Her Mother's Daughter

In her first-ever interview, on the eve of the release of her debut film, an incredibly poised JANHVI KAPOOR speaks to KARAN JOHAR about why her mother didn’t want her to act, the bond she now shares with her half-siblings, and why she’s out to be the debut of the year

- Karan Johar

On a Sunday in late February, the country woke up to the news of Sridevi’s passing. What followed was a national outpouring of grief and a disturbing amount of media speculation. For two young girls, 21-year-old Janhvi and her 17-year old sister Khushi, their mother’s untimely death changed life as they knew it.

It’s safe to say that 2018 is a year that Janhvi will never forget. In a span of a few months, she lost her mother, turned 21, bagged her first Vogue cover and will hit the screens in one of the most anticipated debuts.

I’ve known Janhvi since she was little, and my relationship with the family goes back decades. Her mother, the iconic Sridevi (who I have long been a fan of), had starred in my father Yash Johar’s Gumrah, in the early ’90s. And her father, like mine, was a producer. I distinctly remember waiting with my dad and Janhvi’s father, Boney, for a meeting with the star (this was before they were married) so she could give us dates. Cut to many years later, I’m about to launch her daughter’s career with Dhadak. It’s funny how life turns out.

That memory comes back to me today. I’m sitting across from Janhvi: a poised young woman, her face scrubbed clean (ah, the perks of youth!), dressed in a lemon-yellow Anita Dongre kurta. She’s happily polishing off a bowl of “healthy” mango ice cream (her current obsession) as we talk. I’m interviewing her for her first-ever cover for Vogue, but as we chat I realise she’s a pro, handling herself with a maturity that belies her age.