It’s all in the Genes
Bhagyashree quit acting to be a hands-on mother. Now her kids are actors themselves
Thirty-three years have passed since the now 53-year-old actress Bhagyashree made her film debut as Suman in Maine Pyar Kiya, but she looks just the same. “That is because she has amazing kids like us! We don’t stress her out!” quips Abhimanyu, 32, her son.
The actor-mom is here with her two actor kids for an HT Brunch photoshoot, their first together for a magazine, and she’s almost vibrating with pride. After all, she renounced her film career to bring them up. And now here they are, all three of them actors together.
Baby Steps
Abhimanyu made his on-screen debut in 2018 with Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, for which he picked up the Filmfare award for best debut—30 years after his mom earned the same award! Avantika, 27, had once decided not to act. But she made her debut this year with the ZEE5 webseries, Mithya.
Bhagyashree has also made a comeback to cinema—she was recently seen in Thalaivii and Radhe Shyam. But initially, she was apprehensive about her kids being part of the film industry.
“It is emotionally taxing, I wanted them to have something more secure,” she says. “But once they decided on their course, they had my full support.”
A path of their own
Neither Abhimanyu nor Avantika asked their mother for help as they started their acting careers.
In fact, Avantika had decided early in her life that she never act. “In school, if I ever didn’t do something I was supposed to do, people would assume that I was taking things lightly because I would obviously enter films,” says Avantika. “This totally put me off the idea of becoming an actress.”
Growing up, Abhimanyu had been business-minded. “But while dabbling in different ventures, I landed on the sets of Dum Maaro Dum. I was 19 and the energy of filmmaking just sucked me in.”
Their mother’s shadow
Despite refusing to take advantage of being a star kid, Abhimanyu found himself right in the middle of the nepotism debate.
“For me, it is never a clean slate. There is always a certain amount of expectation,” he says. Avantika’s take on nepotism is nuanced. “There is a curiosity around me because of my mom. The audience is interested in watching star kids, hence producers find us easier to market.”
Mom’s the word
“I was a very closed and introverted person, and my kids have given me a new lease of life. My return to acting is due to my children.” BHAGYASHREE, Actor
According to Bhagyashree, both her kids were instrumental in getting her back to work on sets.
“Avantika asked me to get back to work till the day I finally signed up for a project,” she says. “I give my kids full credit for my comeback.”