Twinkle Khanna turns sharper and wittier with every passing year. In a candid conversation on her birthday, the brutally outspoken and beautiful actor-turned-author tells us all about being ‘Twinkle Khanna’.
Q: Tell me, what makes you look like a million bucks in spite of all the pressures of domesticity and professionalism?
Twinkle Khanna: I don’t know about a million bucks but I suppose I have decent genes and I practice Yoga almost everyday, though it is more for my mind than my body. Aside from that, a clean lifestyle is perhaps the only way to look and feel healthy after a certain point in time.
Q: You say you pretend you were never an actress. For the daughter of two brilliant actors, isn't that a not-so-nice way to feel?
Twinkle Khanna: Why? My parents (Rajesh Khanna and Dimpla Kapadia) are gifted actors and I am very proud of their body of work. I don’t feel the same about my work in the movies. How are the two connected ?
Q: You were always fond of reading. When and how did you discover and nurture the writer within?
Twinkle Khanna: I wrote half a book when I was 18 and in fact, the characters Noni Appa and Binni from my new book The Legend Of Lakshmi Prasad, were originally part of that manuscript. This is my third attempt that has finally appeared in print, where the story revolved around the two old ladies and another character Anandji.
I also carried around a black felt file as a teenager that contained all the poems that I had jotted down, primarily about maggots and death. I have always been immersed in a world filled with words, earlier as a reader and now finally as both, a reader and a writer.
Q: Your outspoken written and spoken words frequently embarrass your husband. How do you cope with his discomfort at your candour? You are Ms Outspoken. He is Mr Diplomat. How have the two of you found a common meeting ground for so many years?
Twinkle Khanna: The point is, even within a union, it doesn’t have to be that two people have to think identically. He is fine with the way I am, he accepts me the way I am and I accept him the way he is. Yes, he does read my columns… to make sure that I don’t get into too much trouble.
Q: How do you balance the various roles in your life, as a daughter, wife, mother and the strong individual that you are?
Twinkle Khanna: I tackle one task at a time and I now give myself the luxury of knowing that I will drop a few balls in this constant jugglery. Just yesterday, I forgot that it was a holiday and woke up the kids for school and then had to hear a litany of complaints about how I keep forgetting everything .
Q: How did the Legend Of Laxmi Prasad come about? Do you feel it says the stories exactly how you wanted them told?
Twinkle Khanna: I was doing some research on menstruation for a column. I read about Arunachalam Muruganantham’s life and work and his story gripped me, and that is when I sat down, wrote the first few pages and sent them off to my editor to have a look. I then began chasing Muruga and after numerous lengthy interviews, he agreed to let me fictionalise his story, and that’s how this book started. The other stories then followed. They were all topics I had briefly touched upon through my columns and now I could weave a substantial tale around them.
Q: You have been writing a very popular newspaper column. Do you see your written word as a social responsibility?
Twinkle Khanna: When I was asked to do a celebrity newspaper column, I instinctively agreed and sat down to write the first one, just to see if I could and three years later, here I am. I am responsible to my readers as far as having my facts correct and in making sure that my narrative is skilfully presented. Aside from that, I am a free agent.
Q: Was it difficult being a mother and a writer at the same time?
Twinkle Khanna: In the last stage of the book, I was writing for practically six-seven hours a day and my children had to understand that I was living in my head more than truly living with them. But after I finished the book, I made it a point to more than make up for the time I had been unable to spare. I think it is also good for the children to grow up with a mother who has a strong work ethic. It instills the same in them.
Q: Has Akshay been a good support in bringing up the kids?
Twinkle Khanna: He is a wonderful father and my little one has him wrapped around her tiny finger. He spends a lot of time with them, works out with our son, reads to our daughter and is as involved as I am in raising grounded, responsible children.
Q: You are known to get into spats on Twitter. Do you enjoy the friction?
Twinkle Khanna: I don’t enjoy the friction, I have enough people to argue with in the real world and have no need to look for more in the virtual one (laughs). But I have a point of view and I see no reason in not putting it forth.
Q: Tell me about your next book?
Twinkle Khanna: I haven’t begun yet. I have some ideas for a book about dystopian India but we shall see.
Q: What secret yearnings, future ambitions, unfulfilled dreams?
Twinkle Khanna: Besides a not-so-secret yearning to live in Goa, I am pretty content.
Q: If you had to change one thing in your life, what would it be?
Twinkle Khanna: I wish I could throw away my weighing scale or move to the moon where my weight would automatically be 16.5 percent of what it is on Earth.
(Also Read: Bollywood to Blogging: Rediscovering Birthday Girl Twinkle Khanna)
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