Soha Ali Khan doesn’t really need any money — she was born into the family of the Nawabs of Pataudi and she admits acting isn’t about fame either. So why is she in the film industry? Soha says she wants to do good work and it doesn’t involve being a part of re-makes of her mother, veteran actor Sharmila Tagore’s movies.
“Why would I want to be in a film which is a re-make of my mother’s film? That would be like suicide for me because I am inviting people to compare me with her. People rarely make favourable comments,” said Soha. “The idea is to do something new and fresh. If it’s a contemporary adaptation, then that’s okay.”
Actor of films such as Rang De Basanti and Khoya Khoya Chand, Soha, who doesn’t have too many hits to her credit, says she is not “commercially focused”.
“My motivation is not how much my film will make. My motivation is that it should be a good film and if I will enjoy working in it,” she continued. “I am not interested in making a lot of money. I am fortunate to have financial security and it [money] has never been a motivational factor for me.”
“I am not even interested in being famous. I think being famous has a lot of stress. Actually, being an actor is very complicated. You have to be almost a super human to deal with everything. It comes with a lot of baggage,” she added.
Soha feels her mother Sharmila, who has been a part of movies such as Aradhana, Safar and Mausam, is a good homemaker.
“I take a lot of tips from my mum on how to be a good homemaker,” said Soha, who is dating actor Kunal Khemu. “Living in a house with your life partner and being in a relationship, which is public, you have to be kind of mature and calm.”
“She was a very good wife and a good mother and she does give me advice. One of the things she said was, ‘A man must never hurt a woman’s emotion and a woman must never hurt a man’s ego and if you respect the man’s ego, the man respects the woman’s emotion. If you do that, you will be okay,” she added.
Initially, Soha admits she was compared to her mother a lot but now, people have stopped comparing the two actors. “My choice of films is slightly different,” said the 34-year-old.
“Sometimes when I dress in a particular way, people say I look like my mom. Even if you are comparing me favourably or unfavourably with my mother, I am not competing with her, I am competing with my fears,” she said.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2013.
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