From battling family opposition to becoming an outspoken Bollywood voice, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi looks back on her journey with honesty, humour and zero regrets.
Key Points
- ‘My parents believed the film industry was this strange, dangerous world because they didn’t know it.’
- ‘I don’t believe in regret. Whatever happens is meant to happen.’
- ‘People used to tell me I was too bold. Now everybody’s doing it.’
Long before celebrities began speaking their minds on social media, there was Suchitra Krishnamoorthi.
Raised in a middle-class family where entertainment meant watching art-house films, Suchitra lived a double life to pursue her dream of becoming an actor.
“My father wanted me to do an MBA…My parents believed the film industry was this strange, dangerous world because they didn’t know it,” she tells Rediff‘s Divya Nair in the latest episode of The Rediff Podcast.
From being the cute Clearasil girl and Doordarshan’s beloved Chunauti star to making her Bollywood debut on the big screen opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Suchitra has constantly reinvented herself — as an actor, singer, author, painter and now lyricist and music composer for the murder mystery series Margao Files.
In an unfiltered conversation, Suchitra opens up about surviving failure, quitting films, coping with a public divorce and embracing co-parenting.
“I don’t believe in regret. Whatever happens is meant to happen,” she says.
Reflecting on her marriage to filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and the media glare that followed, she says, “I was the poster girl of divorce.”
At 50, the founder of Crackajack Company, a publishing house and media solutions company says she “is no longer interested in gossip, scandals and controversies”.
“I immerse myself in the process, not the outcome. People used to tell me I was too bold. Now everybody’s doing it,” she says.
So what does Suchitra think of social media influencers and the pap culture?
Who are her closest friends in the industry?
Why did Suchitra propose to Ram Gopal Varma?
Her answers may both surprise and entertain you!
Tune in to watch Suchitra Krishnamoorthi on The Rediff Podcast.
Interview: Divya Nair/Rediff
Video Production: Satish Bodas and Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff
Editing: Saahil Acharekar/Rediff
