I am amazed to see how grand Durga Puja celebrations have become in Lucknow: Aahana Kumra

Lucknow girl Aahana Kumra, of the 'Lipstick Under My Burkha' fame, is in the city these days. In her hometown during Navratri after several years, Aahana says she is amazed to see how city folk are celebrating Navratri. "I am amazed to see how grand Durga Puja celebrations have become in Lucknow," exclaimed she, adding, "When I used to stay in Lucknow tab hardly ek ya do pandaal hote thay Durga Puja ke and it was mostly the Bengali community who used to be part of the Durga Puja celebrations at those pandals.But I am pleasantly surprised to see that this time there are so many pandals here in Lucknow. The moment I landed at the airport, I got a copy of Lucknow Times which had featured several Durga Puja pandals. I was amazed to see those huge pandals with themes being put up here. Lucknow now looks no less than Kolkata during Navratris!"
Aahana Kumra at the Jankipuram Durga puja pandal in Lucknow (BCCL/ Vishnu Jaiswal)
Seeing the excitement in the city for the puja celebrations, Aahana couldn’t resist visiting one of the biggest pandal in the city at Janakipuram. "I was tempted to dress up in typical Indian attire and visit at least one pandal. So I went to this one put up at Sahara States in Janakiuram. Thankfully the president of the Durga Puja committee there let me sit and pray near the idol of Durga maa. The idol was so grand and beautiful that I was mesmerised! Since I live in Mumbai, toh wahan pe jaise grand way mein Ganesh Chaturhti manayi jaati hai, waise hi ab Lucknow mein Durga Puja celebrations hoti hai! Every year during Navratris, I go to the Andheri pandaal in Mumbai where Durga Puja is celebrated in a typical Bengali style. This time I am lucky to be in Lucknow and be able to perform darshan in my hometown," she shares.
Aahana bought some pretty trinkets from a stall at the pandal (BCCL/ Vishnu Jaiswal)
Ask Aahana about her childhood memories of Durga Puja celebrations in Lucknow and she says, "As a girl, my first earning was from being a kanya during kanya poojan on Ashtami and Navami. The first time I earned money was during that time only. And let me tell you, I used to feel so empowered earning those quick bucks and visiting houses. Though I am quite diet conscious now, uss time pe toh main hachak ke poori aur chane and halwa khaati thi. Kya eating capacity hua karti thi meri, I can’t even tell you. I miss all these things in Mumbai. Wahan pe kanya poojan itne grand level pe nahi hota."
Talking about her professional life Aahana, who has also done a TV series 'Yudh' with Amitabh Bachchan, will now be seen as Priyanka Gandhi in the Indian biographical political drama the 'Accidental Prime Minister'. Telling us how she prepared for the role, Aahana says, "Not much stuff in terms of videos is available on Priyanka on the internet. So apart from seeing what was available, I saw a lot of interviews of Indira Gandhi. Priyanka is so much like her grand mother in so many ways – from looks to body language, to her style of speaking. So, more than reading up on Priyanka Gandhi, I researched more on Indira Gandhi, which was equally helpful for me to prepare for the role."
Recalling how she loved eating budhiya ke baal when going pandal hopping in Lucknow as a kid, Aahana bought a whole lot of them at the pandal she visited on Tuesday (BCCL/ Vishnu Jaiswal)
Aahana was recently a part of the panel discussion on the #metoomovement in Delhi. Telling us about her views on it she says, "The #metoomovement is India is not going to last because I don’t see conviction in it. And I think the most important thing in a movement has to be conviction. It has literally become a bandwagon where all the women who are even hurt in their past relationships are jumping in and saying that this guy hurt me and that guy hurt me. So the genuine stories are somewhere getting diluted. When it happened in the US, there were evidences and there was legal action taken and people have lost jobs and their identities because of the movement. In India too there has to be legal action taken against all the #metoo accused. Although the industry is taking a stand against the accused by boycotting them."