A jay Devgan has been a part of the Smile Foundation for the last five years now, and its latest initiative sees the star become a goodwill ambassador for the cause of girl child empowerment through education. Ajay and Kajol’s 13-year-old daughter Nysa is also helping out.
How did you get involved in espousing the cause of the girl child?
I’ll tell you why I connect with this cause and how I understand the mindset of women. I have been very lucky that I have always been around women in my life. It’s a fact. When I was young, my aunt and my mother took care of me – and they were strong women. I grew up with two sisters and again they have grown into strong women today. Then I have got a very strong wife (actress Kajol) and now I have a very strong daughter too. And I am lucky that I have been only around women at most times in my family. So I do understand their point of view. All the women in the house discuss their problems with me because they know that I will understand. This includes my daughter (smiles) -- she discusses with me first before she does so with her mother (laughs).
Your daughter Nysa is also supporting the Smile Foundation. Do you encourage her to do so?
She has earlier worked through her school for Smile Foundation. Luckily, she is privileged; and she gets what she wants. I want her to go out in the world and see what the world is all about and how underprivileged kids and girls do not get what she is getting. That is how she is going to learn. My process of teaching includes bringing her to a platform where she can understand, sympathize, support and help.
What kind of bond do you share with Nysa?
It depends on the situation. Sometimes, she behaves like my mother— she is only firing me all the time... how I have done wrong and what I have done wrong. Whenever I have done something right, she likes it but she says, ‘Yeah; its okay, it’s nice.’ Nothing beyond that. Otherwise, she is only correcting me. I really believe that the new generation knows much more than what we knew at their age and even what we know today. I go home and learn so many things from her -- what is the mind-set, how people do things, technology et al. They are the ones who teach us. So many times I don’t know how to use a gadget and she is the one who says, “Give to me, pop. You are suppose to do it like this.” I think we need to learn from them, they don’t need to learn from us.
You recently produced a woman-oriented film, Leena Yadav’s Parched.
It is being appreciated all over the world. The girls can fly but we are not letting them fly because of our mindset and society.
Recently one of the Parched actresses Tannishtha Chatterjee protested when a TV comedy show remarked on her skin tone.
There has to be a limit on humour. I can’t talk about it in particular as I have not seen this. We all have a sense of humour, we all accept jokes on us; but the persons cracking the joke need to draw the line. I think yeh hum sabka problem hain. That is why we have fairness creams in our country. Gora hone se khoobsurat nahi ho jata insaan. We need to have confidence in ourselves and we can become the most powerful nation in the world.