Showing posts with label Rajeshwari Sachdev. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rajeshwari Sachdev. Show all posts
We are not gentle. I give a whack or two sometimes and my child is fine-Rajeshwari Sachdev
8:10 AM
He was dubbed ‘TV’s Aamir Khan’ for his meticulous approach to acting. She won a national award at the age of 22. Television and theatre actors Varun Badola and Rajeshwari Sachdev met on the sets of ‘Antakshari’ in 2004 and married soon after. Parents to a teen son today, the couple also recently played mom-dad on screen in a web series. They spoke to Neha Bhayana about old-school versus new-age parenting and their disciplining style
Neha Bhayana (THE TIMES OF INDIA; January 25, 2026)
Your son Devagya is almost 16 now. Is it getting easier or tougher to parent as he grows up?
Varun: The level of difficulty changes every few months. When we were kids, we were busy giving grief to our parents. So, by the time I realized that my father was right, I had a son who thought that his father was wrong (laughs). But, in all seriousness, you learn as the years pass by. The child starts from where he cannot even communicate what he’s feeling, and reaches a point where he is probably communicating to others and hiding from parents. So, the scenarios keep changing, and not for once can you just let things pass. It doesn’t get easier.
As you mentioned, communication does become a challenge when the child enters the teenage years. Do you have any tricks to get Devagya to listen to you?
Rajeshwari: Make friends with his friends, so you get information from the other side (laughs). Honestly, there is nothing one can do. How much do you let go? How much do you hold on to? Times have changed. Not that we didn’t give our parents a hard time. They must have had their own challenges. But I feel that earlier, children were allowed to make more mistakes. Times were more forgiving. Now, everything you do is under a scanner. You can tell your children that mistakes are what you learn from, but you can’t make some mistakes these days because they might never leave you. Today, when a child tries something, somebody has photographed him, the internet has caught that moment, and it has gone viral. And then it stays with the child forever. So, while I completely understand what teens are going through, I tell my son, please don’t try doing this anywhere because people are not so kind anymore. People don’t have that much patience with allowing kids to grow up.
You can just hope that your child will come and tell you everything that’s happening in his life, which they obviously don’t. They go through their peer pressures and stress of trying to fit in. As parents, we are trying to handle this in the best possible way, like trying to be open about things so that he can come and talk to us.
The way couples are parenting today is very different from the pre-2000s style. What, according to you, are today’s parents doing right and where are they going wrong?
Varun: The situation has changed so much that we can’t say what is right and what is wrong. If there was Instagram and YouTube in our time too, then we could have compared. At that time, the problem was that kids were out playing till 11 pm. Now, kids spend all their time inside and with screens. One big difference is that these days, kids ki kutaai nahi hoti jaise humari hoti thi (kids don’t get beaten up the way we used to).
That’s true. So, what’s your take on this new trend of gentle parenting?
Rajeshwari: Nahi hum gentle wentle nahi hai. Ek aadh to mera haath chal hi jaata hai and baccha theek hi hai mera (We are not gentle. I give a whack or two sometimes and my child is fine). People can hate me for this, but I am not gentle. The fact is you can’t always spare (the rod). Sometimes, kids do such things that make us want to give one tight one.
Varun: Do you know how dogs discipline their kids? They bite their child’s ear. Wolves too. Even animals have their boundaries and ways of keeping their kids in check. Pehle toh maarte hue agar maa ki chudi toot jaati to aur zyada pitai hoti thi ki dekh teri wajah se chudi toot gayi. Ek samay aise aaya ki pitaai isliye hoti thi ki tujhe maara aur tujhe fark hi nahi padta. (If mom’s bangle would break while whacking us, she would hit us more. There was a time when she would beat us because the beatings made no difference to us).
Rajeshwari: We are going to be trolled after this interview! Yes, yes, we know you are not supposed to raise your hand on your children.
Varun: My mother now simply declares that she was a bad mother.
Rajeshwari: (laughs) Oh yeah. My mother-in-law is so different as a grandmom. She has given good whacks to her son, but if I happen to even raise my voice while talking to my son, she does not like it. I am not allowed to scold him. My father is the same. Unka free hand chalta tha hum logo pe (he used to freely whack us), but if he sees us reprimand our son, he will go like “Arre, he is growing, it is ok. He is exploring.”
Varun: We were also exploring but we didn’t get excused.
Do you think ‘hormonal changes’ has become an easy excuse for bad behaviour and attitude of teens? We went through puberty too but didn’t act out so much.
Rajeshwari: No, I don’t think it’s an excuse. Even we had our hormonal changes, but there was a certain speed at which we were growing up and consuming information. Depending on the pace at which you watch what you’re watching, your brain also goes on an overdrive. I’m sure everything around your hormones is also going on an overdrive. So, there must be some truth to it. I’m sure even in our times, our parents did understand that there are hormonal issues. Maybe we took that one step ahead. These kids may be taking four steps ahead. I feel the more we allow our children to be sensitive to things and people around them, things will somehow stay in line. Fortunately, so far, our son is occupied by a lot of things and there’s not much time for tantrums. Let’s see how it goes.
In your latest web series ‘Co-Ed’, the two of you are playing parents of teenage kids. How close is it to your real-life situation?
Varun: It is very close. When you see the show, you realize that there are so many issues that kids face. They are handling relationships, friendships and trying to fit in. They are trying to understand how to grow up. One can relate to it.
Your son is in grade 10. These days, there is a lot of pressure to get perfect scores in boards. How are you helping him cope? Do marks matter to you?
Rajeshwari: The pressure is there no doubt. In our time, no one scored 99%. If someone got first class, halwa was made at home. We considered 65% wow and if someone got distinction, it was like an engineer is born. So, this trend of perfect scores is a bit difficult to handle. But our son is very happy with whatever marks he gets. We don’t stress about grades too much, but the fact is that if you have to cross the sea, then you have to make efforts towards that. One cannot be sitting idle and saying, “Oh, it doesn’t matter at all.” It will matter because the world is moving a certain way. But is that the only way to do it? Is there a way to work around it, so that there is less stress? Maybe the child is good at other things? Yes, we do look at that. If he ever says, “There is an exam tomorrow, so I won’t play today,” I tell him he has to go down and get some fresh air and work his lungs a bit. One has to balance.
Does your son watch your films and serials? Is he a fan or a critic?
Varun: He does discuss our performances and talks to us in his new lingo: “You’re good, dad. I liked it.” But he is neither a fan nor a critic, I would say. He’s still trying to understand how it works. I can tell you that from my own experience. There was this one particular character that my father (journalist and actor Vishwa Mohan Badola) played on stage, where there was a lot of singing involved. My father was a very good singer, but I never gave it a thought. But when he was older, someone else played that character. He was an equally good singer, but the difference that I saw in the performance was huge. That day, I realized that it is not just about the singing, it is about how you approach the character. We tend to take our parents for granted. It was probably late in my teens that I realized that what my father brings to the table is very different.
Out of all the shows that I’ve written (as a dialogue writer), Devagya has seen only one and that’s because Raj (Rajeshwari) was in it. He is 16 now, so we have allowed him to watch some adult content, but not everything. I figured he must have learned more profanities in school than what the shows have anyway.
Having a child can either bring a couple closer or drive them apart if they have very different approaches to parenting. What has your experience been like?
Rajeshwari: One basic rule in the house (if my son reads this, he will say, “Okay, now I understand”) is that we communicate and arrive at decisions together. It is never just ‘my decision’ or ‘his decision’. We have mutual respect. If at all, we have different opinions we come to a point where we say, let’s do this and see.
The rise of instant delivery apps has fuelled a habit of instant gratification among kids, making life harder for parents. How do you deal with your child’s demands?
Rajeshwari: Honestly, we can’t change things much. We used to get money for ice-cream only on the last day of exams. We can’t do this. There are ads every second tempting our kids. Everything is so accessible. But if my son asks for something big, he has to wait for it. There has to be an occasion or a reason. Of course, sometimes we have to agree, but sometimes I tell him that I don’t want to spend money on this at this point of time. Then, he has to wait six months or so to get it. I have realized the importance of making your child wait or they will never have patience for other things in life. You never know whether they will get everything that they desire instantly, so they should learn to be patient.
My father had this interesting practice. If we were out and we asked him to buy us something, he would say, “You like it...wonderful. But let’s go home and after two days if you still want it, then we will go to buy it. But if the desire dies down and you are not thinking about it, we will not buy it.” I learnt the lesson and it stands true for me even today. Sometimes, one wants to just hit the like button and buy something, but if you wait for a couple of days, you realize you don’t really need it. I try to do the same with my son. Whether I succeed or not, only time will tell.
We can get more creative than just use abusive language on OTT shows-Rajeshwari Sachdev
8:04 AM
Rajeshwari Sachdev, who was in Lucknow recently, spoke about why she prefers OTT projects over TV and how the medium can do without unnecessary cuss words
Akash Wadhwa (BOMBAY TIMES; June 28, 2023)
Travelling to her favourite city Lucknow, actress and singer Rajeshwari Sachdev made sure to take some time out for Ganjing. Rajeshwari who was travelling with hubby Varun Badola, went to eat her favourite basket chaat in Hazratganj. The couple also did some chikan shopping in Janpath. "This is something which is like mandatory for us to do whenever we are in Lucknow," shared the Shaadi Mubarak actress.
Rajeshwari, who has been missing from the small screen for quite some time, shared what is keeping her away from the medium, the trend on TV and her stint on OTT. Excerpts...
On being away from television for long
Television is a big commitment so it better be very good so that you stay interested in doing the show for so long. Till now, I have always been offered good roles on TV but how I look at it is that it should be something different from what I have already done in the past. It need not be the main lead part as it is generally very cliched but for the other roles that I am offered, I want them to have layers. Also, I am busy with regional cinema, work on OTT and I am very active on the theatre front. I will not say that I don't need money, but I do not run after it. So whatever little I do on TV I charge a handsome amount.
'Abusive language has to be used very wisely'
Telling us why she prefers OTT to TV shows, she says, "I love working on the web as it is less time-consuming. A web show is like shooting two films together. The interest stays alive while working on web shows. But slowly the medium is becoming a bit scary. I am not for censorship on OTT but there needs to be some sort of self-censorship. The kind of language, the kind of scenes we have on the platform these days, jo pehle ikka-dukka hua karti thi being the need of the script, now they are springing up everywhere. Abusive language has to be used very wisely. Now it is being used to sensationalize the project. I am sure there will be saturation of this trend too. We can get more creative than abusive language and intimate scenes on OTT. But yes it is a great place to be as so many new concepts are emerging on it."
On TV trends in India
Television is going to stay. Till the time women are there and they will have time to watch TV, television will continue to work. Family viewing is still possible on television only. Content on this medium is mostly governed by trends of who is watching what. Whenever my mother-in-law is there at my place, we do watch Anupamaa and Ghum Hai Kisi Ke Pyaar Mein. That's the only time I watch Indian television.
I found an angel in Akshay Kumar-Nupur Alankar
8:30 AM
Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; June 18, 2020)
Like most of us, actress Nupur Alankar had saved penny by penny, over the years, thinking that it would help her tide through rainy days. However, today, even with a healthy ‘bank balance’, she is grappling with acute financial distress. So much so, she can’t afford medical intervention for her mother, who is suffering from multiple health complications, including Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD), rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes and pulmonary hypertension.
Nupur’s life turned upside down following the Punjab & Maharashtra Co-Operative (PMC) Bank collapse last year. Her family’s accounts, including her own, were frozen. To make ends meet, she sold off her jewellery and also borrowed money from her friends and relatives. She tells BT, “My mother had a mild heart attack in 2018. She couldn’t take the PMC collapse and suffered three more attacks on October 8, 13 and December 8, last year. However, she refused to be hospitalised, fearing that it would be a costly affair. I started practising alternative therapies as a secondary source of income, but it stopped due to the Coronavirus pandemic. By then, we had exhausted all our savings. My husband (Alankar Srivastava) and I had no choice but to rent out our flat for extra money and shift with our respective parents. However, the lockdown worsened my financial woes as my tenant vacated the flat. I had to borrow money to repay her down payment.”
Friends and members from the fraternity did help, but eventually, she had to explore other options. She shares, “Help poured in from many friends, but the medical and other expenses kept rising. Then came a point where I started approaching various NGOs for free medicines. Soon, I realised that things had further spiralled out of control. That’s when I posted the details regarding my mother’s health complications on a crowdfunding platform. I was apprehensive initially, but my friend, actress Rajeshwari Sachdev, convinced me to do it for the sake of my mother. I have no shame in asking people for money, it’s for my mother’s treatment. I am especially grateful to Akshay Kumar, Renuka Shahane, Ayub Khan, Hetal Parmar, Darshan Jariwala, Manoj Joshi and CINTAA for helping me.”
However, the struggle is not over yet. Nupur says, “My mother can’t be hospitalised because of her flailing health, which makes her more susceptible to the novel Coronavirus. For now, we will have to make do with whatever medical aid we can arrange for her at home.”
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Kavita Awaasthi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; June 18, 2020)
On June 9, actor Renuka Shahane had, in a Facebook post, sought financial help for her friend, actor Nupur Alankar. A few days later, they found an “angel” in actor Akshay Kumar.
“An angel from our film industry has helped Nupur…At a time when there is this raging debate about people not being there for each other, this angel has proved that there are gems like him who will stand by someone in need…@akshaykumar ji A man with a heart of pure, unadulterated gold,” Shahane tweeted.
Alankar was in need of ₹6,00,000 for her mum’s treatment, and her social media appeal caught Shahane’s attention. “I feel Akshay sir is bhagwan ka roop,” Alankar continues, “He doesn’t know me, yet he came to my aid. I don’t have words to express how grateful I am. He didn’t ask for any papers or test reports; he transferred more than what I needed to my mother’s account. I can never thank him enough.”
Antakshari hosts team up for a virtual revival of the much-loved '90s musical game show
8:07 AM
Brush up on those long-forgotten earworms as Antakshari hosts team up for a virtual revival of the much-loved '90s musical game show
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; April 24, 2020)
Ask any '90s kid and s/he will fondly tell you how Friday evenings were synonymous with Antakshari, the popular game show that aired on Zee TV. It's time to take a walk down memory lane as the much-loved show's hosts — Pallavi Joshi, Renuka Shahane, Durga Jasraj and Rajeshwari Sachdev — have joined forces to revive its magic in the virtual world.
As part of The Future of Life Festival on April 30, the four anchors will come together to discuss how creator Gajendra Singh brought a favourite Indian pastime to the small screen, and recount anecdotes about sharing the stage with longtime host Annu Kapoor. Of course, a chat about the game show is incomplete without a round of antakshari — the foursome will belt out their favourite numbers as they play the game online.
Joshi, who was associated with the series for four years, is thrilled about bringing back '90s nostalgia. "For Renuka, Durga, Rajeshwari and me, acting was the primary profession. Yet, it was music and our wacky sense of humour that brought us together and made us lifelong friends. I am eagerly looking forward to this session with my friends," she enthuses.
(From left) Joshi, Shahane, Sachdeva and Jasraj. Pic/Facebook
Priyanka Chopra’s third Marathi film titled Firebrand; to be directed by Aruna Raje
7:58 AM
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; January 8, 2018)
Priyanka Chopra’s fortnight-long holiday in India last month saw her do it all — from delivering a spectacular act at an awards gala to attending a special UNICEF conference in Delhi to enjoying some family time. Now, we’ve learnt that the actor also took some time out during her recent visit to zero in on her next production.
After producing the National Award-winning Marathi film Ventilator in 2016 followed by Kay Re Rascala (2017), Chopra has greenlit another Marathi project — Firebrand. The drama will be helmed by Aruna Raje, who has previously directed socially relevant films like Rihaee (1988) and Gehrayee (1980), besides bagging National Awards for her documentaries.
A source close to the actor tells mid-day, “Priyanka was sold on the story when she first read it, few months ago. During her visit last month, she worked with Aruna on the final draft of the script, giving her inputs wherever necessary.”
The drama that goes on floors today features seasoned actors like Usha Jadhav, Girish Kulkarni, Sachin Khedekar and Rajeshwari Sachdev. While Jadhav plays a successful lawyer, Kulkarni essays the role of her architect husband. Khedekar and Sachdev play another couple in the film that revolves around contemporary relationships.
Raje says, “I’m glad that Priyanka and Madhu Chopra are focussing on regional cinema.” Madhu Chopra says that after Ventilator, the production house was keen on producing another film that was rich in human emotions. “The acceptance of Ventilator reinstated my faith in backing scripts that have high emotional values and are entertaining.”
Mumbai is haunting & inspiring at the same time-Ayushmann Khurrana
7:56 AM
Ayushmann Khurrana talks about his equation with the city
Harshada Rege (DNA; August 3, 2016)
Ayushmann Khurrana tells us about first coming to
Mumbai in 2002, his first year in college, as part of a theatre group,
participating in IIT Mumbai’s Mood Indigo. He remembers being excited to
be here that first time, having always wanted to be an actor. He also
talks about comparisons with hometown Chandigarh, the friends he made
here, his fav places, what needs to change in Mumbai and more...
Chandigarh vs Mumbai
“I must say that I discovered that there’s more to Mumbai than just Bollywood. That was also the first time I saw a beach (Juhu beach). I was overwhelmed when I saw the ocean for the first time. The one thing that I noticed was that it had so many cultures. Chandigarh is just Punjab and nothing else. I moved to Mumbai in 2007. Once I moved here, the one thing I realised is that the people in Mumbai are very non-judgmental. In the north, there’s a lot of show-off... People judge you by which car you use, what brand you are wearing. In Mumbai it doesn’t matter whether you are using public transport or you are driving in luxury cars. People here will judge you for the person you are, tum jo kaam karte ho usse log tumhe pehchante hain...that’s such a great quality that the city has"
Buddy baatein
“When I first came here, I stayed illegally in a hostel. A friend of mine was studying to be a doctor, he was staying in a hostel so I lived with him for a month. Rajeshwari and Varun Badola supported me for a month. I am glad that I had good friends in the city. Now I have many friends, not just from the industry, but from different walks of life. It’s great to have friends who are from outside the industry, their perspective of life is very different and very real.”
Only in Mumbai
“I am always grateful to be from Chandigarh because my family is there, and it’s greener. It’s healthier to live there. Apart from that, this is now home. Mumbai depicts life in its entirety. This is the only place — probably in the world — where you will see slums right next to a five-star hotel...but that’s life! You will never see that in Delhi or Chandigarh. It makes you see life in a very pragmatic way because there’s no difference between people. People from different strata of society travel together in the trains... that happens only in Mumbai.”
The city’s spirit
“Initially, when I was new to the city, I used to travel by autos. I used to talk to auto drivers often and everyone had a story to tell. Everyone in Mumbai has a story to tell. And I am a good listener. Rather than speaking, I listen a lot. I miss that today. In my initial days of struggle, I used to meet people while travelling or sitting at a place or chatting to the autowallah or having a chai and talking with the chaiwallah or even talking to the watchman of the building... Diversity is the spirit of the city. Acceptance is the spirit of the city. People are accepting and adjusting. We may complain that the roads are dirty, the city is unclean, which is true, but it is accepting of everyone. It is a massively populated city, we are adjusting to various things like pollution and traffic, and yet we are happy.”
My fav places
“Among the places that I love are Carter Road, Marine Drive and the Worli Seaface. I visit these places once in a while. I park my car and just sit there for an hour or two thinking about life. I often compare Mumbai to the vastness of the ocean. It’s haunting and inspiring at the same time. When I saw the ocean for the first time in 2002, I was overwhelmed.”
What we need to change
“The one thing that we need to change is the standard of cleanliness. After coming to the city, I realised for the first time that people take off their shoes when they enter their houses. That never happened in Chandigarh. We just enter with our shoes. Even in the gym, here you have to carry a different set of shoes. They won’t allow you to wear the shoes that you have walked in with. That only happens in Mumbai because it’s so dirty outside. We should realise that we take so much pains to keep our houses clean, it’s our responsibility to also keep the surroundings clean. We don’t allow dirty shoes in the house because we want to keep our house spick-and-span. I think we should treat the city as our home and keep it as spick-and-span.”
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