Kajol says with time, she had to change her acting style; adds hamming doesn’t go with her acting aesthetics
Titas Chowdhury (HINDUSTAN TIMES; February 24, 2020)

Kajol, who’s basking in the success of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, says that she had to change her approach towards her craft a few years back and incorporate a new method of acting in her subsequent films. Looking back at her earlier years in the industry, she says that she had to cater to the demands of her directors and ham in order to play to the gallery as it was the only acceptable way of performing. “We’ve all hammed back in the day. How do you think we would get through? Hamming is terrible. It doesn’t agree with your spiritual, physical and mental aesthetics,” she says.

Ask her what drove this change towards her art, and she says that it’s important to stay relevant to the Gen Z audience, which is now exposed to content from all over the world. “You slowly realise that the audience has also changed. Because of the influx of OTT platforms and exposure to a wide variety of content, you realise that they’re used to seeing better content and so, you have to be better. They know what ‘being natural onscreen’ means. Actors cannot be unnatural now,” she elaborates.

Kajol adds that the process of “loud acting” doesn’t work anymore. “When I did We Are Family (2010), I realised that times have changed, and that formula won’t work anymore. At one point, I realised that a particular scene isn’t working but it would have worked five years back. I understood that somewhere down the line, I’ll have to change my pattern, break it and unlearn everything that I’ve learnt so far or else I’ll expire and become outdated,” says the 45-year-old actor.

For the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) actor, it’s important to appear natural on camera as it never lies. She explains, “I had a moment of epiphany at that point of time. It completely changed my viewpoint about films. I realised that if I want to do more films, I can’t do things where I look at myself and say that things are going wrong. It’s not like you’ll watch We Are Family and say that there’s something wrong with it but when I was doing the film, I figured that it wasn’t working for me, personally. You need to understand what works on camera and what doesn’t.”

Kajol says that social media doesn’t allow actors to fool the viewers anymore. “Today, because of social media, you see actors without any makeup. When you see the same actors with loud makeup and fake eyelashes in a realistic film, it’s going to hit you wrong! If you’re going the ‘realistic film’ way and you still have your eyeliner, eyelashes and mascara on, it’s going to look so wrong. The same applies to clothes, expressions and body language. As actors of a different time and era, we’ve to adapt to the recent times,” she signs off.

Before her maiden digital outing drops online, Kajol in talks with Tribhanga maker for thriller series
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; February 7, 2020)

It's a pity we don't see Kajol on screen as often as we would like. But if things go well, that might change soon. While the actor will make her digital debut with the Netflix film, Tribhanga, by mid-year, buzz is that she is in talks with producer Siddharth P Malhotra for a web series.

A source reveals, "Kajol and Siddharth go back a long way; he had helmed We Are Family [2010] that featured her in the lead. Now that Kajol is set to foray into digital entertainment, she is open to more offers in the avenue. She wants to explore the thriller genre as she believes such narratives offer the binge-watch quality that is needed in web series. During the shoot of Tribhanga, Siddharth and Kajol discussed a few ideas, including a thriller drama. The idea is currently being fleshed out."

Malhotra, who has previously backed Kaafir, acknowledges that he is keen to take his professional association with the actor forward with another outing. "We both have a few [concepts] in mind. She is open to doing a web series, so am I. But it needs to be something magical. I think 100 times before approaching her [with a script] because it has to be worthwhile. Kajol does not judge a project basis its platform; the story and her character have to resonate with her."

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 29, 2018)

While reports of an imminent split between former supermodels and long-time couple Arjun Rampal and Mehr Jessia had first surfaced as early as 2011, their official announcement on Monday sent shockwaves in the film industry. The duo, married for 20 years, had worked out the logistics before going public with the announcement. Four months ago, Arjun, 45, moved out of their sea-facing Bandra duplex, where they lived with their daughters, into a rented two-BHK owned by businessman-friend Kishor Bajaj. Mehr and their two teenaged daughters continue to live in the duplex, and the arrangement is expected to continue till the divorce comes through next year.

Mirror has learnt that last week, Arjun had informed the teams of his upcoming films, J P Dutta’s Paltan and his own co-production Nastik, that he was splitting from his wife and that an official announcement would follow shortly.

Now, close friends of the former couple and industry insiders claim that the tumultuous marriage had effectively ended around six months ago and the couple had waited for their daughters to come to terms with it before revealing it to the media. Sources close to the development say the flashpoint was a loud and heated fight between the couple which led to complaints from neighbours. The rude wake-up call was followed by Mehr apologising profusely to the neighbours, and Arjun moving into a five-star hotel.

Falling off the A-list radar
Arjun and Mehr, who were once an integral part of Shah Rukh Khan’s inner circle, fell out with him during the making of Ra.One. According to a source close to the couple, Arjun requested to be a part of his friend’s 2011 sci-fi production, Ra.One. “But Mehr allegedly insisted on a higher remuneration for her husband from co-producer SRK himself, who swore to never work with Arjun in the future. The two subsequently had a public falling out during the film’s release. After that, Shah Rukh stopped taking Mehr’s calls. His wife, Gauri Khan, who had been close friends with Mehr, severed ties with her as well,” the source added.

Meanwhile, as Ra.One entered post production, Arjun was signed on to play the lead in the Karan Johar-produced We Are Family. When Arjun hiked his fee at the last minute, KJo also avowed never to work with the actor again. A month after Ra.One’s release, SRK and Gauri were conspicuous by their absence at Mehr’s 40th birthday bash. Soon after, Bhavna Panday, Maheep Kapoor, Sussanne Khan and Anu Dewan, core members of Bollywood’s most high-profile girl-gang of the time including Gauri and Mehr, gradually distanced themselves from Arjun and Mehr.

“I never tell Mehr what films I’m doing because she’s very honest with her opinion, and when she gives it, I know exactly how good or bad the film is — she’s very straightforward, which is fun, but also sometimes embarrassing,” Arjun had been quoted as saying on several occasions.

In 2007, the couple also hit rough weather when their first home production, I See You, featuring Arjun opposite newcomer Vipasha Agarwal, bombed at the box-office. They moved on to produce TV content and even took over a documentary project which was shelved mid-way. The banner, Chasing Ganesha, was disbanded around 2014, and Arjun returned as a solo producer for Ashim Ahluwalia’s Daddy last year, which turned out to be a damp squib despite pre-release buzz.

The third act
By the mid-2000s, Hrithik Roshan and his then-wife Sussanne Khan were the last of their powerful Bollywood friends. In 2008, Arjun wrote a first-person account of ‘things that interest him’ for a men’s magazine, fleetingly rhapsodising over Sussanne. “One girl who makes smoking look feminine is Sussanne”. Today, several friends of the actor claim that he has been besotted with the former star wife-turned-interior designer ever since.

“When his equations with many industry friends were worsening, his friendship with Sussanne only strengthened over time and Mehr grew extremely insecure. It led to several fights between the couple,” revealed a close friend, recalling how last year, at a bash hosted by Sussanne’s cousin Fardeen Khan, the former BFFs had a very public spat. “Mehr and Sussanne yelled at one another before Mehr stormed out of the party. The two have not spoken to each other since.”

Sussanne and Hrithik’s separation in December 2013 fuelled speculation that the former’s proximity to Arjun was the primary reason behind the split. Sussanne released a statement in 2014, “Arjun and Mehr are my friends and have been for years. To poison a relationship such as this is malicious behaviour. I have, with Mehr, earlier stated that there is no truth to the claim that Arjun and I are anything more than friends.”

Three years ago, Mehr, who had been working on saving her marriage, was reportedly so heartbroken that she moved in with her mother in the Dadar’s Parsi colony but returned home shortly afterwards following a reconciliation.

Around the same time, Arjun and Mehr began making public appearances at events once again, looking like the loved-up couple they were once known as. The same men’s magazine published an interview with Rampal, “a changed man”. “He hasn’t slept in two days, but not for the reason you think. He wasn’t out nailing models and drinking till dawn — this is Arjun Rampal 2.0, the family man, after all (though he does, he says, still have a good time). Because there are two sides to Arjun Rampal. The one who expounds intensely on acting and the one who tells corny jokes. The one who gives advice — on everything from partying to careers — and the one who wouldn’t dream of following it. The guy who’s always ready with a vulgar one-liner and the loving father of two,” it read.

Friends in the know point out that both Arjun and Mehr tried to make the marriage last but couldn’t. In 2017, Mehr, who routinely visits Mount Mary church in Bandra, had to be escorted home by a family friend after a breakdown in the church. “Mehr had learnt that Arjun and Sussanne were still meeting secretly and were close friends. She was traumatised as she had believed Arjun when he said he was a changed man and that everything would be fine,” the source said.

A filmmaker friend of the former couple notes that while the couple had reconciled several times before, an argument in late 2016 had ended with Arjun walking out of their residence for the first time. “They were fighting so loudly and throwing things at each other that the neighbours threatened to complain to the police as it wasn’t the first fight of its kind. Mehr apologized profusely to them and immediately after that, Arjun moved into a five-star service apartment for a week,” the source informed.

Multiple reconciliations notwithstanding, their official statement has decidedly called time on their marriage.