Sonali Bendre wants to explore more of Vadodara

Sonali Bendre, on her first visit to Vadodara to attend a literary festival, said that she will like to explore the city more during her next visit. She also shared her views on parenting, being a celebrity mother and her career in bollywood.

Sonali was in the cultural city to attend the first ever literature festival and shared her views on Parenting in Digital Era in conversation with Milee Aishwarya. She was very excited on her first visit to the city and wish to come again to explore it more.

“This is my first trip to the city and I didn’t get a chance to see much. But next time, I want to visit the palace here because I have heard a lot of interesting things about it. I love visiting cities like Vadodara, which have a rich history and are rich culturally. Literary festivals are very important because they make young people read, which influences their thought process and helps them in forming opinions. So, I congratulate the organizers for this fantastic initiative. I thought of writing a book because many people, including my husband Goldie Behl, insisted that I must jot down my experiences and thoughts about parenting, which they found fascinating,” said Bendre.

She also shared her experience about her bollywood journey and the film offers she turned down due to her age. “I still get many offers but I turn them down because they don’t suit my age. You cannot hide your age in front of the camera and I don’t want to play characters that don’t excite me. I will do more Bollywood films only if they suit me. I am very proud of the films I did and some of my favorite movies include Zakhm, which many people had advised me not to take up, Diljale, where I feel I could have done even better, Sarfarosh and Hum Saath Saath Hai, where I got to play a character that is just the opposite of how I am in real life. I think comedy is the most difficult genre for any actor,” said Bendre.

Talking about parenting in the digital era, she said, “It took me a very long time to join Twitter and other social networking sites. Although my team wanted me to join it because there were many fake profiles in my name, I was not keen. But one day, I was surprised to find out that my 11-year old son Ranveer has an instagram account. My husband assured me that the family was keeping a watch on him and there was no reason to worry. Soon, I also joined social networking sites and interacting one-on-one with people has been fun. Ranveer loves advising me about what to do and what not to do on social media, and he tells me that I should not allow anyone to bully me on the internet.”

She also said that its a challenge for her of being a celebrity mother. “Although I hate cooking, I now go to the kitchen regularly as I want to ensure a healthy diet for my son. I am lucky to have a fabulous husband, who is my best friend also, and my mother-in-law is very supportive too. My husband keeps telling my son that while his pictures appear in the paper because his mom is famous, he should work hard and ensure that he achieves something, and should be actually happy when his photos come in the paper for his own achievements,” said Bendre.