‘I Was So Silly…’: Janhvi Kapoor Regrets Not Taking Advice From Mother Sridevi
December 15, 2023Janhvi Kapoor, a young actress shining in Bollywood with films like “Bawaal” and “Mili,” has a story that’s both privileged and poignant. Born into the limelight as the daughter of renowned actors Boney Kapoor and the late Sridevi, considered Bollywood’s first female superstar, Janhvi’s journey has been marked by both opportunity and the weight of a legendary legacy.
Sridevi’s sudden passing in 2018, just months before Janhvi’s debut film “Dhadak,” left a void that no one could fill. Yet, Janhvi bravely stepped into the spotlight, her first steps guided by her mother’s immense talent but also haunted by the pressure of living up to her name.
In a recent interview with Agenda Aaj Tak, Janhvi opened up about her early struggles. She confessed feeling like she had an “unfair advantage” because of her mother’s stardom. This led her to make a surprising request – she asked Sridevi not to visit the sets of “Dhadak.” A decision she now deeply regrets. Talking about the unfair advantage that she felt she had, she added, “People were already saying ‘You got your first film because you are Sridevi’s daughter’. I decided I won’t take any help from her. I thought I had an unfair advantage. It would be more unfair if I took her advice. So, I told her ‘Please don’t come on set, I have to work on my own’.”
She also added, “Sometimes, I feel it was stupid of me. I took all that nonsense a bit too seriously. I regret it… I know she was dying to come on set and help me as a mother. I just didn’t let her. One of the biggest regrets… I wish I had just said ‘Mumma, please come, I have a shoot. I need you”.
Janhvi also added how she felt when she was compared to her mother. She said, “I would get nervous and overworked about all this baggage. But then I realised I was being compared to Mumma, Sridevi Kapoor, so that was the standard. It only started motivating me. Mumma told me that my performance in my first film will be compared with her last film. She had said ‘I don’t wish this kind of pressure even on my enemy.”
She shared how she gradually got motivated by all the pressure she had to face and also praised her sister Khushi Kapoor for her performance in Netflix’s recent film ‘Archies’. Sridevi has worked in several movies in other languages as well and that only highlights her mettle for acting.
