Actress Juhi Chawla has been off the radar since her last film I am. The vivacious actress who reigned the BO in the late 80s and 90s took it slow post her marriage. Starting a career in Bollywood with actor Aamir Khan, she went on to being one of the most sought after faces in the industry. However unlike her contemporaries Juhi still continues her ties with the camera be it in films or television. The mother of two and also an entrepreneur she feels that actresses in Bollywood always have to move on to doing different things post marriage and children compared to their male co-stars. In a candid chat with DNA Juhi speaks about the Bollywood norms, Shah Rukh Khan and more…
“Men carry on and women move on! This exactly is the case in Bollywood and it’s not new. All my heroes are still romancing girls, in fact heroines who are half their age and that’s acceptable. But willthe audience like me doing a dance number around the trees or romancing an actor half my age? Probably not! However it hardly bothers me. I don’t feel I fit nor do I want to fit into any commercial masala film. I want to do films that have some meaning to it.I am glad I’m doing something that I believe in rather than just doing comebacks,” says Juhi.
So what does she feel aboutcomebacks? She replies, “I am one of those actors who does a comeback with every film of mine. If am not not seen or read about for six months then the next project I do becomes my comeback! It’s very funny. However I never did a comeback as I always take up films in regular intervals. When I did TV for the first time, everyone felt it was my comeback. Only actresses are usually associated with comebacks, whereas men always remain in public eye.”
As her new show is with kids who is the one star she felt is a hot favorite amongst them?
“It has to be Salman! (Khan) We started shooting a while back and kids were completely smitten by him. Then what about her friend and actor Shahrukh Khan? “I have had no fights with Shah Rukh. We are still very much friends as earlier. It’s just that I am busy with my stuff and he busy with his films etc,” says Juhi.
“Men carry on and women move on! This exactly is the case in Bollywood and it’s not new. All my heroes are still romancing girls, in fact heroines who are half their age and that’s acceptable. But willthe audience like me doing a dance number around the trees or romancing an actor half my age? Probably not! However it hardly bothers me. I don’t feel I fit nor do I want to fit into any commercial masala film. I want to do films that have some meaning to it.I am glad I’m doing something that I believe in rather than just doing comebacks,” says Juhi.
So what does she feel aboutcomebacks? She replies, “I am one of those actors who does a comeback with every film of mine. If am not not seen or read about for six months then the next project I do becomes my comeback! It’s very funny. However I never did a comeback as I always take up films in regular intervals. When I did TV for the first time, everyone felt it was my comeback. Only actresses are usually associated with comebacks, whereas men always remain in public eye.”
As her new show is with kids who is the one star she felt is a hot favorite amongst them?
“It has to be Salman! (Khan) We started shooting a while back and kids were completely smitten by him. Then what about her friend and actor Shahrukh Khan? “I have had no fights with Shah Rukh. We are still very much friends as earlier. It’s just that I am busy with my stuff and he busy with his films etc,” says Juhi.
