On Mother’s Day, new mom Shilpa Shetty Kundra talks exclusively to us
Juhi Chakraborty (HINDUSTAN TIMES; May 10, 2020)

For actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra, this Mother’s Day is particularly momentous. After all, it will be her first celebration with daughter, Samisha, who was born on February 15 via surrogacy. Her son Viaan turns eight this year, and the actor says she has been celebrating being a mum everyday for eight years.

“You can’t be taught being a mother. It’s something I’ve begun to understand. You do things to the best of your knowledge, sensibility and ability,” she says.

While news of Samisha’s arrival was a surprise for many, Shetty calls it the best time ever. “I took 15 days off before Samisha came into the world. And fortunately for me, I got all this time to spend with her, given the lockdown. For the last few months I’ve been doing everything; from giving her massages to feeding her,” shares the actor, adding it was destiny, her son’s prayers and his desire for a baby sister that brought Samisha to their lives.

“A lot of Viaan’s friends have siblings and he always missed that. He’d ask both Raj (Kundra, husband) and me ‘Why don’t I have a sibling?’ We visit Shirdi once every year and for the past three years, he’d pray for a sister. When we got the news that we were blessed with a girl, it felt surreal,” she gushes.

Not just Viaan, Shetty, too, always wanted a second child and, more specifically, a daughter. And while the actor and her husband both grew up with sisters for siblings, the actor says even she was hoping to have a daughter. “We did try for a long time. But I had a lot of complications. I also did try for adoption but something went wrong. Surrogacy was an option which I chose and it was actually the last option. We finally had Samisha, which is a blessing,” says the 44-year-old, adding, “Having a daughter is the best thing on the planet, really. I don’t expect that my son would call me 20 years down the line every day, but I know that my daughter will,” Shetty concludes.

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; February 22, 2020)

Actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra took to social media yesterday to announce the arrival of her baby girl. The actress and husband Raj Kundra, who are parents to eight-year-old Viaan, opted for surrogacy this time around. While their daughter, Samisha Shetty Kundra, was born on February 15, the couple chose the occasion of Mahashivratri to reveal the news to the world.

Shilpa shared a picture of the baby holding her father’s finger, and wrote, “Our prayers have been answered with a miracle. With gratitude in our hearts, we are thrilled to announce the arrival of our little angel Samisha Shetty Kundra. Junior SSK in the house. ‘Sa’ in Sanskrit is 'to have' and ‘Misha’ in Russian stands for 'someone like God'. You personify this name, our Goddess Laxmi and complete our family/”

Shilpa, who took an 11-year break from films, will return to the big screen with Sabbir Khan’s Nikamma. She will also be seen in Priyadarshan’s Hungama 2, which was announced recently. During her break from films, she set up her business and appeared as a judge on TV reality shows.

When we reached out to Shilpa, who has enthusiastically spent days creating a room for her newborn, she told us, “Becoming a parent is a blessing, and to a girl is an even bigger blessing. Raj is a fabulous father, and together, we are hands-on parents. We were completely ready for this. The fact that it happened only means that Samisha was meant to come to us.”

And how has her first-born, Viaan, taken the news of his baby sister’s arrival? Shilpa says, “It’s his prayer that has manifested. For the last three years, he has gone to Shirdi with me and only asked for one thing from Sai Baba — a baby sister. I’m so emotional and I can’t believe it has actually happened.”
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Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 22, 2020)

On Friday, Shilpa Shetty sprang a surprise on her Instagram followers by announcing the birth of the “little angel” Samisha. The “junior SSK in the house”, as described by the actress, is her second child with Raj Kundra and was born on February 15.

Speaking to Mirror, Shilpa informed that she and Raj, who got married in 2009 and welcomed son Viaan-Raj Kundra in 2012, were prepared well in advance. “We had been trying for second child for five years. I had signed Nikamma and had committed my dates to Hungama 2 when I got the news that in February, we were going to be parents again. We cleared our work schedules for the whole month,” she shares.

Shilpa goes on to add that thanks to her “fabulous team and manager” everything was planned to the final detail. “They helped me complete most of my work before I took the long break in February,” says the actress, who reportedly welcomed the child through surrogacy.

When quizzed about the name of her daughter, Shilpa informs, “I came up with it when I was 21. I had always prayed for a daughter.” In her Insta post, she explains that the name is made up of the Sanskrit word ‘Sa’, which means ‘to have’, and ‘Misha’, which is Russian for ‘someone like God’. “You personify this name - our Goddess Laxmi, and complete our family,” she wrote.

Excerpts from Sridevi's biography, authorised by husband Boney Kapoor, reveal how she negotiated her way to become the only actress to bag a double role in a Big B film
MID-DAY (December 15, 2019)

The media now anointed her with another sobriquet. Female Bachchan. The label soon acquired a whole new meaning when Sridevi now decided to stop working with Amitabh. Filmfare showcased the actress on its November cover with the tag line—'Out of Reach?' In the same interview, Sridevi gave her reason why: 'I never said I won't work with Amit-ji. But then what's there for any artiste to do in a film starring him? He does everything himself.' But when producer Manoj Desai and director Mukul Anand conceived a magnum opus set in Afghanistan (Khuda Gawah), it begged the magnificence of Sridevi. Bachchan himself was in a fix on how to get the actress onboard, when an opportunity presented itself.

Those days it was customary for filmmakers to invite the industry and media and share rushes of their upcoming ventures. Boney Kapoor and Satish Kaushik held such an event where they screened Sridevi's outstanding performance in the number Dushman Dil Ka from Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja. Amitabh, present at this preview, was mesmerized. The next day, Bachchan sent a truckload of roses for Sridevi. Headlines exploded about how the biggest actor had paid tribute to the biggest actress. Filmfare brought out a cover story with the tagline—'How Amitabh Wooed Sridevi'. While Sridevi agreed in principle to star in the film, she laid down the condition that she would play both the roles of Amitabh's wife and daughter. This was unprecedented! Never had any heroine dared to demand a double role in a Bachchan film. But the actress knew her worth. The deal was struck.

As a child-artiste, Sridevi was witness to a co-child-actor's death:
Sridevi was witnessing incidents now that were leaving a mark on her tiny mind. In several interviews, she recounts watching a fellow child star pinched hard by his mother because he was required to cry for a scene. However, the most traumatic incident remains the one that occurred by a lake on a different shoot. Sridevi was in the water with twelve other children for a scene. As soon as the shot got over, everyone returned to the shore and changed into dry garments. Suddenly, someone noticed that one pair of clothes was still lying unworn on the grass, flapping gently in the breeze. As everyone stared, a terrifying silence engulfed them all. Realization dawned that one child had not made it back to the shore alive. In her 1988 chat with Stardust, the actress recounted: 'Everyone was frightened . . . the director sent a man to call the boy's mother immediately, while we waited anxiously. The scene that followed was horrible. The director began by telling her how her son had met with an accident. . . She pulled her hair, flung the flowers away, tore her sari, banged her fists and rolled on the ground crying . . . I don't think I'd ever forget that sight. Somehow, it has helped me grow up.'

When Sridevi was called the unwed mother...:
On 2 June 1996, Sridevi and Boney got quietly married at the Sai Baba temple in Shirdi. With Srilatha [sister] having reservations about their relationship and Boney already wedded to Mona Shourie, the couple kept their marriage under wraps. Consequently, for the longest time, the world remained oblivious to the fact that Boney and Sri had become man and wife. As a result, tabloids erupted in early 1997 with unfounded reports calling Sridevi an unwed mother, pregnant with Boney's child.

Excerpted with permission from Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess, written by Satyarth Nayak, published by Penguin Random House India