Sterling Silver

Kajol on motherhood, marriage, and celebrating 25 years in cinema.

- Preetika Mathews Sahay

“That sounds really bad,” says Kajol, settling into a chair while holding a steaming cup of black coffee. She follows this up by breaking into loud, infectious laughter, which, I learn over the course of our conversation, systematically punctuates her responses. “Twenty-five years is, like, a quarter of a century!” she says.

I have just asked Kajol if it actually feels like it’s been 25 years since she debuted in Bollywood. She has undoubtedly reached a milestone, but this realisation dawns on her only when I make the observation. Sitting in the living room of her home in Juhu, on a street lined with stars’ bungalows, she turns introspective. “When I think about my children, my marriage, and how I have worked, suddenly it all adds up. And I think it would have taken 25 years to do all that.”

As one of the industry’s most beloved actors, it is perhaps difficult for even her most ardent fans to coalesce this information. Because onscreen, Kajol seems unchanged. That innate exuberance, that energy one saw in Sapna of Yeh Dillagi (1994) and Anjali of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) has carried forward to Meera of Dilwale (2015). She is one of a few actors who has been able to maintain that consistency, adding freshness to every character, every single time.