everybody was so good. I’m looking forward to more Golmaal,” she asserts.

Her nephew, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor’s son Taimur, is a darling with the paparazzi at 11 months and has unofficial accounts on social media with his pictures. Soha points out that they are also getting used to the media following them around, but believes that it isn’t necessary, particularly for a child, to be clicked every day. “I’m sure after a point people are disinterested. Taimur is a child and it’s not like he’s wearing designer clothes every day that he has to be clicked. As an actor you understand that this is a part of your job, but your kids are entitled to some privacy.” she adds.

Meanwhile, she is gearing up to return to acting with Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3. “I enjoyed working with Tigmanshu (Dhulia) sir in Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns, he’s a brilliant writer- director. I was worried about shooting Part 3 when heavily pregnant but the film got pushed and by December I’m hoping to be more in control,” she smiles.

Simultaneously, Kunal and she are prepping for their first production, a biopic on lawyer Ram Jethmalani. “We are excited to be co-producing the film with Ronnie Screwvala. The script is underway, we should lock a director soon,” she says excitedly.

Soha’s also written a book, ‘The Perils Of Being Moderately Famous by Soha Ali Khan’, which is a collection of personal essays through which she recounts with self-deprecating, tongue-in-cheek humour what it was like grow up in one of India’s most illustrious families. It has never-published photos from the family archives and takes us through her growing up years as a modern-day princess, her days at Balliol College, her life as a celebrity in times of social media culture and finding love in the most unlikely of places. It’s helped her explore her maternal lineage that dates back to Nobel Laurette Rabindranath Tagore, discover that her family has a history of love marriage, learn about her father’s cricketing genius and how he came to terms with the accident that cost him an eye.

“I’ve written non-fiction articles for different papers and penned a chapter in my father’s book, Pataudi: Nawab of Cricket. A book seemed a daunting task but Penguin India was looking for writers and I wrote an introduction, then went from chapter to chapter,”she informs.

The actress admits that people are often curious about her family, stopping her to say that they’re a fan of her parents, brother Saif and now Taimur too. “I’ve always laughed over the fact that while not non famous, I’m not as famous as the others. The book is from the perspective of someone who’s always been in the middle and the few I’ve shared the manuscript have enjoyed it. I’ll certainly write more, maybe I can even get into the fiction space,” she muses.