Watching Kajol on screen is a delight. However, we haven’t seen more of the actor since her June release, Maa (2025). Naturally, when we caught up with her, we were curious if she had locked her next. “I’m listening to a lot of scripts. I have two-three things that I’m working on. But I have nothing concrete to tell you,” said the actor.

Kajol, in her 34-year career, has always taken her sweet time to choose scripts that resonate with her. She intends to keep doing just that. Besides a powerful script, there is another criterion that helps the actor decide whether she wants to front a film. She revealed, “It’s important to me that I work with people whom I can relate to and talk to. [On a set], you spend 50 days with people and if you don’t like them, those 50 days can feel like 500!”

The actor has ‘Maharagni’, an action thriller directed by Prabhudheva, in the pipeline

It’s through these things, big and small, that Kajol has defied the industry’s norms for female actors and shaped a career on her own terms. She fronted female-driven scripts right at the start of her career, played a villain in Gupt (1997) when heroines would steer clear of such parts, and took a sabbatical at her peak to focus on family life. Is her insistence to defy norms the reason why she continues to enjoy relevance today? “I feel I was very stubborn and foolish, and I was proved right fortunately. But I see so many women doing this all the time without being given any awards for it. I have made my own decisions, and I stand by them. I am grateful that all my eccentricities have been loved.”