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I used to tease guys during my period: Shraddha Kapoor
The pretty actress was in Delhi recently to walk the ramp at the couture week, and also for the shoot of a campaign against the taboos attached with menstruation. "Mujhe na hamesha bahut smiley-smiley dikhate hain," she complained. "I want to look a little, like..." "Serious?" suggested Shraddha's manager. "No, not serious; I don't know. I just don't want another smiley picture," she replied. Later, she explained, "It's just that I smile a lot, and I've realized that I need to keep it under control because my smile can get, like, real wide. See," she said, giving us a demo of her 'wide' smile. "I have a lazy eye too - the left one; I have to keep waking it up," she added. Does Shraddha know that she's self-critical, then? "Ya, I guess I do know (snickers). But it's under control, you know. Like what's there is there. I just like to keep pushing myself to be better, you know. I am very well aware of who I am and what I can do," she answers.
Lip-synching is no child's play- Analysing why Aashiqui 2 did better than her earlier films, Shraddha said, "I just know that Aashiqui had our hearts and souls - the whole teams'. Lots of people still come up to me and say, 'Hey, we want to give you the best debutant award for Aashiqui', and then I am like (purses her lips, enacts), 'It was not my first movie.' Teen Patti did not do well; my second movie, which was a small film, did do decently, I think. But Aashiqui was something else only - the scenes, the music." Was the music of the movie an added advantage, then? "Here, people have this thing for music. Everybody likes a good tune, achhe lafz, but of course, in Bollywood, music is essential, almost. And that is advantageous to everybody, I guess, but then the lip-synching part of it is not just about co-ordination - it's not nothing. It requires performance, and that's how the whole concept looks nice."
I put on weight first on my stomach- The actor's petite frame might make one think that dieting is the last thing on her mind, but she told us how her father keeps a check on her unhealthy eating habits and how she wishes that when she gains weight, it would spread more evenly! "I am always, always eating, and I don't always eat healthy. My mom is thin, so I am genetically slim, but I put on weight in the wrong areas. So my father, who, touch wood, is still so fit, keeps pushing me to be healthier. Problem is, I put on weight first on my stomach. So my arms and my legs are the same, but I develop a paunch, and that's not nice na. It just looks very funny. I mean, there are other places one could use some weight gain on, you know (laughs)."
But those aren't the only tips dad Shakti Kapoor gives her. Says Shraddha, "I love it when my dad talks to me like one actor talking to another. He liked my work in Ek Villain, but he keeps correcting my Hindi pronunciation. And when there are all these fake link-ups in the press, I am the one who gets worried - he's the one who tells me that it is just a part of the game, which I have to get used to."
Miss my rakshabandhan trips to Delhi- The actor, whose family's paternal side lives in Karol Bagh in Delhi, shared with us her Delhi memories from childhood and the mild disappointment at not being able to travel here on Rakshabandhan anymore. "My dad's side of the family - chachi, chacha - are all in Delhi. Karol Bagh has been a big part of my childhood. We have an old, old home there. And since I am the only girl on my dad's side of the family, Rakhi meant lots and lots of gifts for me. But now I mostly have to courier the rakhi," she says. Thinking back on the things she used to love about Delhi as a kid, she adds, "We used to get this ice cream here - kaala khatta they call it, right? I used to love it; we don't get it in Mumbai. And even now, every time I come, I have Uncle Chips. You get it only in the north side (of India) for some reason. We have a place in Def Col (Defence Colony), too. And I love the momos they sell there."
I used to tease guys during my period because it embarrasses them- Since Shraddha is working to dispel the superstitions and taboos associated with menstruation, did she have to face some of those as a teen? "I remember that I definitely did not speak about it openly, because that's how they condition you, right? But yes, I used to tease the boys in my school. I made it a point to tell them that I am on my period because that would make them turn all coy and shy, and I loved that. They would be like, 'How can you say that?' and I would say, 'Well, I just can.' The reactions of boys to this are very entertaining. I don't mind PMS jokes at all. In fact, I enjoy it, but what I enjoy even more is them getting all embarrassed," she laughs. "I don't PMS at all, though," she adds.
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