Actor Supriya Pathak has been on repose for the last couple of days. Her daughter, actor Sanah Kapur, married actor Mayank Pahwa in an intimate ceremony in Mahabaleshwar last week. And while it was a “small event”, Supriya and her husband, actor Pankaj Kapur “were geared up to make it memorable for the guests”. “I don’t think it has sunk in yet,” says Supriya, as she talks about her daughter’s marriage.

The photos from the wedding have been doing the rounds on social media and one featuring Surpiya, Pankaj, and actor-couple Ratna Pathak Shah (Supriya’s sister) and Naseeruddin Shah caught everyone’s attention. In fact, a Twitter user commented, ‘Somebody cast them together in a film please.’ Mention this to her and Supriya quips, “Somebody listen to them (laughs). If someone wants to make a film, we have all the actors in the family. Even my younger son is making his debut.”

Ask her what it’s like when all the veterans are under one roof and she says, “Pagalpan. It’s crazy. We don’t talk about work, as we have a lot to talk about.”

Talking about how the wedding ceremony of her daughter unfolded, she shares, “Sanah looked like a fairy. When she walked down [the aisle] with her father, they played a beautiful song (the Punjabi folk track, Madhaniya). It was an emotional moment. I cried for quite a bit. But then, I was elated when they spoke the vows.”

On a parting note, the Khichdi actor calls actors Manoj and Seema Pahwa (the groom’s parents) “family” and adds, “We have known each other for centuries. Mayank is like my son.”

Tanvi Trivedi (BOMBAY TIMES; May 18, 2018)

Sanah Kapur, daughter of actors Supriya Pathak and Pankaj Kapur, is happy that her parents never planned a filmi launch for her. The actress, who made her debut with half-brother Shahid Kapoor in Shaandaar (2015), will now be seen in Harsh Chhaya’s black comedy Khajoor Pe Atke. In an interview with BT, she talks about the nepotism debate, about carving her own identity and wanting to be unique.

Since you belong to a family of actors, did you ever feel the pressure of audience expectations? Do you feel your parents, Supriya Pathak and Pankaj Kapur’s image as actors will influence the kind of roles that are offered to you?
I only do roles that excite me. I am not thinking of what kind of expectations people have from me because it is futile to think about it so much. I am just trying my best like everyone else in the film industry. I literally grew up on film sets so doing a film was not something new for me. But just like individuals who don’t belong to film families, we too have our struggles, albeit in different ways. I admit that there is a certain vision filmmakers have, when you belong to a family of actors, and they might offer you roles depending on that. My growing up years were spent with friends who grew up to be pilots, engineers or doctors. Also, this nepotism debate does not hold true for me because my parents have never been in the centre of things in Bollywood. They have never picked up the phone and asked someone to give me a role. My parents have always wanted me to have my own struggle and carve an identity on my own. That’s why when people ask me, ‘why did your parents not launch you with a film?’ I honestly answer, neither me nor my parents wanted it that way. In fact, when I was chosen for Shaandaar, Vikas Bahl was not even aware that Shahid is my brother. He auditioned me and informed bhaiyya about it much later, when he came to know of my true identity.

Your film Khajoor Pe Atke is also a comedy like your debut, Shaandaar. What was new about this film and your role?
I play the daughter of Manoj Pahwa, who is the eldest brother of the family. While the whole family is worried about a relative’s health, my character has her own agendas and is trying to connect with a bigger city because she has always lived in a small town. It was a lot of fun playing this character because there was scope to do something different from what I had done before in my debut film.

Talking of Manoj Pahwa, it is believed that you are engaged to Manoj and Seema Pahwa’s son Mayank?
Really? I will keep my mouth shut on this and say ‘No comments’.

How was it working with actor-turned-director Harsh Chhaya, and sharing the set with actors like Manoj, Seema and Vinay Pathak?
When you work with a director who has worked in films as an actor, he understands the requirements of an actor. Harsh made us comfortable and was happy to let us explore a lot more than what we expected. There was a lot of freedom to improvise on scenes and I learnt a lot from all the actors. We were like one big, happy family on the sets.

Most Bollywood actors’ sons and daughters spend a lot of time and effort styling and grooming themselves. They’re all over social media too and are always present at the right place, at the right time. We don’t see you accompanying your parents or brother at public events though. Is it a conscious effort?
Like I said before, I was brought up like a normal child. Our work and family lives are different and though I take my parents’ feedback on many things, I have never been to any parties, especially when I grew up. It is only after Shaandaar, when I got invited, that I started attending parties. Most importantly, I am not a star kid. My parents are actors. I am acting because I am passionate about the craft and so I feel I should just go with the flow. Tomorrow, if I have to style or groom myself for a role, I will be happy doing it, but otherwise I believe in being true to who I am. I am proud of how I am conducting myself and I love myself. I did the role of a fat girl in Shaandaar, who doesn’t find a guy because she’s obese, as it offered me something different. I think it is important to be unique and enjoy what you do, rather than do something that everyone else is doing.

You mentioned before that Mira Kapoor does not like you calling her bhabhi…
(Laughs!) That’s a joke we share. Mira is younger than me and so when I started calling her bhabhi, she felt a bit odd and requested that I not do that.

Hum Log's Badki and House Full's Banta Singh rope in their theatre-possessed kids to pay a tribute to Bhisham Sahni. Chandrima Pal crashes breakfast at the Pahwas to eat-sleep-talk theatre
Chandrima Pal (MID-DAY; August 9, 2015)

It was during one of the shows for critically acclaimed play Mahabhoj based on Mannu Bhandari’s Hindi novel. There were 11 members in the cast, and only seven in the audience. One of the actors cracked a joke about how their fate was worse than that of prostitutes, with more service providers in their midst than clients.

Television and cinema’s favourite character actor, Manoj Pahwa’s deadpan delivery of this rather mature and brutally honest anecdote has his wife clicking her tongue in good-natured disapproval. Their kids in the room — daughter Manukriti and son Mayank — are having a laugh at what is evidently one of the family’s in-jokes. “That’s theatre for you,” says Manukriti, who has for the last one year been giving shape to the Pahwa family theatre group, Kopal. “Because there is no money in what we do, it helps us stay grounded.”

We are in the green-thumbed Versova residence of the family of actors and writers — Seema, a television and theatre veteran who earned her stripes with Delhi’s Sambhav Theatre, later, the seminal Hum Log mega TV series and more recently, Rajat Kapoor’s well-received Ankhon Dekhi; her husband Manoj and their children — grabbing a few precious minutes from their grand rehearsal the day before Bhishmotsav. It’s a tribute to late writer and playwright Bhisham Sahni on his birth centenary that falls on August 8. The production features a stage adaptation of his stories and snatches from his life, with veterans Naseeruddin and Ratna Pathak Shah, Yashpal Sharma and Heeba Shah taking stage, besides the Pahwas, who will perform solo acts.

“I have been an actor for 45 years, but this is the first time I have mustered the courage to direct,” says Seema. The legendary author has been an important part of her education. “In Bombay and the rest of the country, most people aren’t aware of his works, other than Tamas, perhaps. Bhisham’s elder brother and actor Balraj Sahni was always better known. Delhi, where I was born and raised, has some idea of his work. It is unfortunate that a stalwart of Hindi literature is almost forgotten,” says Seema, who speaks of her wish to pique audience curiosity about Sahni’s rich and unexplored body of work. Maybe, she says, after watching Oob, Dholak, Yaadein and Samadhi Bhai Ramsingh, people will be drawn to his repertoire. “The works are as relevant today as they were when he wrote them. The human condition has not changed. Emotions, experiences haven’t either. Perhaps technology has brought in some change.”

The production sees each member of the family take up different roles: Seema as director, Manoj, as financer/producer, Mayank, as creative force and Manukriti as the livewire captain of the ship.

“There are no arguments, but disagreements, yes,” say the siblings, insisting that the dining table is sacred space, where their intense work as actor, director, producer and writer is easily forgotten and differences amicably resolved.

This production is ambitious, admits Seema, who created a stir last year with her take on Sahni’s Saag Meat, a satire on the middle-class. She chose to discuss meat for the privileged vs humble palak for the poor by cooking the dish live on stage everywhere she performed. “With actors like Naseeruddin and Ratna, and picking just five from a vast treasure of stories and plays, staging this was a task in itself,” she says. This is also a test case for Kopal, which intends to get on the road with this production before branching out into documentary filmmaking.

“The idea of Kopal was seeded by my mother once we were back from graduating in dramatics from Baroda,” says Manukriti. Adds her father, “Instead of trying to look for work outside, we thought why not do our own thing?” The arrangement seems to be working fine so far. “Seema is the director, both, at home and on stage,” laughs Manoj. The kids say they are simply driven by the passion for theatre.

“It is an experiment,” says Manoj. “The kids have just graduated and may pursue a Masters in Dramatics. But there can be no better training than a practical one. We consider this the best education we can give our children.” The siblings nod in agreement, getting wide eyed at the mention of the stalwarts who they are observing up close, and simply “listening” to them “express” as opposed to “perform.”

While Seema has been an old hand on stage, Manoj says Naseeruddin Shah nudged him towards theatre. “We were at a party for Being Cyrus (Homi Adajania’s film where they shared screen space). And I was telling him how, despite having made money as a TV and film actor, I was not having fun. He said, ‘get into theatre.’”

Manoj took his advice seriously. “Naseer says film actors are the laziest lot around. Classical musicians start their day with riyaaz. For actors, who take their craft seriously, theatre is the only way to practice their craft.”

The chat winds up with the family huddling at the low dining table one last time before leaving for Dadar, where they begin their mammoth nine-hour drill. Manoj has clearly not shaved in days; Seema smiles nervously while the kids look eager, raring to go. “For the first time in my life, I get to take the final call,” says Seema. “I just hope I am able to do justice to both, the actors and the stories.”