Twinkle Khanna On Her Spectacular Failure As An Actor

“When you don’t take success very seriously it’s easier to shrug off failure,” says Twinkle Khanna.

Twinkle Khanna at an event. 

(Photo: Yogen Shah)

Twinkle Khanna says she realised that she had failed “spectacularly as an actor” after spending eight years in Bollywood. The actor said she wanted to be a chartered accountant but since her parents - Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia - were from the entertainment world, they wanted her to join the industry.

“When you don’t take success very seriously it’s easier to shrug off failure. When I finished my 12th grade, I wanted to become a chartered accountant. But since my parents were in the entertainment business, they were keen I follow their footsteps and I did,” she told reporters.

“Eight years later, I came to the conclusion that I had spectacularly failed as an actress. Though this was a bit disheartening, I wasn’t shattered, partly because of the way my mother had raised me, and also because I realised that having failed at something didn’t mean that I was a failure”.

Twinkle Khanna

She was speaking at a panel discussion along with cricketer Sourav Ganguly, badminton coach P Gopichand among others at Surf Excel’s latest campaign ‘Haar Ko Harao’.

“It (the failure) meant that I now had the opportunity to try and succeed at million other things. I moved on and here I am today. Life is like flying a kite. Sometimes you have to hold on tight, sometimes loose. Sometimes your kite can fly effortlessly and at other times no matter what you do, you cannot control it.

“But even when you’re struggling to keep your kite afloat, and the string is cutting into your hand, don’t let go. The wind may change once again in your favour, just don’t let go,” she added.

(Breathe In, Breathe Out: Are you finding it tough to breathe polluted air? Join hands with FIT to find #PollutionKaSolution. Send in your suggestions to [e-mail] or WhatsApp @ [phone])