TLI Staff
New Delhi: Janhvi Kapoor, daughter of Sridevi, Bollywood’s evergreen Chandni and producer Boney Kapoor, is the latest star kid on the block to show promise. Starting her career at the age of 21 with Dhadak, she was last in Netflix’s anthology series Ghost Stories and impressed one and all with her acting chops. Critics said she was the only reason to watch the otherwise drab film.
That’s a big complement for the young actress who tries hard to put her heart and soul in every character she plays. In a recent conversation with Filmfare, the actress reveals how shooting for Gunjan Saxena was life changing for her.
‘Gunjan gave me a lot of confidence’
“The level of investment I have put in Gunjan is unparallelled. It’s like something too deep and personal. Actors have this tendency of drawing parallel to your life and the character you are playing. I have learnt so much while shooting for the film how I want to be as a person. It gave me a lot of confidence.”
Janhvi plays the lead role of Indian Air Force pilot Gunjan Saxena, the first female and Indian woman airforce pilot in combat along with Srividya Rajan. It is directed by Sharan Sharma and produced under Dharma Productions and Zee Studios. The film also features Pankaj Tripathi and Angad Bedi. The film is now complete but its release date is uncertain because of the ongoing Corona crisis.
Life in lockdown
“Everything is no indefinite. I have really no clue (whether the film will release on OTT or not). No one has told me,” she said unsure about the fate of her movie.
The actress also says that apart from Gunjan Saxena, Rooh Afza where she plays a double role is also ready while Dostana has been shot 40% before lockdown was announced.
Janhvi for now is enjoying her time at home. “I have been dancing, cooking, watching so many movies,” she said. On being asked about her latest recipes she said, “I just made Mango ice-cream and chocolate fudge brownie.”
Janhvi is the older to her sister Khushi but their equation in real life is the other way round. “I’m the imbecile, immature, childish younger sister somehow. She is the protective, sensible, independent older sister. The only time she takes me seriously is when it comes to work,” smiles the actress.
The actress is also happy about being able to spend time with daddy dearest during the lockdown. She also admits to have become more responsible and understanding. “Papa is so happy that he has his alter ego sitting at home. Unlike before, now he doesn’t have to make excuses to stop us at home,” she said.
Growing up post Sridevi’s demise
Post mother Sridevi’s demise Janhvi doesn’t think she has become the lady of the house because she considers herself too childish for that. “This lockdown however has made me understand how much people are dependent on me. I haven’t been home much for these past two years,” said the actress.
Another thing has changed between Boney Kapoor and Janhvi and she’s not at all complaining. “I have always looked up to him so much everytime he had discussion with mom about certain things, I have always tried to butt in, but at that time he used to cut me out. After working for two years, he has started to take me seriously and ask for inputs,” said the two-film old actress.
Dancing like Sridevi
Janhvi recalls her mother Sridevi’s magical performances during an award function and also adds she would love to re-create her songs from Chandni and Kaate Nahi Kat Te from Mr India.
“Mom always thought that in dance it’s not all about the steps, they are the last thing that you need to be thinking about. The most important thing, that she said one must do while dancing is to enjoy it thoroughly and have fun. I fondly remember one particular award function as a kid where I saw mom rehearse after a really long time. I still remember that she was just marking the steps in the hall at home instead of rehearsing. When I saw her on stage, I was surprised to see her performing so beautifully. This was nothing that I saw at home. She’d blown everyone away with that performance,” she said.
“If given a chance, I would love to recreate the songs from Chandni as well as ‘Kaate nahi kat te’ from Mr. India. It wasn’t a dance number, but she was so expressive with her body, there was no dance movement as such, but she still caught the beat and the rhythm and those latkas and jhatkas were all so perfect. Hawa Hawai from the same film was such a fun song. Apparently, the part where she’s having a ball of a time with the fruits and topi was absolutely done improv,” the actress added.