Actress Sonam Kapoor dropped in at After Hrs for our special issue and kept us enthralled with her views on various things — safety of women (it’s Women’s Day too, tomorrow), the colour fest and all things trendy

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What's your best Holi memory?Usually Holi falls on or around my sister, Rhea’s birthday. And she's allergic to Holi. When I was younger, I used to go to (actor) Esha Deol's place to play Holi. Ahana and I used to be really close and we used to play on the terrace. But you know, once you start getting older, people get aggro — they throw eggs and stuff on you. So then you start playing Holi in closed quarters. But it's always been like taking a day off, getting the colours and getting one of those rain dance things happening. This year I think we’ll be playing Holi on the eighth....Eco-friendly colours?Yaa! ’Cause we are actors! And I have told them that if you put any pukka colour on me, I'll slap you all (laughs)! I remember once I was playing Holi and my hands were blue! Gulaal always comes off but greens and blues do not. You spoke about people throwing egg shells. What do you have to say about the safety of women here? People start ragging you two-three days before Holi begins. At least I have a car to move around in now, when I was an assistant, my father was very strict. He never got me a car and when I got one, it was a second hand car which used to constantly break down and I had to take rickshaws all the time. And by that time (Holi), every morning I used to get palpitations that I had to take a rickshaw. I used to be scared to take my dogs out. I think it's not even children, it's the silly boys who are doing that (throwing balloons on people). I think we get traumatised so much that we start getting an aversion to it. Imagine what happens to Juhu beach. What do you like about Holi? Holi is all about burning the evils. They always say na, there are three things — a destroyer, a person who lives in the present and a person who lives in the future. It's like you are purging yourself of all the evil and sins. That's why you are celebrating, so that's fun, and the chaat!Did you have bhaang?Yeah, I tried bhaang and I  fell really sick, so I thought may be I should just stick to the vodka — at least I know its after-effects. Tomorrow is also Women’s Day. Do you think there is any discrimination in the film industry?Yes, yes of course! I remember I was shooting for this film and I had 104 degrees fever. And I was shaking. But they made me wait for eight hours because they were doing the close-up shots of the male actors. And I'm one of the actors who will never complain — I’m always on time on the sets. And that day, for the frst time I went and told the producer and the director that please let me finish my shots early and let me go. I had typhoid which I didn't know. But they made sure the hero's shots are taken first and then they did my shots and I looked horrible. So they had to  reshoot. And I was like why — the paramedics have come because I had collapsed, and said that she shouldn’t be working. But just because the heros are there on the sets, you have to shoot with them first. So it doesn't matter whose daughter you are or what space you are in actually. My father once told me, ‘Sonam just tell them that you can’t shoot after 6pm.’ I said, ‘Dad, if it were another heroine with you, who said she wouldn’t shoot after 6 pm, would you be okay with that?’ I said I’m not in your position. Heros can pack up, heroines can never pack up the shoot, otherwise they'll never get another film.How's it been attending all the Fashion Weeks across the globe?It's quite amazing. When I go out, the photographers know my name now. They call me ‘Sona’, because they can't say Sonam — they are all firangs nah. It was quite nice. A lot of them look me up and stuff and only after they get my pictures that they know, ‘Oh, Sonam Kapoor, Anil Kapoor’s daughter.’ In Europe, they don't know papa as well as the Americans knows him. So over there, I become my own entity, which is very rare for me. In India, everyone knows me as Anil Kapoor's daughter, and in almost every film circuit too. But in fashion, I have my own identity, which is quite amazing. Is Europe accepting of Indian actors?Oh yes! They love us. When I was in Paris, you won't believe the kinds of compliments I got. I wore this pink sari for the fashion show. Would you be designing clothes too, anytime in the future?I would love to. I’m looking for investors. So if I design, it'll be high street, affordable. I don’t want to do it for the money. I'd do it ’cause I enjoy clothes. I remember when I was in high school, I could only afford to shop in sales and I used to never get my size, which used to really irritate me. So when I design, it'll be from size zero to 16.