Tanishaa Mukerji says she and Kajol ‘don’t compare each other’, but the public does: ‘Maybe I didn’t make it, because…'

Tanishaa Mukerji, who made her acting debut with the Hindi film Sssshhh... in 2003, spoke about why she did not make it big, unlike actor Kajol, her sister, who is one of the most well-known Bollywood stars.

Tanishaa Mukerji says her comparison with Kajol ‘has been in the mind of the public’. In a new interview, the actor said the sisters have had a ‘different journey’ in films as she spoke about not getting a chance to ‘make too many mistakes’ because of the family she came from. Tanishaa added that she does not compare herself to Kajol, who recently completed 30 years in films.

Tanishaa Mukerji with sister Kajol and mother Tanuja in a photo she posted on Instagram. 

Reacting to her comparisons with Kajol, Tanishaa said the sisters ‘don’t compare each other’, but the public seems to always compare the two. Tanishaa, who made her acting debut with the Hindi film Sssshhh... in 2003, also spoke about why some actors make it and some don’t.

In a recent interview with Bollywood Hungama, Tanishaa said, "She (Kajol) had a different journey. We don’t compare each other. The comparison has been in the mind of the public. When you are a newcomer with privilege, they don’t get a chance to make too many mistakes. They don’t get a chance to learn on the job."

Tanishaa, who was a contestant on Salman Khan-hosted reality show Bigg Boss 7 and became the 1st runner-up, also spoke about why she did not ‘make it’ in films, unlike Kajol. "You have to have a strong sense of self. You have to have a strong sense of who you are, and that person will come out on screen. Those are the people who will actually make it, those who have a strong sense of self. Maybe I didn’t make it, because I didn’t have that," Tanishaa said.

Tanishaa has acted in films like Sarkar (2005) and Tango Charlie (2005) and also appeared on Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi season 7. In 2021, she made her comeback to films after almost a decade with the spy-thriller, Code Name Abdul, in which she played the lead role.

In a 2021 interview with ETimes, Tanishaa had said that despite coming from a film family (apart from sister Kajol, her mother Tanuja, and aunt Nutan were also successful actors), she did not succeed. She also spoke about nepotism in Bollywood. She had said, "Nepotism is a rubbish argument. It’s just a fancy word that people are using out of the context a lot of times. In today’s industry, if you are not working hard, you are not being seen... A person, who is not a star kid and makes it big in the industry, they will talk about how difficult it was to get their first break. But they don’t have to deal with the pre-conceived notion that the whole world had about a star kid."