Tanishaa Mukerji, who is known for her role in ‘Neal 'n' Nikki’ speaks exclusively to mid-day.com on being raised by single mother Tanuja, following her footsteps, and more.
Tanishaa Mukerji with her mom Tanuja Pic/Instagram
Actress Tanuja’s daughter Tanishaa Mukerji describes the veteran as a "beautiful soul". Tanishaa was born to Tanuja and Shomu Mukherjee, who parted ways when she was very little. The actress, who is known for her role in ‘Neal 'n' Nikki’ speaks exclusively to mid-day.com on being raised by a single mother, following her footsteps, and more.
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Tanishaa recalls her mother treating everyone like an equal, including her children. “She never looked down or said something condescending. All our concerns, everything we questioned, even no matter how silly it was, it was like, okay, you feel this way, why do you feel this way? It was always a conversation. I think that was the beauty. She spoke to us at our level. I think every mother needs to be a friend to their child. But at the same time, she did discipline us.”
The ‘Sarkar’ actress asserts that the word “old” has developed a very dirty connotation, and would rather prefer the term “evolve” to be used instead. When asked how she manages to spend more time with her mother as she’s “evolving” despite being in a demanding field, she interjects in jest, “I am my mother's housewife.”
Tanishaa entered the entertainment industry more than two decades ago. Her mother, who treated Bollywood like family, found it to be the most protected area for her daughter to work in. “Firstly, our industry is not that bloody scary. I'm sorry. I agree, there are a lot of stories, but that is in every industry and all over the world. Any woman will tell you horror stories about the field she's working in. Bollywood is not that bad. Okay? I want people to stop making it sound like an evil space. My mom was never scared, I was going into her family. She would’ve been scared if I was going into engineering,” laughs Tanishaa.
Tanishaa asserts that she and her sister Kajol were brought up to be very strong women, who knew their minds, whether right or wrong. “That's what any mother should do, create a strong identity for her children. One that's not based on what clothes they wear or how many boyfriends they have. How honest are you? How loving are you? What is it that you value in somebody? I think that's what my mom instilled in me.”
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“We are very straight-up, very honest, clean-hearted people. That's the most beautiful thing a mother can give her child is to have a pure, clean heart, and to think good thoughts about other people. To not be a negative-minded person. There are all these new things like fat shaming and I don't look at people as fat or thin, black or white, big or small. That gift has been given to me by my mother,” she concludes.
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