Sushmita Sen’s life has been anything but ordinary. At 18 she became the first Indian woman to be crowned Miss Universe, and at 24 she made the brave decision to adopt and embrace motherhood. It could not have been easy, and it wasn’t. The 50-year-old adopted her first daughter, Renee, in 2000, when she was just 24 and at the peak of her career.
She endured an intense legal battle as a single, unmarried young woman. At a time when single parenting was still unconventional, Sushmita Sen braved a storm she remains proud of.
In an exclusive conversation with NDTV, Sushmita Sen opens up about the pushback she faced from the industry – how becoming a mother at such a crucial point in her career and at such a young age was even tougher then, yet she delivered some of her biggest hits soon after welcoming Renee.
Sushmita Sen Reveals Her Manager ‘Ran Away’ After She Decided To Adopt
Today, the conversation around young mothers is widespread – perhaps amplified by social media. But it is not entirely new, as Sushmita Sen notes.
Recently, Deepika Padukone has been at the centre of controversy over a strict eight-hour working limit. Sushmita Sen says it was worse when she made a similar, steadfast decision at 24.
She says, “It was worse. You’re talking about a world without social media, without the digital boom, and there are far fewer platforms for an actor to work in today. And it’s still tough. So imagine if you are an actor who only does one platform. And there are rules attached to that platform, which is cinema, that a girl has to forget having a baby. You’re not getting married because that impacts your fan following and audience.”
The actress recalls a telling incident: “My manager ran away. He said, ‘You’re not serious about your career, and I can’t represent someone who’s a mother at 24. Character roles bhi nahi milenge aapko.’ He ran away, and I was like, good riddance to bad rubbish. I was quite okay with it. And you won’t believe it – after I became a mother, I gave my biggest hits.”
Sushmita Sen On Wanting To Be A ‘Young Mother’
The actress adds that the resistance mostly came from other women, though that is improving now.
She explains, “But what it did take was to say, these are the rules – you take them, or you leave them. And my thing was, I’m a self-made woman. I don’t have godfathers. Nobody gave me a platform. I did everything on my own. So your rules don’t apply to me. My rules apply to me. So my rule says, this is what I want to do. I want to be a young mother. And I do not want to be incapacitated in any way so as to be able to look after this child and give this child the best childhood possible. And so that was the time, and it worked out, thankfully. It took a lot, but it did work out.”
On “Pushback From The Industry” After Adopting Renee
The actress does not hold back as she recalls the immense “pushback from the industry.” From her acting to her height, her capabilities were constantly questioned, yet she delivered major hits soon after welcoming Renee.
“They released pretty much around the same time as Renee’s news came out. And there was a lot of pushback from the industry, an enormous amount. They were like, ‘What is she doing? She’s not committed, as it is.’ She was a difficult heroine to cast because she’s taller than most actors, and she doesn’t have all the acting chops, which was true because I didn’t have any background in it, and there were no actors,” adds Sushmita Sen.
“I needed someone to help me learn, and I was thrown into doing the job, so I did the best I could. And then I learned on the job. But it was a lot of pushback, and it was tough. And I have always said – my mum says this – that if you hold on to rejection long enough, acceptance follows. So I held on to that rejection long enough, and suddenly it became a wonderful thing. And so there was acceptance, and then life took me from there,” concludes the Aarya actress.
Sushmita Sen’s Hits After Becoming A Mother
As she mentions, her biggest commercial success came as the glamorous Miss Chandni in Farah Khan’s Main Hoon Na (2004), followed by the success of Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya (2005) with Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan.
Other notable hits and box-office successes that followed include Aankhen (2002), Samay: When Time Strikes (2003) and Filhaal (2002).
All of these, she reiterates, came after 2000, as Renee brought immense good luck and became a part of her world – and the rest is history.
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