By Sanya Pandey

New Delhi, Oct 12 (UNI) Bollywood actress Kajol, who is playing the role of a doting mother in 'Helicopter Eela', says she feels grateful that her sub-conscious voice was Tanuja's and she is a better person because of it.

Talking to UNI, Kajol told how her mother Tanuja is complete opposite to Eela, that she is portraying in the movie.

'My mother is the complete opposite of Eela. The kind of upbringing she gave me is something I will treasure. I think I am lucky to be born to her. I could not have chosen a better mother. Because she was extremely brave bringing me up,' Kajol said.

'The kind of things she taught me as a kid, I used to get frustrated at that time but now I realise when I have grown up that telling those things when I was younger, I was able to put it into practice when I became an adult. I don't have to read self-help books. Like she used to tell me that 'anger is not going to win' and I used to get pissed off and shout on her. She told me 'act, don't react'. So these all are some stuff that I learnt from her,' the actress said.

'When you grow up, start facing life, meet different people, you react instinctively, not realising that somewhere in your sub-consious is your mother telling you that this is the right way to go about it. I am very grateful that my sub-conscious voice was Tanuja's and I am a better person for it,' Kajol said.

'Helicopter Eela' features Kajol in the lead role as an aspiring singer and single mother.

Asked if the movie of the same subject line would have made a place in the 90's, Kajol said, 'I don't think it would have done good at the box office. I love the fact that our audiences have changed because of the social media. They have changed their viewpoints where films are concerned. So even for us, in the film industry, we have to pull our socks up.'

'We have to do a better job, because we can't get away with a 'chalta hai' attitude anymore. Everything now is looked through a microscope, examined, everything is looked at so carefully. And you are constantly compared to Hollywood, and every other kind of international cinema. So you have to realise that somewhere down the lines, the kind of films we are making -- the subject line, the look, production etc, has to be on a much higher level than it used to be 15-20 years back,' she said.

On how similar she is to Eela, Kajol said, 'I am 30-40 per cent to Eela for sure. Eela is OTT on another level, drama on another level. When you see her you might get irritated, but you also forgive her for her little eccentricities, because everything she does stems from love.'

The actress said 'Helicopter Eela' is not meant to be preachy.

'It's a conversation, it's bringing your attention to this topic, not particularly telling what you should do about it. The movie brings home the truth of a single parent, women empowerment in a very odd way, of mother-son relationship, of teenage angst, of a woman wanting to find herself and having to find herself. It's about relationships, it's about everybody,' she said.

Talking about the change in the industry from the time she started her career, the 'Baazigar' fame actress said, 'right now the times have changed. I love the fact that we have different mediums today. I love that there is Netflix, Amazon... I love that everybody has a YouTube channel. You can do whatever you like. I love the fact that you don't need to act only in films to be relevant, anymore.'

'I think there was a time before social media, where if you did well, you did phenomenally well, but if you failed, you failed also phenomenally on a big stage. And you don't think about doing anything after that,' she said.

'I think actors, actresses they are all getting much more freedom. They have a better playing field. The playing field has got levelled now,' the 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' actress said.

On what kept her going in the Bollywood, the 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' actress said, 'I have done the work that I liked. That's the important thing. I have done it because I felt like doing it, I have done work because I loved it. And I haven't let that stop me.'

'I haven't done a film just for the sake of doing the film. I haven't done a film just thinking that I am not doing anything this year so just let's do a movie. If I feel like doing it I will do it, otherwise I will have another 'comeback'. Because I have already done 32 or 33 comeback's so this would be my 34th comeback,' she said with a chuckle.

Based on the Gujarati play titled 'Beta, Kaagdo' by Anand Gandhi, the story of 'Helicopter Eela' revolves around a single mother and an aspiring singer (played by Kajol) and her relationship with her son (played by Riddhi Sen).

The movie released on October 12.

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