‘THERE’S A LOT TO CELEBRATE’
Birthday girl Sonam K Ahuja is in London today with husband Anand S Ahuja and besties Kareena Kapoor Khan and Karisma Kapoor. We had a chat with her before she flew off
Right now, she has lots of reasons to pop the champagne, including her wedding with Delhibased businessman, Anand S Ahuja, and her birthday today. This year, actor Sonam K Ahuja is celebrating her 33rd birthday in London, UK. “Anand lives between London and Delhi, but mostly in London. So, it’s nice to be there with him,” she tells us, talking about life, career and more.
You have a lot of reasons to be in a celebratory mood, right?
I’m really happy as there’s a lot to celebrate — my wedding, the success and acclaim for Pad Man and now, the way Veere Di Wedding has been performing [at the box office]. It has been a lot of hard work but also loads of positivity. I haven’t been able to enjoy everything, as I’ve been working a lot. But now, with my best friends, Anand, Rhea (Kapoor, sister and film producer), Bebo (Kareena Kapoor Khan) and Lolo (Karisma Kapoor), this birthday would be interesting.
How’s married life? Is it going to be a special birthday due to that?
I don’t know about it being the ‘special birthday’, but married life is amazing. I’m sure every wife thinks that, but I have the best husband in the world. I feel really blessed and happy. If I have my feet planted on the ground, continue to work hard and do the right thing, good stuff will happen. It might take a while but usually, good stuff happens to such people.
Big congratulations on breaking the glass ceiling. Veere Di Wedding (VDW) is doing so well.
We were confident that it would do well but to get critical acclaim along with such [a] commercial outing is amazing. We thought the opening figures would be in single digits. Rhea thought it wouldn’t go above ₹7-8 crore. But to open with ₹12 crore is insane, and a ₹38-39 crore opening weekend is absolutely great. We all are really happy. I got critical as well commercial acclaim with Neerja, followed by Pad Man and now, VDW. I have my fingers crossed for the future.
With backtoback hits, including Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015), you must be feeling blessed? Yes, I feel really lucky. Also, I feel happy that all the films have had unconventional subjects. Honestly, it’s not something that I had expected.
At this stage of your career, what does success mean to you?
I feel success is something that’s in your head. So, people may define it in terms of how well you are doing etc, but for me, success is self-validation. You shouldn’t wait for that validation from outside. For me, success is when you are a part of some change wherein you can alter people’s thought process positively, even if slowly. So, if you’re like, ‘I am doing something that will change the way people think about cinema, women or other societal things,’ that’s success. It’s all about affecting change.