One of the undisputed queens of Bollywood, Kajol’s popularity knows no bounds. From Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge to My Name is Khan, Kajol ruled the audience’s heart throughout the 90s and early 2000s. The 50-year-old actor is back with her latest film, Maa, where she’s seen playing a fierce mother who does her best to protect her daughter from evil spirits.
You played a possessive mom in your last film, Salaam Venky, and in Maa you play a possessive mother. How would you differentiate between the characters?
The role of a mother is beautiful. In Salaam Venky I was a protective mother and had a different mission. In this film, my character is that of a possessive mother trying to protect her daughter, who is fighting a demon. The basic thought behind every mother is that she wants to protect her children and doesn’t want any harm to come their way. I liked the tagline of this film, which says, “Evil vs. Faith.” You have to have faith in yourself to overcome the evil.
Do you believe in black magic?
I believe that there is good and there’s evil. Where goodness exists, evil also exists. I don’t completely believe in black magic but when you look at your surroundings, you realise that everything is not normal.
Your mother started her career with a horror movie, Bhoot Bangla, and she was also a part of Ajay Devgn’s Bhoot. Have you watched the movies?
No, I have not. I don’t watch horror movies. My sister watches them. I have told her if she wants the horror movie experience, I am always ready to scare her. I can do it for free. She never took up that offer.
What was the reaction when you were offered the movie?
It has my favourite story of Kalimaa and Rakhtabeej. I am a big mythology buff. I have narrated this story to my children many times. I have read multiple versions of it in different books. I felt that this was a very cool concept and wanted to do this film. It must have been offered to many people, but I really wanted to do this film. When we started writing, it was written as a thriller, but when they came to the climax, they said we cannot write it as a thriller, as the characters and sequences were larger than life. We had to give it the tag of a horror thriller. It is not a typical horror thriller though. A typical horror film has a story, fear, and a great background score. We have all those ingredients, but there’s emotion too, and that is the strength of our film. It’s a combination of modernity and mythology.
How was the experience shooting for it?
A lot of it is shot on green screen. There’s nobody out there, and you have to react. It’s a different form of acting. We have a lot of action, and it’s a very demanding role physically. I used to be tired by the end of the day. We shot where there was red mud and would be very tired by the end of the day.
You have been in this industry for the last 35 years. Do you feel you are in the best phase of life?
I like to believe I am in the best place, and I don’t want to go back in time. I would love to see what the future holds. I never thought of my career as short-lived. Lots of people felt that my career was over after I got married and had children. I will work for as long as I live. There is never any dearth of work, but you have to choose what kind of work you want to do.
What kind of books do you read?
For me, it’s a fun activity. I read a lot of fiction. I don’t like non-fiction. My library is very vast, and I don’t have a favourite author. I have read a few PG Wodehouse books but not all of them.