Shubhangi Atre, Tinaa Dattaa, Mohit Malhotra: TV actors share their fondest Christmas memories

My X’mas wish is for everyone to be blessed abundantly, especially those in need of good health of the mind and the body. I also pray for the lesser fortunate as well as the youth for success with their jobs or studies. For myself, I would wish for my show Daayan to receive lots of love and good wishes. If I had a chance, I’d be Santa Claus to my brother Himanshu Malhotra, who’s also an actor, and gift him the Sony Alpha 7 full-frame camera since he has started this new experiential learning initiative, Share And Grow. It would be useful to capture his talks and lessons that he imparts. My favourite Christmas memory as a kid was playing a treasure hunt where my parents would hide the gifts in the house. So, my brother and I would compete to find the biggest gift and claim it. I miss that the most!

A gift from Santa came early this year, as I began shooting for Daayan just before Christmas. I don’t celebrate the fest now, but I have priceless memories of it as a kid. I always essayed Mother Mary’s part in plays and went back home with many goodies from my teachers, who dressed up as Santa. If I had the chance to be Secret Santa to someone, it would be my dearest friend Ishita Ganguly. I share a close Bong bond with her and I’d gift her delicious homemade Macher Jhol. It’s a mutual favourite.

X’mas has always been special and its memories are related to celebrating in school with friends and teachers. As a kid, my parents knew about my belief in Santa.

So, they’d always get me a gift and say it was from him. As a Secret Santa, I’d love to plan surprises for orphans, as I do during Diwali. 2018 has been wonderful and my only wish from Santa would be to keep the love coming in abundance. I want my professional success to keep growing and people to keep loving Angoori bhabhi as the year passes by.

My only wish is to get ample holidays from the busy schedule of my show so that I can explore the world. I miss travelling, learning about new cultures and meeting people. As a kid, I was a complete believer in Santa. So, I would hang my socks outside our house, but to my disappointment, would wake up to them lying outside the door. When my parents saw how sad I was, they got me something special. This became a tradition every year — receiving gifts from my mom and dad like a little girl. If I could, I would be Secret Santa to my friend Madirakshi, and I would gift her a kitten as she loves pets.

My wish this year has nothing to do with materialistic things. It’s more of a spiritual gift: happiness, peace and harmony for my loved ones and me. If I had a chance to be Secret Santa to someone in the industry, I think it would be for all my actor friends. I would gift them all something small and pretty depending on their likes because the season is all about love and giving. My fondest memories of Christmas have definitely been as a kid when we would get all excited to celebrate the festival in school. With carols, lights and the crib, everything was so beautiful and everyone would be at their happiest.

Santa has been kind to me this year and it has been a fruitful journey for me. If I have to wish for something, it would be good projects, work with great people from the industry and learn new things in the coming year. I also wish that I keep my family happy and laughing always. During my childhood days, my father would become our Secret Santa.

He would quietly keep the gifts under the Christmas tree and I’d be all excited to open them. I believed that Santa existed but when I turned 11, I found out it was my dad! I’d be Secret Santa first to my mother and gift her temple jewellery. From the industry, to Tinaa Dattaa and Sreejita De. I would like to gift Tina a funky bag that she can carry everywhere she goes, and for Sreejita, a pretty dress for her petite frame.