INTERVIEW WITH JUHI BABBAR - II

Who : Juhi Babbar
About : Theatre Actress, daughter of Raj and Nadira Babbar
Website: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1318320/

How it happened : Interview with Juhi Babbar
Interview Date: October, 2001
Place: Bahrain
Pics: None

She is sweet, charming and a lovable personality, and aims to make her parents proud. Astonishingly good looking, a fashion designer, a theatre actress, and now all set to hit Bollywood with her debut movie, Kaash Aap Hamaare Hote, Juhi Babbar willingly and smilingly gives an interview

Nikhil Taneja(NT) :You started getting film offers at an early age of 17. But you are hitting the big screen only now. What made you refuse the offers in between this period.
Juhi Babbar(JB) : Yes I did start getting offers at a very early age. But I wanted to finish my studies. There’s no way that I wanted to come in as a 10^th pass or a 12^th pass. I didn’t want anyone to look at me and say...‘These heroines ! Don’t believe in studying and they are just there to look good and to run around trees.’ I just wanted to complete my studies, have a degree for myself, and then to whatever else I want.

NT : Your father is launching you in Kaash Aap Hamaare Hote, opposite Sonu Nigam. Tell Us something about this movie.
JB : Oh I am very excited ! Very nervous, at the same time, because it’s my debut. I have worked very hard, and I just hope that people like my work…the story is very nice and the role is quite challenging. It’s just up to the audiences now.

NT : Even your brother is entering movies now. Do you think this is the right time for him to enter movies, considering he is younger than you ?
JB : I think that this is the very apt time for newcomers to come, because the audience and the people are just waiting for new faces and new talents and are really welcoming them. So I think that it is the very right time for Arya also to come in. He is young, yes. In fact, he is two years younger than me, which makes him 20. He is a very hard working boy, and he has done some amount of theatre also, side by side with his college. And he is very talented, and I am not saying this because he is my brother, but because he deserves it. So I hope the best for him and hope the audiences will accept him, and the same goes for me too !

NT : Your half-brother, Prateek, seems more interested in Cricket..
JB : Ah yes(Smiling), Prateek is interested in Cricket, you are right. But you never know ! Because, ek kahavat hai, acting ka keeda hota hai (Laughs)! (There is a phrase, that acting is a germ). And plus, his parents are from this field, so you never know !

NT : Tell us something about your days at the NIFT, after which you even started doing your fashion shows.
JB : They were my most memorable days. I think no one can ever have such days at college. I loved my days at the NIFT. I made the most wonderful friends ever, and I am very lucky. And it has been a very educative process of learning for me, even in my personal life, I mean clothes and textures and fabrics and colours, something everyone should understand. And since I have done this, it is something that has helped me in films and theatre too, and I have done a few fashion shows of mine too.

NT : Yours was the first badge it seems..
JB : Yes, I was from the first badge of NIFT, Bombay, and it was very exciting. We, kind of, became very possessive about the building. You know. I mean, when the juniors came in, it was like, who are these invaders walking in ! I mean, when we were there, it was just us 30 people and the staff. So from the peons to the teachers to the registrars to us students, it was like one big whole family.

NT :You have been designing costumes for your mother’s play all along. How easy or how difficult is it to match the costumes according to the play’s needs ?
JB : The difference between fashion designing and costume designing is that costume designing is much more difficult, because in fashion designing, you are designing for the masses, you are designing according to the whole cast. For costume designing, you have to understand the mood of the play, the characters and you have to design according to the story. So it’s just a little bit of understanding one has to have, and since I have had a theatrical background, and my family has given me the theatrical awareness, it was not very difficult for me…very challenging, yes, but I have enjoyed it, and I have done costumes for over six plays now.

NT : Your first play was Yahudi Ki Ladki, among experienced and established actors. Did you feel uncomfortable ? How have you changed since then ?
JB : Uhh…yes ! Obviously yes(smiles)…because it was the first time I was acting. But in my mother’s group, Ekjut theatre group, we have very very talented actors, from the National School of Drama, and there are very experienced, since they have been working in theatre for more that 10-15 years. With most of them, I was like, I used to kid around, I used to bug around, I used to be around with them, I mean, they made it so comfortable for me and so encouraging for me that after a point, I was really relaxed. I was so happy, that just in one play, in my first play, I got to work with so many talented people, because Yahudi Ki Ladki has a very big cast. And my role was very difficult. It was a wonderful experience. Of course, now I have become much more confident, not too nervous, and I have learnt quite a lot.

NT : How has life been as the daughter of the likes of Raj Babbar and Nadira Babbar ?
JB : (Laughs) I think I have got the best parents that anyone could have. They are my inspirations, and I wish I can live up to their expectations, I can make them proud.

NT : You are already doing that I think..
JB : (Laughs) I hope so, I don’t know… I am working towards it. It’s a long way, as they have very big names, and a lot of respect in their respective fields. I hope I can be a good actress, I hope I can be a good human being like them…and it has been wonderful being their daughter (Laughs) ! From every way !

NT :Begum Jaan is based on the life of Begum Jaan. Where does Zarina come in between?
JB : Zarina, the character, is Begum Jaan’s grand daughter. And it is a beautiful character. In fact, it is not like Yahudi Ki Ladki, where I played the second lead…and not the main lead. My mother is very strict. The moment you come into the group, you don’t get main roles ! You start with small, so first I have to do costumes, then I have to make one little entry, then another little entry, and then you will be given a big play. So Yahudi Ki Ladki was a big play. Then I have done another play called Ballakhpur Ki Roop Katha, which is again a comedy and a light play. Then again, one play I have done a role in the crowd. So Zarina’s role was one role, which had lot of shades. For the first time I was doing a role with lot of shades to the charcter. And it was a learning experience, as an actress, and it was wonderful sharing the stage with my mother. At one point of time, in fact, she wanted to do the play, and I was going to America for a short course in acting, and she wanted to do it, and I was like, ‘No ! Please don’t do it with anyone else ! Because I didn’t know when I would get this opportunity of working as an actress, or as a co-actress with you. Direction to aap mujhe aage bhi kar sakti hain, bahut plays mein!!’ (Smiles) (You can direct me in plays in the future too).

NT : In fact, she’s just wished to direct you in a movie…
JB : Yeah ? She has ? (Laughs uproariously) I didn’t know that ! I hope she does…soon !

NT : Apart from acting, what other qualities have you inherited from your parents ?
JB : Well I don’t know ! One can’t realty talk about my qualities…at least I can’t really sit and talk about my qualities(Laughs). But I want to inherit their qualities of being a talented actor, a good human being, a good citizen, a good parent. I hope I can have these qualities. I don’t know how much of these I already have, but I am working towards it..

NT : What are your future plans ?
JB : My future isn’t a lot to talk about, right now, because of the kind of stage I am, my theatre is there, my first film is 75% complete. So very soon I would be jumping in the film industry also. I want to try and do good work, theatres and film, if I could manage to do both simultaneously, nothing like it, I would love to do it. A lot of people tell me that ‘Oh! Once you enter films, you leave theatre’. I know it gets difficult, because you get busy with films. But even if I do one play a year, I would be very very happy. Because stage is from where I come, which has made me an actress and given me the confidence to express myself. So I am just hoping to do theatres and films together, and do good work, make my parents proud, and that’s it.

NT : What is your aim in life now ?
JB : Aiim (sounding bored) ?? I really don’t have an aim-aim, or an ambition-ambition, as such(Smiles). Right now, if you ask me, I just want to be a good actress, a good daughter, a good sister and I want people to love me, love me as a person and love me as an actress, and appreciate me as an actress..

NT : You will definitely do that, I am sure..
JB : Thank You Nikhil. I hope so too ! So let’s see…

*********************************************************************

More about Juhi…(filled up by her, in the same words)

You are identified as : Juhi Babbar

Loved ones call you : Oh! My loved ones have given me various names! LOTS !

Your birthday : Guess !

Your sum sign : Cancer

The most memorable moment of your life : When I gave my mahurat shot…I was crying, laughing, crying, laughing….and on and on and on..

Movies you don’t mind, seeing a hundred times : Mother India, The Sound of Music, Pyaar Kiye Jaa, etc…lots; I am a movie buff !

Your heart beats faster for : My heart beats anyways, but I am an admirer of

Actors : Balraj Sahani, Sanjeev Kumar, Rex Harrison, Keanu Reeves, etc.

Actresses : Madhubala, Suchitra Sen, Rekha, etc.

You would love to tame : My dog, ‘Badshah’. He is so ill mannered !

You love to surf the sites : I hardly get the time to. If I do get the time, I surf entertainment and fashion related sites.

Music that sets your feet tapping : Any good music !

Your mouth watering delights : Se(a)(e) ‘Food’. Anything I see ! I am a good eater !

Colours you simple love to dress in : White, Yellow and Blue.

Your favourite Pastime : Watching movies and being with my friends.

The day when you didn’t know where to hide your face : I haven’t done anything like that and I never will !

The one and only wish you want, fulfilled : To make my parents proud…very proud !

A line about yourself : Love me ! I am lovable !!

© Nikhil Taneja (nikhiltaneja@gmail.com)