Mother's day out

KARISMA KAPOOR’S BEST ROLE IS THAT OF PLAYING SUPER MOM TO HER KIDS, WRITES SUMAN SHARMA

- SUMAN SHARMA

Karisma Kapoor recently won rave reviews for playing a yummy, yuppie mom, Meira Sharma, in the Ekta Kapoor produced web series Mentalhood. The series was all about a gaggle of mommies, played by Karisma, Sandhya Mridul, Shilpa Shukla, Tillotama Shome, and a single dad, played by a still hot-looking Dino Morea, trying to raise their kids in a fast-changing world. Karisma’s own mother, yesteryear star Babita, was kind of known as a ‘Tiger Mom’. Fiercely ambitious, she’s said to have pushed both her daughters hard to reach where they have. Karisma, a mother of two children, daughter Samiera and son Kiaan Raj Kapoor, though not as go-getting, is undeniably devoted. Her own experience, as well as the influences of her mother, have helped her shape her as a mother and a woman. Excerpts from a heart-to-heart interview with the talented actor and super mom…

What made you say yes to Mentalhood after such a long sabbatical?

When Ekta Kapoor offered me the series, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to do it. But after hearing the script, I agreed. I want people to know what I go through on a daily basis. I want to tell audiences they aren’t alone. That we, as parents, are going through this journey together. This is the show which every woman, every mother, young girls, old people… can identify with. Either they’ve been through this or are currently experiencing it or will experience it in the near future. In each episode, we dealt with sensitive and relevant topics like bullying, surrogacy, adoption, being a ‘tiger mom’, single parenting... The topics are serious but the narrative is humorous.

How did your children, Samiera and Kiaan, react to you take on a new medium?