Only 'respectable' roles for Esha

Newly-wed actress Esha Deol says she will now accept only those roles that suit her family life. The 30-year-old, who married businessman Bharat Takhtani on June 29 this year, says, “If something comes my way and if it suits my family situation, I will take it up. It has to be a respectable character, for I can’t do Dhoom — kind of roles now.”

Talking of her future plans, she says, “I have a home production firm and I am starting television production soon. Of course, my classical dance engages me too.”
 The actress says that she has no films in the pipeline as of now. After having made her debut in Bollywood with the not-so-successful Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe, Esha later featured in hit movies like Dhoom, Yuva and ‘No Entry’. Her career then plateaued, but she has no regrets. “I am very happy that I got to be in the industry for 12 years. I think ups and downs happen in everyone’s career; without those, you wouldn’t know how it is to work,” she says.

Being the daughter of veteran actors Dharmendra and Hema Malini, Esha says her parents’ larger-than-life image did exert pressure when she first set out to work. “When I did my first film, there was immediately this comparison with the parents, who had done 100 films! So that kind of comparison exerts pressure. Otherwise, it sure is a blessing to be born in a proper Punjabi family where no one has the guts to mess around with a girl,” she says.

And how has marriage changed her life? “It’s much the same,” she says. “Earlier, we were seeing each other; so it’s not so different. It’s just that the husband-wife roles come with more responsibilities,” she says. Is there something quite tough about marriage? “The most challenging thing is to wake up before your husband wakes up. That is the toughest thing, I feel. And the sweetest thing is to be in bed with someone right,” she says.

So will acting now take the backseat? And does a married actress get short shrift in Bollywood? “I wouldn’t really know, yet. I haven’t experienced that, since I’ve just been married. But I feel encouraged that actresses like Kajol and Madhuri Dixit are back and working,” she says.

Why did Esha choose a typical south Indian wedding? “I always wanted a south Indian wedding. Mainly because in the south, you sit on your father’s lap when the kanyadaan  is done. This is something that I had always wanted, from my childhood,” she says.