Set to Shine-Twinkle Khanna

Set to shine

Twinkle Khanna has found her footing in interior designing

PHOTO: BHAGYA PRAKASH K.

IN A NEW GALAXY Twinkle Khanna For long, we thought every star had an expiry date. They shot, they shone and then went into oblivion. Things are changing now. There are many who are ready to try other vocations if the going is not great. Twinkle Khanna is among them. She drenched us with her simplicity in Barsaat but soon discovered that to last on celluloid, you have got to have multiple layers. Be it Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Ajay Devgan or Akshay Kumar — with whom she eventually tied the knot — she was cast opposite every possible star, not to mention her having inherited the enviable genes of Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia. But somehow Twinkle could not make the grade at the box-office. Coveted award So after a short stint, she turned to interior designing. And is doing much better. Four years into the profession, her store, White Window, is a well-known spot in Mumbai and last year, she won the coveted Elle Dcor International Design Award. Recently, she designed the Citrine Design Studio in New Delhi's Kalkaji. Says Twinkle, "I realised early that I didn't have it in me to last long as an actress. I won't say interior designing was my first love, but I was assisting an interior designer before joining films." The kind of money you can make at a young age, says Twinkle, was one of the factors that attracted her to cinema. "But every day I felt that I was going to work, which is not the case now, even though the schedules are much more hectic and I have a son to take care of." Inherited creativity Twinkle says that she has inherited the creativity from her maternal side. "As kids, we (Twinkle and her sister Rinkie) were good at structures. Soon we picked up crochet, and drawing always fascinated me. My mother is good at candle making but she used to do it as a hobby. Rinkie and I cajoled her to take it up as a parallel profession." Interior designing demands technical knowledge, and Twinkle says she misses a formal degree. "I had to work harder. I gained knowledge on CAD and draughtsmanship. Then I worked with an architect for two years on different projects, as here you learn the most on the job. Just cramming doesn't suffice." Talking of trends, Twinkle says the days of minimalism are over and people are again looking for extravagance. "I believe fashion trends also reflect interior designing. My effort has always been that India should be reflected through my work. That's why you would find lotus motifs, gold texturing and generous use of mother of pearl at the Citrine studio. Then we created a water body, which adds to the charm of a fashion destination." Poonam Bajaj, owner of Citrine, a luxury prt store housing the designs of some of the happening young designers of the country, says Twinkle never behaved like a star or a star-wife for that matter. "She was open to ideas and always there in person when the work was on." She is now working on a jewellery store in the city. Managing logistics is an issue with outstation jobs, particularly when you have a family. Twinkle says when you have a husband like Akshay, things become easier. Akshay is at the height of his career but Twinkle maintains, "He takes care of Aarav when I am out for month-long assignments. This includes changing diapers and giving him a bath." Any chance of a comeback to Bollywood? "No. I did enjoy doing theatre for a while, but then I got so engrossed in work that I could not take time off." However, she will remain connected to her past through set designing. "Yes, I have got offers but I like permanence."

ANUJ KUMAR

i hope she starts acting again yaar been ages since i saw one of her films