It’s a month of celebrations for Bipasha Basu. The actress celebrated Baisakhi yesterday (her husband, actor Karan Singh Grover is Punjabi) and today she is all set to celebrate Poila Boishakh (Bengali New Year). The period also marks a personal milestone — it’s the time when Karan proposed to her for marriage a decade ago. “It’s always a special month for us, as it is also associated with our wedding anniversary (April 30), It’s a joyous time for us as a family,” she tells us.

The Raaz actress goes on to add, “The first thing that comes to my mind is that Karan proposed to me in January 2016, and we decided we would get married later in the year, but a friend told him, ‘You are going to wait that much? She’s a catch, she’s going to run away.’ So, he went to my mother and asked for the first available date. And one could only marry post the Bengali New Year. That’s how we got married in the peak of summer on April 30. Our life stories are quite funny.”

For Bipasha, the Bengali New Year begins and ends at the dining table — everything else is secondary. “I’m a very simple Bengali girl who loves a lot of food and mishti (sweets). I love mishti so much that I gave my daughter the nickname, Mishti. It’s only my mother who calls her that, however, she prefers to be called Devi, she’s quite a goddess in her own way. I’m such a Bengali at heart, I love mishti so much. We, Bengalis, only celebrate with food. That’s our love language.”

She adds, “Poila Boishakh is followed by Baishakhi, so our families always meet and eat together. If you are from a Bengali household, you would know how we love to get together, chat and eat. Everyone talks at the same time, and everyone understands everything (laughs).”

She keeps things simple and doesn’t fuss much about dressing-up too much for such occasions. “I am quite a lazy girl in my real space, but I love to be in comfortable clothes. I think the maximum effort of dressing up is for my work. In my house, my husband loves to dress up, my daughter loves to dress up, but I am the person who doesn’t like to dress up much,” she says.

There’s no ‘New Year, New Me’ mantra for Bipasha. “I’m pretty happy with all the decisions that I make in life. I’m quite a deep thinker and I don’t make rash decisions ever. I’m a Capricorn, I’m a goat — slow and steady, hardworking, and we plan a lot. Everything in my life is organized, so there’s nothing that I can really think of leaving behind now,” she concludes.

Bipasha Basu, once a fixture on the silver screen, has spent the past few years in the comforting shadows of a more personal spotlight — motherhood. While many actors often stay in the public eye through interviews and podcasts, even without current work, the Raaz actress prefers to keep her voice measured and meaningful.

"I think I should do interviews when I have content to talk about. I'm very clear about that. I don't want to make noise just like that. It's a simple life right now," she tells us.

Bipasha's last full-fledged cinematic outing was in 2015’s Alone, and since then she has kept a deliberate low profile.

Talking about her much-deserving sabbatical, she says, "I have worked from the age of 15, so I needed a break. When I got married, I definitely consciously stepped back. I wanted to enjoy the perks of all that I had worked hard for. Then the three years went by so fast - being in love and settling down, it was great. I don't regret any of it. Then the decision of wanting to become a mother - that was a little difficult on me. I had to take some strong decisions, and it took me some time to do that. I had a baby and now I don't want to miss out on any time with my baby. Itni mehnat se bacha bada kiya hai. It's as simple as that. And I'm grateful that I can do that. I worked so hard that today I can take that decision of stepping back and be with my baby and it's going to be fine."

​Despite the absence from the screen, the passion never dimmed. Ask her if she misses facing the camera, and she doesn’t skip a beat: "I do miss it. I love acting. I used to do it 365 days a year. I've done it for 20 years. So, I do miss it. And it's (return to acting) going to happen soon. I'm not worried about that because now it's looking good for women. There are more opportunities, there are more platforms. There are newer ways the world is looking at women, it's not stereotypical. I have tried to always do something different, right from the time I began, I went against the tide always. And it's always worked for me. So, I do believe that you have to live your life. The work and your life have to kind of be in balance. Mine is not right now. It's my baby, my baby, my baby. But it is going to come. I think it is the right time. I will do it."

​While she's open to diving back into the professional pool, Bipasha is in no rush to sign on the dotted line. She has "no idea" what she is looking for. "I have no idea. I'm all open. I've always been a very open person. So just bring it on. When I'm ready, bring it on. And I will choose and do so. I feel like if I have to commit, then will I have time, otherwise I'm going to keep pushing this. Acting is something that I love, so. And I need my child to see who I am, apart from being a mum. Now she's becoming more intelligent and sharper. She always is curious - 'Why are people taking Mama's pictures at airports?'. She frowns. She doesn't understand it, right now. But I want to make her proud and I want to do some substantial work which will make her proud as she's growing up," she admits.

As for her time at home, Bipasha, who recently walked as a showstopper for Max's vibrant Lilo & Stitch collection, has found joy in the simplest of roles—being her daughter’s full-time fashion guide. Devi, who is three, is a "fashionista"

Bipasha reveals. "My baby is a fashionista. And I am her stylist. She likes to dress up, very unlike me. I don't like to dress up in my normal time. She's taken after the father (actor, Karan Singh Grover). She likes to dress up every day. She likes to go and see herself as soon as she gets ready. There are times when she's telling me, ‘Mama, you didn't put lipstick’, to which I reply, ‘Just keep quiet. I'm going to go out without lipstick. I'm not going to get ready’. That little one is becoming a fashionista because the stylist is excellent. I take all the credit. Everyone asked me, how does she tie her hair so much? She's so small, but she loves it. And she sits very patiently. And five minutes, her hairstyles are done," she concludes.​

Mum to Devi, who will turn two in November, actor Bipasha Basu says being a mother is the “best job ever” and breastfeeding, “the most amazing feeling”. For World Breastfeeding Week, talking to us about her breastfeeding journey, Basu says, “It builds a beautiful bond between mother and child, since at the time of feeding, you are one unit. My breast milk started immediately, so Devi was given the breast right after she was born, while the operation continued.”

Marvelling at infants’ ability to start suckling right after birth, Basu credits her doula, Sanam, for teaching her the right way to breastfeed, adding that she was very emotional when she couldn’t breastfeed Devi for the first three months due to holes in her daughter’s heart.

“We had to wait till the third month and had her procedure. Post-op, she immediately started taking on to the breast so strongly. It was magical. I had decided to breastfeed her for a year but I continued for 18 months. It was easy to wean her off as she’s a good kid,” says Basu, adding that she went through an emotional roller-coaster while weaning Devi off.

A staunch campaigner for breastfeeding, the actor hopes that the process can be normalized and made a more common part of life for mums.

“It has to happen because when you give birth to a baby, you need to give them nutrition at the right time. And that should not stop your life. Many women have to work, go out and do things and that doesn’t mean your child cannot not be directly breastfed,” says the 45-year-old, adding that while expressing is an alternative, it can be “tedious”.

The actor adds, “The right nutrition is best when you give direct feed. It is the most normal thing in the world to have babies and to feed them. It should not be seen as offensive anywhere. In fact, we need provisions in place for women to make sure there’s enough space in any environment to feed a baby. I have not faced any stigma as I haven’t breastfed in public, but sadly in our country, we are still not that evolved that we would be okay with a woman breastfeeding in open.”

In a recent Instagram live session with Neha Dhupia, Bipasha Basu opened up about her daughter Devi, whom she welcomed in November last year, being born with two holes in her heart. The actress broke down as she talked about her li’l girl having to undergo open heart surgery when she was three months old.

“I got to know on the third day of me having a baby that she is born with two holes in her heart. You feel so sad, burdened and conflicted because how can you put such a small child through an open heart surgery,” Bipasha said, adding, “But if you love your child, you must do it however difficult (it can be). It’s for the future of your child.”

Talking about their journey as parents, Bipasha said, “The last three months were fine, but the first five months were very difficult for us. But Devi has been fabulous from day one. She is a fighter.” The actress also shared that Devi is doing well now. She added, “It is the toughest thing to have your little child and have these 10 doctors explain to you what all can happen. Devi had a very successful operation, but those six hours when she was in the OT (operation theatre), my life felt like it had stopped.”

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Actor Bipasha Basu has revealed that her daughter, Devi Basu Singh Grover, was born with ventricular septal defect (VSD) in November last year. During an Instagram live session with actor Neha Dhupia, an emotional Basu revealed how she and her husband, actor Karan Singh Grover, navigated through the difficult times.

“On the third day [after delivery], we found out that Devi was born with two holes in her heart,” said the 44-year-old.

She added, “We didn’t even know what VSD was. It was a crazy period. We wanted to celebrate the birth of our baby, but Karan and I were numb. She had an open-heart surgery when she was three months old and those six hours [when she was in the operation theatre] were the toughest for us, I felt my life would end. But Devi has been fabulous since day one. She is so strong. She gives us a lot of strength.”