Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; January 4, 2020)

There are times when the parent-child relationship witnesses a role reversal, and parents end up learning a lot from their children. Kajol, who plays Savitribai Malusare in the upcoming film, Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, elaborated on the same. Speaking of her children Nysa and Yug, she said, “They teach me so much. The way they look at life, treat people, handle things, it’s so inspiring. They are brutally frank and perceptive about situations and relationships. I would like to believe that I am more mature than them, but sometimes, they make me realise how immature I can be.”

Like every parent, she, too, has disagreements with her kids. Kajol added, “We do have our share of arguments. I once fired Nysa for not sitting at the table with us. She said that she didn’t feel like it. I got angry and screamed, ‘You need to spend more time with us, how can you not feel like it?’ I went on and on. After a few minutes, my son Yug, who was sitting on my lap, told me, ‘Mom, you shouldn’t fire Nysa for telling you the truth’. It hit me hard. He is just eight years old! He added, ‘I lie to you sometimes when you ask me to come and sit on your lap. I don’t want to, but I come anyway because I fear you will feel bad. She is telling you the truth and you shouldn’t fire her for that.’ I didn’t know where to look. I apologised to her later. As parents, we sometimes force our kids to do certain things like meeting relatives and talking to us. How else will they connect to their roots and family? But what Yug said got me thinking. It made me reevaluate myself as a mother and question my ideologies.”

On a lighter note, we also asked Kajol what her young daughter thinks about her Instagram game. In her trademark candid demeanour, the actress confessed, “Nysa thinks that my Instagram posts are weird. She asks me, ‘Who talks like that on Instagram?’ I tell her, I am real at least. I don't even try to use the millennial language and hashtags. That’s really pushing it.”