Tanishaa Mukerji says she was initially expected to ‘look like Kajol, act like Kajol and beat Kajol’
Tanishaa Mukerji said that when she started out in the film industry, everyone expected her to completely emulate her elder sister Kajol, from looks to acting.
Tanishaa Mukerji reflected on the early days of her career and how she was expected to emulate her elder sister Kajol. Tanishaa made her debut with Sssshhh… in 2003, when Kajol was already an established star who had given hits like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Gupt: The Hidden Truth and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…

In an interview, Tanishaa Mukerji said that she was expected to compete with Kajol, but the two were ‘nothing like’ each other. Tanishaa guessed that at the time of Kajol’s debut, she must have been expected to emulate their mother Tanuja.
Speaking to a leading daily, Tanishaa said, “There have been points in life in the beginning of my career when everybody looked at me and expected me to look like Kajol, act like Kajol and beat Kajol. I was like, ‘I can’t be her. She’s got green eyes, much taller than me, curly hair and she’s nothing like me.’ I am sure she must have also had it when mom (Tanuja) was concerned. We’ve dealt with that and luckily for us, we have a great mother, who has this amazing confidence. She would tell us, ‘you need to shine, you are a person and you need to be yourself’.”
Tanishaa said that while it bothered her when she was younger, she now feels ‘sad’ for the people who draw comparisons between her and her family members. “It might sound a bit egotistical on my part but I don’t compute it in my brain. No two people in this world can be compared. Not a single soul can be compared to another soul. We all have our own individualities. The moment you start cherishing, comparisons go out of the window,” she said.
Meanwhile, Tanishaa will be seen next in the horror drama Rosie: The Saffron Chapter, which marks the Bollywood debut of Shweta Tiwari’s daughter Palak Tiwari. The film, directed by Vishal Mishra and said to be inspired by true events, follows the sudden disappearance of a female BPO employee named Rosie from Gurugram.