My sister especially, she posted also on Instagram and she's also a single parent so she would love to read it herself
I am open to of course the idea of maybe you know finding the life
right with the right life partner that is something everybody's open to
And I don't think they probably must have thought that okay,
you know because he does certain kind of movies, we don't think he would do something so different
I think I have been my own biggest support system I think in our lives we can get moral
support from our family and we can get that external validation but the real internal
validation comes from you. You have to be your biggest supporter I think I have been my own
biggest support for sure
Hello everyone and welcome to Pinkvilla. Today I have someone with me who is known for
breaking his stereotype and myth when it comes to
parenting, joining me in a conversation is Tusshar Kapoor.
Hi Tusshar, welcome to Pinkvilla
Hi. How are you?
I am good. How are you?
I'm good.
Very congratulations on your new launch, new book launch Bachelor Dad.
Thank you so much. Thank you so so much.
So, I want to start off by asking you that you know you said that you have penned down your
most honest feelings in the book and you know before the release and now that it's in
everyone's hand I want to know did you feel vulnerable or liberated or at risk when you were
actually being so honest with your feelings for people to know and read it?
I was enjoying the process initially I didn't know whether I’d be able to write it very well
because I am writing this book, I wrote this book for the first time I wrote any book for the
first time but gradually I started feeling very, very thrilled about the process because I got
better and better as I wrote more and more and as I used to sit down to write every night
initially I’d find it very difficult to get into it once I bought into it things would just flow and
that made me feel very, very de-stressed, very entertained also and of course a bit liberated
because I was able to do justice to my own life experiences
through my own writing first person and that was a very, very satisfying feeling
What inspired you to actually write this book?
I wouldn't say that there was one particular thing that inspired me it's just that my life has been a
bit different as far as being a single parent is concerned and as I began experiencing it more
and more I realised that you know this is something that you know others would want to
know about I could share this with others through a book but it was only a thought and
gradually that thought got more evolved and as I did so many things for my son myself being
a hands-on parent I realised that you know over a period of time I would have a bank of
experiences that others would like to have a peak into and through a book maybe I would be
able to do justice to sharing an honest picture about my life experiences as a friend, as a parent
And what was your reaction the first time like you know you
completed your book and how did your parents and sister react to this entire thing?
I told them at the very end when I finished it because I
didn't want to tell anybody till, I finished this process because I didn't know I wouldn't be able to even
Initially because I like to get done with all the homework and then share it with the world so
that's what I did with my family also when I was going to announce the pre-order link that's
when I told them and they were pleasantly surprised and they were very happy, they were
very excited. My mom has already pre-ordered a number of copies for her friends so they are
very supportive yeah and my sister especially she posted also on Instagram and she's also a
single parent so she would love to read it herself though I have kept it very, very first person
very, very casual and very informative but not preachy I have written it from my point of
view and anyone who reads it can decide whether they want to take away something from it
or not but that's their prerogative I’m not forcing any views on anybody so it's just about a journey.
You know I want to know this one thing as humans we end up you know seeking a lot of
acceptance for whatever we do especially the society that we live in and you know when we
see some xyz person do something we get that validation or something but when you took
this step of actually being a single dad, there was no one who actually did it you set this
trend. Where was your point of validation who gave you that
validation that you what you're doing is right?
So I didn't really have a point of validation that okay there's somebody in the industry who
has done it, in the film industry or that this is something that's very common or rather not so
uncommon I have to get my validation myself from within and that is probably always going
to be the case even if you're going to get married, we all feel nervous,
really nervous when you think about marriage or we think about starting a family or
for a girl going to somebody else's house or for a guy to have a new member
come into the family with his parents already there I think it's challenging for everybody so
for me also it was challenging in that sense because it was something new that I was doing
more so because it was very new to society but after a point I went with my own gut feeling,
my own instincts and the knowledge and the validation
that I think it's the right thing to do and I went ahead.
That's amazing. So, it's brave, a very super brave step
Also, you know now that Laksshya is grown up and he has a better understanding of the
surroundings and things around him I’d seen one of your interviews where you spoke about
you know sometimes friends can be an influence and probably ask about the mother or
something so has, he ever come to you and asked you and
how do you deal with such situations because they can be fragile?
Well I’ve always been very honest with him and I read books to him about families that are
all kinds and today's world is really about all kinds of families in India you have parents that
are separated or your parents living in different cities or maybe your parent has lost his or her
spouse or it's about sometimes grandparents bring up children, sometimes it's like single
parenting like me so there are all kinds of families and there's no one stereotypical normal
way anymore at least so I read books to him so that even if those questions come he's never
really confused and he has never really expressed any doubt or any kind of you know any
kind of inadequacy of any kind because he's always believed that you know he's the most
important human being for me in my life and he knows that I give him unconditional love
and he is very aware that his family is as normal as any normal family can be so with that
knowledge and that security I think even if the questions arise in the future I think we will be
able to work our way around it with honesty and with the sense of clarity
Did you ever consider like you know or are you considering ever getting married or probably
not for Laksshya but your personal life like if you fall in
love, you're still open to that getting married?
I am open to of course the idea of maybe you know finding the life right with the right life
partner that is something everybody's open to but it's not that I’m feeling incomplete right
now I’m really looking to tie the knot or find the right real-life partner because I feel my life
is complete right now and I did the right thing but yes never say never, of course. You never
know where destiny might take me or what destiny has in store
for me but as of now, I feel that my family is complete for sure
And you know you've completed 20 years in the industry doing some amazing films, serving
the audience with some amazing drama. You know you did films like Golmaal, Mastizaade,
Kya Kool Hai Hum. You also said you mentioned this before that people didn't really expect
it out of you when you said that you're going to try being a single dad so has that also
changed people’s perception regarding you now that they've seen how your journey has been?
I don't really know what people's perceptions are and I think if you go by what the people we
move around with especially in the film line I think that doesn't really represent what the
general public really thinks about you but the families that I meet at airports or at events or
the normal Indian public, they are very supportive from the time Laksshya came into my
family and they're very happy that I spent so much time with him and I don't think they
probably must have thought that okay, you know because he does certain kind of movies we
don't think he would do something so different and I think the normal audience is very
innocent they accept you for what you are and they don't really have so many
preconceived notions, they don't categorise you they just adapted to it and accepted it like they
should for any person so I respect that and great to have so much positivity and such a warm
welcome from the Indian audience especially, for this unconventional step that I took
Definitely. Kudos to you for that. I have last few questions which are like a rapid question
and I just expect you to say it like super quick yeah. So, what do you think is the best part
about being a Bachelor Dad?
Being busy
What do you think is the least favourite part of being a Bachelor Dad?
I don’t know too much about nutrition
Okay. Any message that emotionally touched you a lot?
I don't know my sister told me just after Laksshya was born that you realise that you are
going to be showing the way to many other people. She said that you have the guts to do
this and hopefully you will show the way to many other people
And if you could describe Laksshya and Ravie’s
relationship in one word, how would you describe it as?
Laksshya, Ravie, it’s like Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan
Okay and who has been your biggest support system throughout?
I think I have been my own biggest support system I think in our lives we can get moral
support from our family and we can get that external validation but the real internal
validation comes from you. You have to be your biggest
supporter I think I have been my own biggest support for sure
At this very point of Laksshya life what does he aspire to be? Has he ever told you I want to be this?
He used to be astronaut but now he says then he became a
police officer and now he says he wants to be I think he still again has gone back to astronaut
Okay. Has he ever told you about acting?
No, no he's not very he's heard he hears Bollywood songs because they have a module in
school also for dance where they kind of show you a Bollywood song and you learn
Bollywood dance also but that's the only exposure, he has to
Bollywood. He doesn't understand what I do really well as of now
That was amazing. Thank you so much for doing this and
inspiring so many people out there. We hope to meet really, really soon
Thank you so much. Hope to see you soon. Bye
Bye.