Janhvi Kapoor has joked that her mother, actor Sridevi, only began seeing acting potential in her after she underwent a nose job. The actor made the remark during a conversation with her cousin Maheswari on The Maggie Show on Galatta Plus Tamil, where they discussed Sridevi’s initial reaction to Janhvi’s decision to pursue a career in films.
Maheswari recalled Sridevi telling her that Janhvi wanted to become an actor, but that she was not particularly keen on the idea.
“Jaanu wants to be in films, but I’m not very keen because it’s a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication, and you have to be really strong to get in there,” she recalled Sridevi saying.
Kapoor said that when she told her mother about her acting ambitions, Sridevi agreed but warned her about the commitment the profession demanded.
“She was like, ‘Okay, but then you have to give your life to it’,” Kapoor said.
She then offered a humorous explanation for her mother’s change of heart, suggesting that Sridevi had not been convinced of her acting potential until after her nose job.
“After I did my nose, she was like, ‘Yeah, there’s potential’,” Kapoor said, laughing.
The conversation also touched on Kapoor’s childhood and her relationship with her younger sister Khushi. Maheswari remembered Janhvi as a quiet child, while Khushi was more demanding. Kapoor said the sisters frequently fought when they were younger but had grown closer following their mother’s death.
“I think we became a lot more maternal towards each other,” she said, adding that they had also become more patient with one another. Asked whether Khushi had taken on the role of the older sister, Kapoor replied, “It’s both ways.”
Kapoor also recalled Sridevi’s strict rules around makeup and beauty, revealing that she would secretly take products from her mother’s dressing room.
She remembered being “heartbroken” when footage of her running around on one of Sridevi’s film sets was cut from the final edit, while Khushi’s footage was retained.
“My big screen debut got stopped,” she joked.
Later in the conversation, Kapoor spoke about how women are judged for their clothing and the assumptions people make about their character based on what they wear. She said it had taken her time to understand this, as it was not something she had grown up anticipating.
“I would encourage the men and the boys and some of the mothers to look at it in a way that you should not judge a girl based on what they’re wearing, as opposed to girls changing their behaviour to not come across a certain way,” she said.
Kapoor has previously spoken about undergoing cosmetic procedures. On Two Much, hosted by Kajol and Twinkle Khanna, she said she had been careful about the procedures she chose and had received guidance from her mother. She also criticised videos in which people claiming to be doctors speculate about celebrities’ cosmetic surgeries.
(Edited By Raunaq Lekhi)