Hyderabad: She grew up in the spotlight, the daughter of a superstar and a famous actress. Her parents' marriage was highly publicised, and their separation was equally dramatic, marking a significant chapter in her early life. Despite the glamour surrounding her family, her childhood was marked by hardship and resilience.
The lady is nonother than Twinkle Khanna, the daughter of famous actors Dimple Kapadia and Rajesh Khanna. Married to Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar for over twenty years, Twinkle has been candid about her life experiences, particularly after her parents' separation.
Starting her career in movies in the 1990s, Twinkle soon left the film industry and shifted her focus to writing. Despite her brief acting career, she often reflects on it with humour. Her father, the legendary Rajesh Khanna, was supportive of her initial foray into films, but she also witnessed the difficult phase of her parents' marriage falling apart.
In a 2018 interview with Karan Johar at the launch of her book Pyjamas Are Forgiving, Twinkle recounted the impact of her parents' separation and expressed deep admiration for her mother's resilience.
Sharing insights into her personal life and career journey, she revealed her perspective on relationships and independence. Twinkle shared, "Everything I write seems to revolve around women finding their place in the world, and the tension between who a woman is and who society expects her to be. I remember a vivid image from my childhood… When we moved to our grandmother’s house, we had to share a room. My mother and my aunt would share the bed, while my sister and I had mattresses on the floor. Every morning at 5, my mother would wake up and put on a Jane Fonda workout tape…"
She continued, "She would put it on mute, and she would do her workout all around it. And then she would go to work, and at that time, they would do three shifts. She would come home at 9, she would never complain, she always had a smile on her face. For me, it was very clear at that point that a woman doesn’t have to rely on anyone, besides herself. Men were okay, it was enjoyable to have them like a dessert, but they were certainly not the main course."
Twinkle explained that these experiences profoundly shaped her life, providing her with a unique perspective as she watched her mother set an impressive example of self-reliance and strength. Dimple Kapadia, who married Rajesh Khanna in the 1970s when she was just a teenager, faced the challenges of their marriage falling apart in the 1980s, largely due to Khanna’s declining career and his growing bitterness.
Read More
