Kajol on comeback trail

Kajol has been missing from action for close to five years now. While hubby Ajay Devgan has been bringing home the bacon, she had kept low, looking after their daughter Nysa and "generally enjoying motherhood." Barring occasional appearances on television, not much was seen or heard of her.

Now, here’s some good news for Kajol’s fans: The fiercely competitive and talented actress is getting back into her element with a Yash Chopra film. She will be facing the camera with Aamir Khan in what promises to be another mega love saga.

"It’s a half and half kind of film," is all that she is prepared to disclose. "She is a mature woman with a child. I know for a fact I cannot play a teenager any more and frankly, I don’t even want to. This is the first time I am being paired with Aamir Khan... I really don’t know how things will turn out on the sets."

The film is being much discussed, not just because it is a Yash Chopra film, but since Kajol and Aamir are temperamentally different as actors. While she is quick and spontaneous in emoting, Aamir is known to be methodical and a perfectionist.

Besides, this marks a break from the Karan Johar camp where she is regarded as a lucky mascot. "I would have loved to re-start with Karan. But I would not have been able to handle a big schedule in London for 60 days," she clarifies. "I have a baby now to consider."

The baby is clearly her prime concern. "The biggest blessing after her arrival is that she has helped me see my mother in a new light. I always thought of her as this great disciplinarian and I know my daughter feels the same. In her eyes, I am Hitler and in my eyes my mother was the same. But I don’t think I am super-strict. I hope I am not. Nysa will tell me when she grows up."

And how does the girl take to her father?

"Oh Ajay," she replies fondly, "simply dotes on her. Nysa has just to look at him and he melts like a puddle. She plays us like a fiddle. I have a very apt T-shirt for her which reads, ‘My finger may be small, but I can sure wrap my daddy around it’."

Kajol’s relationship with her husband has been a subject of much speculation because of their opposite temperaments. While she is outspoken, even abrasive, Ajay is said to be quiet, measured in his speech and an introverted sort... to the extent, she once described him as "unsocial" on television.

"Well, he is a husband and not a boyfriend any more," Kajol laughs. "Our relationship has deepened with time. He has been there all along, at all times, through ups and downs. Superficially we might seem different, but our principles are the same. I have learnt a lot from Ajay and am still learning."

"The best part of our relationship is that there is still a lot of mystery left," she elaborates. "There are times when I am groping, trying to understand what he is saying. At other times, I can see him making an effort to understand me. But, by and large, we arrive at and end up taking the same decisions."

She however, admits that the only male she has really felt close to, is her father. "I am bits and pieces of my dad," she points out. "We love each other unconditionally. He has taught me to compartmentalise thoughts and life as a whole, and also how to draw the line. I am very attached to him."

It is another matter that her parents are, since long, separated and she had been brought up by her mother. — MF

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