For Aishwarya Rajinikanth Dhanush, growing up in a celebrity household did not mean everything came easy.
Recounting her childhood on day two of the Bangalore Literature Festival on Sunday, the Tamil superstar’s daughter said she was denied a lot of normal activities such as sleepovers, discos and outings with her friends. “It was on my 18th birthday that I went up to my dad and asked him to take me to a disco. My birthday is on New Year’s Day. So when my father and I entered a New Year’s party at midnight, all hell broke lose. After five minutes at the disco, as people were staring at us, he said ‘So you have seen the disco, shall we go?’ But I understand the competing emotions of a father,” she said.
As a film-maker, would she prefer to direct her father? “It would also mean snatching away the chance of another film-maker. I am content as a producer,” she said.
Ms. Aishwarya announced that she was working on a three-part documentary series on the unsung heroes of the film industry — the stuntmen, junior artists and background dancers. She said there is a need to recognise their work. “Sadly, neither the National Film Awards nor the Oscars have a category for stuntmen or action directors. I have requested Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu to introduce the category this year. If it happens, it will be my small contribution [to them],” she said.
‘Would like to write Rajini biography’
After debuting with a memoir of growing up as a celebrity child, mS. Aishwarya now wants to write a biography of her famous father. “There are certain things that people like to keep private. But if he wants to speak, I want to write his biography,” she said after releasing her book ‘Standing on an Apple Box’.
