If there’s one motto Padmini Kolhapure lives by, it is ‘man proposes, God disposes.’ The ethereal beauty stepped into the world of acting at the age of seven, and marked her debut as a leading lady in movies as a teenager. But she believes that everything came her way by chance. “I don’t think it even struck me that I was getting into films this early in life,” she says as a matter of fact as she settles down for a freewheeling chat. “I didn’t expect to be going the way I was going with acting; it just happened. You can plan a hundred things, but not everything will happen according to it.”
This surrender to destiny’s plans has turned Padmini into a designer now. Kickstarting her Indian and Indo-western wear brand, the actress has tied up with her friend Sita Talwalkar for the venture. “Fashion is something everyone delves in,” Padmini explains, “Especially in the profession I’m from, it’s getting even more important now. I’ve always been fond of ethnic wear. When I buy a saree it’s either a kanjeevaram, paithani or kota zari. Being into fitness, Sita didn’t have any connection whatsoever with fashion either. But once we got into the designing bit, we realised how much hard work it is.”
Even while she’s supremely fond of her rich ethnic sarees, Padmini’s personal fashion mantra is to keep it relaxed. “I believe in comfort fashion; it’s the most important factor. I want to be able to breathe properly and walk comfortably. I look at those factors first and they’re of prime importance. I’m not particular about this colour and that. I can wear any and every colour. I can wear fluorescent and pastels and black and white — as long as it appeals to my eye, it doesn’t matter,” she says with a smile.
The actress recounts that she was elated when her niece, Shraddha Kapoor, unveiled the label by wearing her designs, and her voice brims with pride every time the Rock On 2 actress is mentioned. As the conversation veers towards Shraddha’s penchant for now crooning in her movies, Padmini reveals, “You know, she wasn’t even considering acting at first. Shraddha went to Boston University and even learned the piano. She was musically inclined and has a beautiful voice. Her mom (Shivangi Kolhapure) has probably taught her a lot too, because it’s been in the family. If it’s in the genes and the DNA, you can’t take it away from her.”
Padmini, of course, is referring to the fact that Shivangi and her father, Pandharinath Kolhapure, had been a professional musician. “Today, technology is so advanced that anybody can sing. In the days where actresses would sing as well as act, you could only do it if you had a good voice. Now if you have a good voice, it can get greater with technology. Besides Shraddha, Priyanka Chopra has a beautiful voice. She sang a Marathi song recently and I was amazed at her pronunciation and diction,” she says.
The actress breaks into peals of laughter when asked if she wants to sing again. “When I started acting, I actually wanted to be a playback singer. I recently lent my voice to something Aadesh Shrivastava was working on, but I’m not sure what happened to the album (after his death in 2015) Amitji sang in it too. I went through the time where you had to sing with 100 musicians. Even if one faltered, you had to go through the whole process again,” she adds.
