‘Mom Was Very Scared Of…’

‘When
my
mom
saw
my
performance
in

Dhoka,
she
loved
it.’
‘She
said,
“I
don’t
know
why
I
stopped
you
for
so
many
years.

Ab
jaa
beta,
jee
le
apni
zindagi“.’

Khushalii
Kumar,
the
late
music
mogul
Gulshan
Kumar’s
daughter
and
T-Series
CEO
Bhushan
Kumar’s
sister,
lived
lanes
away
from
the
spotlight
until
her
big
break
in
2022
with

Dhokha:
Round
D
Corner.

She
appeared
in
several
music
videos
and
continued
her
acting
stint
with
films
like

Dedh
Bhiga
Zameen
and

Starfish.

Khushalii’s
family
connection
didn’t
help
her
with
her
acting
career
initially.

“My
brother
is
like,
‘If
you
convince
mom,
I
don’t
have
any
problem.’
For
him,
everything
has
to
come
from
mom.
When
he
bought
his
Ferrari,
until
the
time
mom
said
yes,
he
did
not
get
it.
So
if
mummy
says
no
for
anything,
he
is
not
okay
with
it,”
Khushalii
tells

Mayur
Sanap/Rediff.com.

Ghudchadi,
co-starring
Raveena
Tandon,
Sanjay
Dutt,
and
Parth
Samthaan,
is
your
fourth
film
since
your
debut
in
2022.
Why
do
we
see
you
so
infrequently
on
screen?

I
had
shot

Ghudchadi
before

Dedh
Bigha
Zameen,
but
that
came
first.
It
all
depends
on
the
timings
of
the
films’
release.

I’m
looking
at
a
good
script.
The
story
should
excite
me.

I
will
make
sure
now
that
I’m
seen
more
often
and
that
I
keep
getting
good
projects.

You
have
done
music
videos
with
Parth
Samthaan
earlier.
Does
it
get
easy
when
you
have
established
chemistry
with
co-stars?

If
you
know
them
from
before,
that
ice-breaking
thing
is
not
there.
So
yes,
that
bit
makes
it
easier.

But
I
had
met
Pratik
(Gandhi)
on
the
first
day
of
readings
during

Dedh
Bigha
Zameen.
So
even
during
readings,
you
can
develop
that
bond
with
your
co-actor.

Parth
and
I
had
got
so
much
of
love
for
our
song,

Dhoka.
Director
Binoy
Gandhi
had
seen
that
song
and
he
really
liked
our
look
and
chemistry.
That’s
how
he
thought
of
getting
us
in

Ghudchadi.

What
was
your
first
interaction
with
Raveena
Tandon
and
Sanjay
Dutt
like?

It
was
very
nice.
They
are
warm,
sweet,
people.

The
best
thing
is
that
with
the
kind
of
stardom
they
come,
they
don’t
make
you
feel
like
that
once
you
are
on
set.

I
remember
my
first
day
on
set
was
with
everyone
—
Dutt
sir,
Raveena
ma’am
and
Arunaji
(Irani).
That
was
our
main
scene
and
the
shoot
went
off
very
well.

Actors
often
say
comedy
is
a
tough
genre.
How
was
your
experience?

Yes,
comedy
it
is
not
easy.

But
this
film
has
situational
comedy
and
both
the
script
and
dialogues
were
beautifully
written.
I
just
had
to
take
care
of
the
timing.

I
don’t
have
many
scenes
with
Arunaji
or
Sanjay
sir.

I
share
more
scenes
with
Raveena
ma’am
and
these
are
emotional
scenes
between
mother
and
daughter.

This
is
your
typical
Hindi
commercial
entertainer
with
lots
of
music
and
dance.
Was
it
fun
to
be
in
this
space?

Yeah,
it
was
like
a
stress-buster.

I
did
three
films,
one
was
a
drug
overdose
and
the
others
were
very
intense
films.
This
was
like
a
big
stress
reliever
for
me.

This
film
releases
your
happy
hormones.

Despite
coming
from
an
influential
film
family,
why
did
you
start
your
career
so
late?

I
wanted
to
be
an
actor
since
childhood.
I
used
to
go
with
my
dad
(Gulshan
Kumar)
on
his
sets
and
sit
in
the
crowd
and
clap.

My
first
love
was
always
acting.

But
after
papa
passed
away,
mom
was
very
scared
of
letting
her
kids
go
in
front
of
the
camera.

She
pushed
me
to
join
a
fashion
institute.

I
used
to
bunk
classes
and
go
to
Barry
John
(the
Mumbai-based
acting
institute).
I
joined
a
course
there
secretly.
I
even
changed
my
name
and
did
not
give
out
my
true
identity.

My
struggle
was
to
convince
my
mom
to
let
me
do
films.
I
used
to
keep
giving
her
examples
of
Alia
Bhatt,
Sonam
Kapoor
and
how
they
are
part
of
the
industry.

I
used
to
tell
her,
‘Why
are
you
so
scared?
Let
me
get
into
it
because
this
is
my
only
dream.’

Eventually,
my
mom
allowed
me
to
do
one
music
video,
then
two.
I
used
to
go
to
(casting
director)
Mukesh
Chhabra’s
office
for
auditions.

Finally,

Dhoka
fell
in
place,
and
that’s
how
it
all
started.

When
my
mom
saw
my
performance
in

Dhoka,
she
loved
it.

She
said,
‘I
don’t
know
why
I
stopped
you
for
so
many
years.

Ab
jaa
beta,
jee
le
apni
zindagi.’
(Laughs)

Now
she
is
the
one
who
looks
out
for
interesting
scripts.
She
sits
in
the
narrations
as
well.

What
are
the
fond
memories
of
your
father
when
you
would
accompany
him
on
sets?

I
have
been
on
the
sets
of

Dil
Hai
Ki
Maanta
Nahin.

Mostly
I
would
go
with
papa
on
his
set,
as
he
used
to
shoot
for

bhajanS
and
religious
movies.
Our
main
thing
used
to
be
to
spend
time
with
him.

What
is
your
brother
Bhushan
Kumar
like?
Is
he
strict
about
giving
you
permission
to
work?

No,
he
is
like,
‘If
you
convince
mom,
I
don’t
have
any
problem.’
For
him,
everything
has
to
come
from
mom.

When
he
bought
his
Ferrari,
until
the
time
mom
said
yes,
he
did
not
get
it.

So
if
mummy
says
no
for
anything,
he
is
not
okay
with
it.

How
did
you
groom
yourself
when
you
decided
to
take
up
acting?

During
my
audition
for

Dhoka,
they
had
made
me
read
a
few
lines,
and
really
liked
my
voice.
They
found
the
kind
of
intensity
and
seriousness
in
my
voice.

I
was
given
a
few
scenes
to
enact
the
next
day
and
my
process
was
started.

I
realised
that
there
is
no
set
format
for
acting.
You
have
to
keep
learning
new
things
about
your
craft.

I
believe
in
readings,
watching
things
and
discussing
the
process
with
my
director,
co-actors.

Speaking
of
good
voice,
do
you
also
sing
like
your
sister
Tulsi
Kumar?

No,
not
at
all!
I
don’t
like
to
sing.

My
voice
and
tone
are
not
in
harmony.
Singing
is
far
from
me.
I’m
very
happy
with
acting
and
living
different
characters.

Even
when
I
try
to
sing,
Tulsi
tells
me
to
keep
quiet!

Singing
is
not
for
me.

How
are
you
healing
through
the

tragic
demise
of
your
cousin
Tishaa?
How’s
your
family
coping?

It
is
not
easy
when
you
go
through
losing
your
loved
ones.
It
breaks
you
completely.