I'm celebrating my life: Sonam Kapoor

Effervescent young actress, Sonam Kapoor is DNA's guest star for Women's Day.

“We don’t have the time to celebrate things all the time. So why not a day?”

Actress Sonam Kapoor’s candid reply when asked about the relevance of a day earmarked only for women is characteristic of her forthright, tell-it-like-it-is, skip-the-sugar-coating-please personality.

Which makes her really the ideal choice to be guest editor for the DNA Women’s Day Special. Who better to talk directly to the Twitter-Facebook, life-lived in nano-second bytes generation than one from amongst its own… and 25-year-old Sonam embodies that zeitgeist absolutely (apart from a luminous, fresh-faced loveliness up close that has the men in the room maha attentive).

Like the generation who’s pin-up girl she is widely perceived to be, Sonam is frank, unafraid to voice what she believes in, quick on the uptake, quicker to own up if she goes wrong.

“As a young person, you make mistakes. You can’t be hung for something, you should apologise,” she explains to a rapt DNA when quizzed about her remarks on author Shobhaa De and the general attention speaking her mind has always elicited.

She may be with us on Women’s Day, but Sonam has long been all for girl power. “I lead an all-girl’s team,” she tells us. “My make-up person, my PR agent, my manager...” And later, an insight: “I’m always my mom’s girl. My sister is my daddy’s girl. My dad thinks I’m his girl but I think all dads think that!”

So does she believe being a woman in hero-driven B-Town is a struggle? “I think being a woman in general is a struggle. In Bollywood, it depends — men are going to be men. It’ll be difficult for women to become an Ekta Kapoor. It takes time, effort, then she’ll be mocked, made fun of…but at the end of the day she’s one of the most powerful people on television. So, no matter if you’re an actor or a director (if you’re a woman) it’s still the same.”

The struggle comes with the territory, and as counter, Sonam flashes the optimism that defines her generation.

“You know I think I’m the luckiest person in the world. People say ohmiGod why would you say that. I keep on touching wood. I’m very lucky. I’m 25-years-old, I make my own money, I’m not dependent on my parents for anything. I’m having a great time, I’m travelling everywhere. In Mumbai, nobody gives a damn (about her being a star and crowding her space)! So I live in Mumbai and I go wherever I want to.”

So if she were to be celebrated, what aspect about herself would she highlight? “People say, ‘Why are you so enthusiastic, you say what you feel?’ Because I feel it’s one life I’m living. I’m going to be young for only this much time so I think it’s my zest, my appetite for life. That’s one thing and I think it’s very important for someone to celebrate. It’s the best thing about me. Otherwise I have lots of flaws. Lots!”

What does she believe is the single most important concern for a woman in a post, post-modernist society? “..To educate yourself, study further, lead independent lives, and not have like a 10 year or a 20 year plan. I think it’s always power in numbers. So you need to get together and work towards women empowerment. You know the story of the starfish on the beach, I think it’s from Chicken Soup for the Soul. So every person makes a difference. You have to work — bit by bit.”

And then, in her message to all women who look upto her as a youth icon, she shows her cheeky side: “Don’t look up to me yet! I make a lot of mistakes, so learn from my mistakes, since they are all there for the public to see. I learn from my mistakes. You learn from history, you learn from people, you learn from your neighbour…you can just learn from my mistakes!”