| | Smriti Irani on Zenobia, her
super-cool mum-in-law | She shares an infamous rocky, love-hate rapport with her on-screen saas Savita Virani (Apara Mehta) in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. But Smriti Irani says that she and real-life mother-in-law Zenobia are bound by mutual affection and respect.
"The thing that binds me to my mother-in-law Zenobia is that we are both very private individuals. That said, we're different people. She's a solicitor by profession. She's well read, intelligent, sophisticated, beautiful — in fact, I'd say she's downright hot; in short, she's everything I'm not.
"No, I'm not running myself down. But I know what I'm like. I'm famous for being a haphazard kind of person. I'm often criticised for being shabbily dressed. My mother-in-law, I call her Mama, is the antithesis of that; she's always groomed and beautifully turned out. I take pride in that, and in her. You know how children are, keen to show off their parents in public? I'm like that with Mama."
I love it when I'm seen in public with her, to claim that I'm her daughter-in-law. Even in our private friends' circle, I'm known as Mama's daughter-in-law. It's not the other way around. And I like it that way. I respect her and we share a friendly relationship, but I never cross the line with Mama.
| With on-screen ma-in-law
Apara Mehta | That's more a reflection on me than it is on her. She is a very chilled-out person who believes that everyone should simply live and let live; I've been raised in north India, where the term 'mother-in-law' is synonymous with the term 'hell'!
"To north Indians, it'd be baffling that I've never encountered any problems with my in-laws the way scores of women do. Mama is a wise woman but she's never imposed that wisdom on me. She has always made it apparent that the rules that exist for my husband Zubin are the same ones that exist for me; she won't tell me that I'm supposed to return home at a certain hour, etc."
"We lead separate lives in separate homes, yet we meet quite often, especially for Navjyots and birthdays — the two birthdays that Parsis celebrate. I, of course, celebrate one birthday a year. On that day, Mama wants to fuss over me which I never let her do. I spend the day working — which Mama doesn't quite get. I'm a workaholic. God, how I harass her!" To north Indians, it'd be baffling that I've never encountered any problems with my in-laws the way scores of women do... |
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