Exclusive! Tusshar Kapoor: I don't tip off the paparazzi to get Lakshhya's pictures clicked

Tusshar Kapoor made headlines in 2016 when he chose to become a single parent to a baby boy Lakshhya Kapoor through surrogacy. His son recently turned two and we thought it was a good time to catch up with the Golmaal actor. In an exclusive chat with DNA, Tusshar talks about son Lakshhya, how he doubles up as his mother, why we don't see much of his pictures and his future projects.

Excerpts from the interview - 

Q) Your last outing Golmaal Again was declared a blockbuster. What’s your head-space right now and can your fans expect to see more of you on the silver screen?

Yeah very soon! I will soon be making an announcement. However, Golmaal is so good that I wanted to take time to choose the right project to follow it up with. I will certainly be sticking to comedy because the Golmaal franchise has really established me in the genre.  I’m taking the time to figure out which film would suit best. But, there will surely be an announcement made about it soon.

Q) Your sister EktaKapoor has kind of revolutionalized the web space. Are webseries becoming the new ‘it’ thing in Bollywood?

The digital space is a galaxy where you are not bound by time, space, language, geographical locations, censorship, or religion. It is beyond all that. You can watch it at any time, from any country, in any language. The creativity is not limited in any way.

So obviously, it is going to be the ‘it’ thing. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the ‘it’ thing of Bollywood, it’s a global phenomenon. We are just trying our hands at it so it’s not like it has got to do anything with Bollywood. It’s a new medium, new space, a new world all together.

Q) ‘9 Months’ marked your debut in the web-space. Tell us something about that.

 ‘9 months’ is a chat-show for single parents, where I had gone as a guest for one of the episodes. So, it’s not a web-show.

Q) Do you plan to feature in a web-series in future?

Yeah, in the very near future. There will be an announcement because I’m in talks with somebody for a web-show. It’s in the comic space. I have said ‘yes’ but they are finalizing the other actors in the show. So, there will be an announcement made very soon.

Q) First time parents, especially mothers, always complain about going through a phase of identity crisis. Did it happen to you? If yes, did it ever come in the way of your profession as an actor?

No, it just seamlessly came into our lives. I think I was so prepared for it that I just dove into this new world of parenthood. It really worked out for me in that sense. I didn’t really feel as if there is a new burden or responsibility coming in the way of my life.

It was only when the shooting for Golmaal was going to start, when I had to pre-plan what are the timings going to be of being with my son and what are the timings going to be on set. So that was the only time when I was a little apprehensive that, ‘How am I going to make it on time?’ But, you know you can cross the bridge if you want to be an involved parent. You can always be an involved parent if there is a will. There has to be a will, and the ways come on their own.

Q) Parenting in itself could be a very daunting task but what are challenges faced by single parents in particular?

Yeah there are challenges but I won’t call them hard work as I enjoy the challenges.  One would obviously be time-management. But there is a positive aspect to it too as you get lesser time to waste. You have to make quick decisions. The challenge of managing your time well actually makes your life simpler because you end up doing things faster and organizing yourself better.  Once he goes to sleep at 8:30 then I am free to do whatever I want to do.

Infact, I feel more productive now. Like there’s better use of my time. On my off days now, I am not wondering ‘What should I wear?, ‘Who are my friends? Who are not?’ I don’t really care anymore. I am just focused on my son and everything else gets prioritized secondarily. Life becomes simpler because you are not over-thinking.

Q) We see a lot of young parents like Kareena, Karan, Shahid attending parties and events with or without their children. But, you have been an absolute exception. The last we had seen you making a public appearance was during Golmaal promotions or maybe sometime with Lakshhya at the airport. Is it a conscious decision that you have made?

No, I do go to birthday parties with him. I also take him to play areas. So that’s definitely not gone down. As far as other events are concerned, I don’t take him along because he is still small so he needs to sleep earlier.

Maybe the places I go to are not in Bandra and the paparazzi mostly circles around that area. His playschool is also in Juhu. So it’s not a conscious decision. We do go out but maybe not those places where you get photographed a lot.

It’s not a decision that I have made, I do it naturally. I am okay with him being clicked but at the same time I am not tipping off the paparazzi, like a lot of people do, so that they get that picture out.

Q) Speaking about Ekta, Rakshanda Khan had recently said that, “The tigress turns into a puppy in front of her nephew Lakshhya.” How hands on is Ekta with him?

She spends a lot of time with him. She is quite involved. She is very close to him. She is like his ‘Play time’. So when he wants to have some real kind of masti like jumping around then he misses his bua. She is like the entertainer for him.

Q) So do you guys plan vacations together?

We have twice. Like the entire family had gone to Dubai. But we haven’t planned more holidays like that. He has travelled like two-three times but more than that because it’s quite a lot for a child. So, I will rather have him here where he does all the socializing at his play areas and his play school. Although once in six months it’s good to take them out. Also, it’s summer time so let’s see. But we haven’t specifically planned anything with Ekta, me and Laksshya.

Q) Lakshhya is a bright kid and I’m sure he would be seeing a lot of his friends being dropped by their mothers at his play school. Has there ever been a situation when he has asked you any awkward questions?

No. Because, firstly he is too small and secondly I am always there to pick him up and drop him. So as soon as he comes out the first thing he says is ‘Papa’ and just runs towards me. So, he is never missing a parent. There has never been a situation where he is looking somewhere else and I have come late. On days, when I can’t go he is picked up by his granny or someone from home. So he is a very secure child. Atleast, that’s what I like to believe.

Q) Working parents often end up becoming over-indulgent with their kids to compensate for all the time they couldn’t spend with them? Does that happen in your case?

No, I am doing as much as I feel like. I just feel like being with him all the time when I am not working, unless I am tired and I want to take a nap. That’s the only time I am not with him. Otherwise, when I am home, most of the time I just like to be with him. So it’s not a strategy but I am by nature a very involved person. He is someone who has come to me after a long wait of wanting to be a parent. I just value that. So, it’s not about compensating.

If you are doing it for the sake of the idea that I am a single parent and I have to spend this much time with him, then it’s not fun. You should want to do what you are doing. And even if you get to spend half an hour or one hour of quality time, the child knows that you have made an effort and that you care.

Q ) Do you think the advent of technology has made parenting all the more difficult? Have you set any kind of rules for your little one?

He is allowed to watch television while eating so that covers up an hour or hour and a half in a day. Other than that, he is not allowed. And, he doesn’t crave for it because he likes playing. I think because I play so much with him, he likes the idea of playing. He is okay with that. The only thing is that when the television is one, he constantly wants to keep changing to songs and nursery rhymes.

Q) When will you allow him to use mobile phones?

He has turned two now so I don’t think we will give him mobiles for a while but he can continue watching TV like an hour or hour and a half a day. While he’s eating, it’s fine. I think the best way to introduce him to technology would be through school. That would be the best thing. But before that I am happy that he is very, very much into outdoors. I take him out of the house twice a day, so that will continue. I am not focusing on introducing him to phone or I-pads anytime soon. That won’t happen.

Q) How does Lakshhya respond to the paparazzi? Has he ever said anything funny to you about them?

He just looks at them very curiously. Sometimes I have seen him looking at them with an inquisitive expression on his face. Like, ‘what are these people doing? Why are so many of them clicking pictures?’ He is a smart kid so he is perceptive to that. He is not unaware. He is aware and he knows that there is something different going on. I think, he hasn’t just figured it out yet.

But, other than that I don’t like to run out of a place because there are paps outside. We go in like normal people, and come out like normal people. This way, the child also gets to deal with the different aspects of a celebrity’s life. He would know that his life is not all about this, but they are a certain part of it. Then his mind would stay stable and he would understand that this is something he can’t avoid. Neither one should over-expose them, nor under-expose them in the sense that you’re hiding them. Both extremes are not good.

Q) Trolls these days can be really ruthless. How do you ensure that the negativity doesn’t reach you and your child?

You have to just ignore it. With the advent of social media and this media boom, trolling is bound to happen because everybody has got a voice now. And if you have negativity and frustration, what better way than vent it out on social media. This is a global phenomenon and one has to accept it and ignore it.

Q) Some of your industry friends have made the choice of not being on social media at all but you obviously didn’t choose that path.

I follow few people. I don’t follow the whole world. That keeps me little more minimized that way there is more sanity. Following 500 people and getting flooded with information all the time, that’s something I wouldn’t want to do.

Q) There are so many actors and producers in your family. Have you all ever had a conversation about what career would Lakshhya choose?

We keep thinking that he will become a footballer because he loves playing football. When he was a baby, a year back, he used to keep looking at these cars and we thought he might become an engineer or something to do with making cars.

Q) How do you manage your health regime with all this going around you?

When he’s in school in the morning between 9 to 11, that’s the time I go to the gym. So, I drop him, go to the gym and on my way back, I pick him up.