The Marvellous Mrs Funnybones

Her Bollywood career may not have turned out as expected, but the same cannot be said about Twinkle Khanna when it comes to writing and interior designing. She talks to Nikshubha Garg about changing gears, her family, favourite books, and the pressure of being, well, funny.

- Nikshubha Garg

Twinkle Khanna’s sea-facing office at Juhu, Mumbai, offers a sharp contrast to the rain ensued chaos outside; somehow, her body language seems to be an extension of the calm. Dressed casually in denims and a graphic T-shirt, she greets me with a wide grin; minutes later, we settle down with our cuppas to kick-start the chat. The former actor takes the volley of questions head-on, and now we know what makes the multi-hyphenate a successful writer, and a great one at that—her innate ability to laugh at herself.

How did your handle Mrs Funnybones come about?

I trolled people anonymously using the handle. I wasn’t on Twitter for the longest time, but joined the platform at a newspaper editor’s insistence. But, when it came to putting myself out there officially, the name ‘Twinkle Khanna’ was gone; there was someone else by that name. And, I didn’t want to go for ‘The Twinkle Khanna’ or ‘the one and only’; I didn’t have patience to look at other options, and had this handle, so that’s how it came into being. In hindsight, I have broken every bone in my body. I do have funny bones—heels spurs and other strange things happening—it was also a way of making light of something that has caused me trauma in the past.

Considering you are known for your quick wit and sense of humour do you feel a pressure to be funny all the time?