I have become more patient after motherhood: Kashmera Shah

Best known for her roles in films such as Yes Boss, Pyar To Hona Hi Tha and Wake Up Sid, actress and model Kashmera Shah, was in the city recently to act in the play Wrong Number. She talked to us about her love for Lucknow, her recent motherhood, about family feud and much more…
With Lucknow being her sasuraal, since her husband Krushna Abhishek’s aunt Geeta Singh lives here, Kashmera feels at home in the city."I love being in Lucknow as I get so much love and warmth here. Geeta aunty mujhe saas jaisa hi pyaar deti hain but woh typical saas nahi hain. I see my golden age in her, which means, when I will be more than sixty years of age, I will just be like her. I share a very good relationship with her."
Being a proud mother of twins, Kashmera is happy with her life. Ask her how well has she adapted to motherhood and she replies, "I was on the phone a few minutes ago with Krushna in Mumbai, who has gone to the doctor for a regular checkup of the kids. Everything is new for me because I never expected this double trouble (laughs). Every day is a surprise as it sometimes brings smile and sometimes problem." She goes on to add, "Motherhood hasn’t changed me much but the only difference I feel is that I have become more patient."
On being asked how much Krushna helps in looking after the twins, she instantly says, "Not at all. Krushna is a typical working dad but jab woh bacchon ke saath hota hai toh aisa lagta hai ki teen bacche hain, pata nahi chalta kaun sa baccha hai kaun sa baap hai. But what I feel is that bacche usko sudharenge, main toh sudhar nahi paayi."
Kashmera Shah at Sangeet Natak Akademi in Lucknow (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
Talking about her opinion on celeb kids grabbing attention on social media, Kashmera says, "You can call this superstition but I feel it is important to keep the kids safe. Not everybody watching my pics on social media is a well-wisher. And they are kids, if they have to become famous they can become doctor, astronomer or an actor, it’s their destiny. I will not force them to become actors."
Clearing the air about the recent family feud over her tweet ‘people who dance for money’, which involved her husband Krushna Abhishek, actor Govinda and his wife Sunita, Kashmera says, "Firstly, it’s something that did not involve me. It is a comment that I made on my sister-in-law Arti (Singh), because she and I had this relationship where we put up pictures on social media and comment on each other. When I would put some nice things up they did not relate it to themselves. When I put something not so complimentary, they thought it was for them and Arti reacted very badly. Secondly, last year in June, I got the twins and it was a premature delivery and I was in the hospital for one-and-a-half months looking after them and Govinda and Sunita did not call even once. Jab aap mere bure waqt mein saath nahi ho, toh mein aapse kya expect karoon. That six-month phase was a very bad one for us. They did not support us earlier, nor will they support us in future," says Kashmera, adding, "I think my kids can grow up knowing they don’t have this uncle and aunt and cousin and that’s fine. But those people (Govinda and Sunita) miss out on playing with those two angels. How can you not want to see the next generation of your own family? Log apne bacchon ko bahut kuch dete hai, main hatred nahi dena chahti hoon. I just don’t want to bring this topic in front of them. I just want them to live in a world where love is easier than hate."
Dwelling on the past, Kashmera adds, "I have apologised so many times in the last 12 years for a lot of things that I have not done or said and I will stop apologising for being a career woman or for being intelligent or being sexy and hot. I am done apologising for being ambitious and I stand for all those women who don’t want to apologise just because they are working. I think that’s what they are against me, that I am not one of those bimbettes who sits at home and lives a life off a husband’s income. I have an independent identity and have full support of my husband, who also has made his name, not because he was someone’s nephew but because of his talent. I wish them luck and I am okay if I don’t meet them in my life."
On the professional front, Kashmera has donned a new cap of a film director. She is not only directing a movie but has also written it. "I have written a film titled Marne Bhi Do Yaaron which was being shot in Greece till a few days back and for the first time I am directing a feature film. The film stars me, Krushna, Kiran Kumar and a new actor, Risabh Chauhan," she informs.