For Sara Ali Khan, her mother has been the ultimate world and more. "She is my world. As I said earlier, I loved my mummy, ever since I was in her tummy," she guffaws in her inimitable style.
Brought up by her mother, actress Amrita Singh, Sara went off to study abroad under her mother’s guidance. Talking about her experience abroad she says, “I went abroad to study law and also did an acting course there.” It was during a school play that she realised that acting is her calling. “I had participated in a play and that’s when I realised I wanted to act,” she says.
But, she was worried. "I look like my mother and if I don’t act as well as her, the media will not let me get away with it," she shares. "It was my mother who supported my choice. Having been in the film industry, her contribution was invaluable."
Sara was raised by a single mother for a long time and she attributes a lot of her upbringing to that. "It taught me things like how to be self-reliant and not depend on anyone else to move your life. You need to give it a shot and see if you get lucky as well. There are times when you feel the power of a supernatural being that acts as a guiding force for you and having a mother like her helped," says Sara.
The actress admits that she, quite often, wondered why her mother could not cook well. "That's when mom told me that she may not be able to cook or drive the car like other kids' mothers, but she could act and ride horses which others could not. That motivated me to a great extent,” she says with understanding. “I knew that everyone has a role to play in our lives," she smiles.
Sara acknowledges that her mother kept her and her brother, Ibrahim, grounded. "She is a realistic person. She helped us soar, but made us realise our roots and ensured that we stayed on stable ground," she avers.
Sara, probably is more grounded than the mother and stingy. She reveals that she once scolded her mother for spending a lot of money on buying a towel. "Oh yeah, she had bought a towel for Rs 1,600. Who spends so much money on a towel? There are so many towels even inside a vanity," she chuckles.
Sara feels her life is incomplete without her mother. "She is the reason for me to get up in the morning. I need to see her around me. I cannot ever imagine a situation in life when she is not around me. I won't be able to handle it," sighs Sara.
Finally, the actress does not believe in working in remakes of her mother's movies. "I did two remakes in the past two years and I know that some films should not be touched. I look like my mother and if I don’t act as well as her, the media will not let me get away with it. I don’t want that. I will watch Chameli Ki Shaadi at home but not do a remake," she signs off.
