Twinkle Khanna has donned many hats — actress, published author, and columnist. Her latest book, The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad, has been gaining popularity quickly, and on the sidelines of its promotions, she opens up about her life:
Despite domestic and professional pressures, how do you still look like a million bucks?
I don’t know about a million bucks but I suppose I have decent genes and I practise yoga almost everyday — though it is more for my mind than my body. Besides that, a clean lifestyle is perhaps the only way to look and feel healthy after a certain point in time.
You say you pretend you were never an actress. Isn’t that an awful way to feel, being the daughter of two brilliant actors?
Why is it awful? My parents (Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia) are gifted actors and I’m very proud about their body of work. I don’t feel the same about my work in movies. How are the two connected?
How does Akshay cope with your outspoken candour?
The point is, even within a union, it doesn’t have to be that two people have to think identically. He is fine with the way I am, he accepts me the way I am, and I accept him the way he is. Yes, he does read my columns… to make sure that I don’t get into too much trouble.
Was it difficult being a mother and a writer?
In the last stage of the book, I was writing for practically six-seven hours a day and my children had to understand that I was living in my head more than truly living with them. But after I finished it, I made it a point to more than make up for the time I had been unable to spare. I think it is also good for the children to grow up with a mother who has a strong work ethic. It instils the same in them.
How about Akshay as a father?
He is a wonderful father and my little one has him wrapped around her tiny finger. He works out with his son, reads to his daughter and is as involved as I am in raising grounded, responsible children.
