Tejal Sinha
Fathers are more than just the breadwinners of the family. They are the strongest pillars of the family and never let anyone fall apart. In fact, to be even more precise, fathers are another name for “love.” And for a daughter, especially, the bond and the love that they share are not just unbreakable but unexpressible.
Well, as we celebrate Father’s Day, that one day when social media is flooded with posts, we have with us actor Aparshakti Khurana, who just puts his heart out on being a father of the little Arzoie. In one of our previous interviews, he shared that, so far, being a father has been the most fun role that he’s played. Now his little Arzoie is all grown up, though there’s still time for her to wish her father by herself, and he can surely not wait for that moment. Seeing your kids grow up in front of your eyes is the most overwhelming feeling, which can only be felt when one becomes a parent. Well, and so for Apar, he says, “It’s been extremely overwhelming and my heart is full of gratitude each day when I look at her learning new things, new actions, expressions, and now sentences. It’s beautiful to witness that journey.”
The feeling when your little one calls you ‘papa’ or ‘mama’ for the very first time is just one of the most beautiful feelings that one cherishes during parenthood. Going further, he recalls the first time Arzoie called him “papa.” He recalls, “When we were at our old house, I remember it was a weekend, most likely a Friday or Saturday. I decided to take an off from my gym, football, and a couple of things on the shopping front lined up, and me and Aakriti thought that we would just stay back at home and play with her. We were trying to make her learn ‘Papa’ for almost a month, and she suddenly said it on that day, and it was absolutely beautiful.”
He further defines the phases of parenthood as responsibility, love, affection, and care, and he says, “You have to be extremely responsible, and apart from that, parenthood is also very experimental. Everybody has a different way of making kids learn certain things, giving them their own upbringing. You can’t just put your finger on something and say, “This is right or this is wrong on how to teach a kid, so yeah, I mean, there is no right or wrong way; it is just the way you all feel comfortable. But defining parenthood in a few words—responsibility, love, affection, and care—these things resonate with me when I think of parenthood.”
Becoming a parent brings about a lot of changes in a person’s life. One turns out to be a whole different person than they were before. And so did Apar; as he says, “I have
changed a lot. First of all, I have become a lot more patient, a lot more organised, and a lot more responsible. That’s mostly because I want to spend as much time as possible. Arzoie, once she grows up, is going to be busy with her studies and her friend’s career. So yeah, this is the time to spend with her, and we are trying to make as good use of family time as possible.”
A father holds his daughter’s hand for a short while, but he holds her heart forever. In fact, you’d agree that every time our moms said no to something, we’d straightaway run to our dads. On this, he vivaciously says, “I’ve only heard about this fact that daughters are really, really close to their fathers. We never had a daughter at home; we were all always two brothers earlier, and now that we have a daughter, I think that daughters and fathers bring out the best in each other. They really have a special bond, and because of my acting schedule, it’s very difficult to make time for her. But having said that, I have made a deliberate effort so many times to stick to shoots, projects, brands, and work commitments, which makes me be in Mumbai as much as possible so that I can at least come back home and be with family and again wake up in the morning with my family for work. I will continue to do that as much as possible for as long as possible.”
Every mother goes through a lot of mom guilt, especially working moms. Staying away from their kids brings a lot of mom guilt to not be able to spend enough time with their little ones. Well, do even fathers go through “‘dad guilt’? “Mom guilt is a very well-known phenomenon. And yes, dad guilt is also coming up, I think (he giggles). But these days, dads are becoming even more responsible than the dads of yesteryear. (He giggles). So I wouldn’t say that dad guilt is a proper thing right now, but I do feel, you know, sometimes all of a sudden there will be this huge craving to spend time with her, and it’s difficult when I’m not in Mumbai.”
This year, Father’s Day isn’t the same for the Khurana family as it ever was. In fact, on Father’s Day, he’d also penned an emotional note for his father. But hey, we are not going to make him miss his father today, because he’s always going to stay with them forever. But on a concluding note, he does share the trait of his father, which not only he but also his daughter have imbibed from P. Khurana ji. “One trait that I have, and even my daughter has, of my father is wholehearted laughter. My father has the loudest laughter in the room, and that includes me and now Arzoie. Another thing that I’d love to imbibe from my father is the hustle and the never-give-up attitude. I do have it now, but he had it until the age of 73. I would really try if I could continue with this attitude until that age.
I think it’s a tough thing in today’s age and day because there are people who don’t want to work after a certain age. So far, I don’t have the plan in my head, so let’s see once in a while. I hope I imbibe that from my father.”
On the work front, Aparshakti will be returning to his iconic role of Bittu in Stree 2.
