Actress Kshitee Jog, known for her promising and impactful performances, gets candid with The Pioneer about playing motherly characters, some interesting insights on Mismatched 3, and more.
Tejal Sinha
One might recall initially seeing actress Kshitee Jog as Saraswati in Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyaan. But today, she’s beyond just your regular ‘Beti’, ‘Bahu’, and ‘Maa’ roles. Though, yes, we do see her playing most of the motherly characters; however, that’s not what bothers her in any way. Just as she mentions in this candid chitter-chatter her journey to be an exciting one, her filmography speaks it even louder.
With over 21 years of Kshitee Jog in the industry, she’s always been around people who point out her mistakes and help her keep up her craft intact.
Also the daughter of veteran actors Anant Jog and Ujjwala Jog, she says, “I constantly have pressure, and it’s not just about the lineage that I come from, but it’s about myself. I always want to do and give my best, and more than the external pressure, it is internal, very internal. There will be times when people will appreciate you, but you know you haven’t done your best, and there’s something more that you could have done. And I feel thats a good pressure.”
A known and loved face in the television industry, she has now become a much-loved actress on the web and in the film industry too. For instance, “For Mismatched, I hardly shot for the first two seasons. For the first season, I hardly shot for 3 days, and for the second season, I hardly shot for 4 days. But people still remember that character. They meet me and talk to me about that character, and so I feel lucky to get that kind of role also because, yes, you are a good actor, but you need opportunities where you can express the talent you have in that way. Mismatched came on Netflix, and people watched it, and it turned out to be the most popular show, especially in Gen Z. Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani was a Dharma production. My TV shows ran for the last so many years, which I did and quit a few years ago, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai for eight and a half years. The first Marathi film I produced also did very well.”
But one thinks, if one looks at them here, that all of them are motherly roles yet different from one another. Be it Dimple’s mother in Mismatched, Devyani Agarwal Singhania in Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, for which she also won the award for best mother, or Poonam Randhawa in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, does she fear being typecast? “Oh no, I don’t. Yes, I’ve indeed been consistently doing it. In Marathi, I’ve not been doing it, and the plays I’m doing have been different. It’s a thorough comedy play. Also, there are so many mothers in the world, and my mother is going to be different from your mother. Mothers can be different, right? It has to be my challenge to make one mother different from the other. In Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, it played a huge role! The character was one of the major reasons why the climax happened. It was just somebody standing behind and doing something; that also takes a lot of guts and bravery, but whichever roles I played had something to say, and I don’t mind playing mothers as long as they are interesting mothers.”
But again, there’s also something that struck our mind: the age factor criteria in the industry—like being just two years older than Ranveer Singh, playing his mom in Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani.
“I played a lead when I was in my 20s. I am in my 40s now, and I have no problem being a mother to somebody who is probably my age. If I’m able to look like that, act like that. The problem would have been if people would turn around and say, Yeh maa hi nahi lagti. She doesn’t look or feel like a mother. Sometimes we have some elderly stars today who are college-going students. That is where we have a problem because you don’t look and act like a college-going person or a younger person who is about to get married. If you ask me to play a 23-year-old today, it’s certainly going to be difficult. That could be a bigger challenge to play somebody in their 20s. As long as you can play the character with all your heart and honesty and perform well, I think everything else is just fine.”
Now that Mismatched season 3 is all set to release soon, she also goes on to share about the takeaways of her character. “She is an unapologetically motherly character. When she is worried about her child being dark, no matter in what world we are living, there are mothers like that present or about a boy being in her daughter’s room. She is unapologetically open about what she feels, which comes across as funny, sometimes even rude, but she is how mothers are generally. The most important thing for her is that her child has to be safe and sound, and she wants her to be married. Today, in all the middle-class families, we see that happening, but again, when she’s around, there’s a laughing riot.” Well, some interesting revelations about the upcoming season— “Season 3 is going to get bigger and better for sure. Whatever I have hoped for, it will be better with Gen Z. There are a lot of new things happening, and it’s going to be real fun. I have had fun shooting for it, but it’s going to be funnier when you see it. There’s going to be a lot of romance, friendships, and fun.”
One might recall initially seeing actress Kshitee Jog as Saraswati in Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyaan. But today, she’s beyond just your regular ‘Beti’, ‘Bahu’, and ‘Maa’ roles. Though, yes, we do see her playing most of the motherly characters; however, that’s not what bothers her in any way. Just as she mentions in this candid chitter-chatter her journey to be an exciting one, her filmography speaks it even louder.
With over 21 years of Kshitee Jog in the industry, she’s always been around people who point out her mistakes and help her keep up her craft intact.
Also the daughter of veteran actors Anant Jog and Ujjwala Jog, she says, “I constantly have pressure, and it’s not just about the lineage that I come from, but it’s about myself. I always want to do and give my best, and more than the external pressure, it is internal, very internal. There will be times when people will appreciate you, but you know you haven’t done your best, and there’s something more that you could have done. And I feel thats a good pressure.”
A known and loved face in the television industry, she has now become a much-loved actress on the web and in the film industry too. For instance, “For Mismatched, I hardly shot for the first two seasons. For the first season, I hardly shot for 3 days, and for the second season, I hardly shot for 4 days. But people still remember that character. They meet me and talk to me about that character, and so I feel lucky to get that kind of role also because, yes, you are a good actor, but you need opportunities where you can express the talent you have in that way. Mismatched came on Netflix, and people watched it, and it turned out to be the most popular show, especially in Gen Z. Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani was a Dharma production. My TV shows ran for the last so many years, which I did and quit a few years ago, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai for eight and a half years. The first Marathi film I produced also did very well.”
But one thinks, if one looks at them here, that all of them are motherly roles yet different from one another. Be it Dimple’s mother in Mismatched, Devyani Agarwal Singhania in Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, for which she also won the award for best mother, or Poonam Randhawa in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, does she fear being typecast? “Oh no, I don’t. Yes, I’ve indeed been consistently doing it. In Marathi, I’ve not been doing it, and the plays I’m doing have been different. It’s a thorough comedy play. Also, there are so many mothers in the world, and my mother is going to be different from your mother. Mothers can be different, right? It has to be my challenge to make one mother different from the other. In Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, it played a huge role! The character was one of the major reasons why the climax happened. It was just somebody standing behind and doing something; that also takes a lot of guts and bravery, but whichever roles I played had something to say, and I don’t mind playing mothers as long as they are interesting mothers.”
But again, there’s also something that struck our mind: the age factor criteria in the industry—like being just two years older than Ranveer Singh, playing his mom in Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani.
“I played a lead when I was in my 20s. I am in my 40s now, and I have no problem being a mother to somebody who is probably my age. If I’m able to look like that, act like that. The problem would have been if people would turn around and say, Yeh maa hi nahi lagti. She doesn’t look or feel like a mother. Sometimes we have some elderly stars today who are college-going students. That is where we have a problem because you don’t look and act like a college-going person or a younger person who is about to get married. If you ask me to play a 23-year-old today, it’s certainly going to be difficult. That could be a bigger challenge to play somebody in their 20s. As long as you can play the character with all your heart and honesty and perform well, I think everything else is just fine.”
Now that Mismatched season 3 is all set to release soon, she also goes on to share about the takeaways of her character. “She is an unapologetically motherly character. When she is worried about her child being dark, no matter in what world we are living, there are mothers like that present or about a boy being in her daughter’s room. She is unapologetically open about what she feels, which comes across as funny, sometimes even rude, but she is how mothers are generally. The most important thing for her is that her child has to be safe and sound, and she wants her to be married. Today, in all the middle-class families, we see that happening, but again, when she’s around, there’s a laughing riot.” Well, some interesting revelations about the upcoming season— “Season 3 is going to get bigger and better for sure. Whatever I have hoped for, it will be better with Gen Z. There are a lot of new things happening, and it’s going to be real fun. I have had fun shooting for it, but it’s going to be funnier when you see it. There’s going to be a lot of romance, friendships, and fun.”
