Sushmita Mukherjee, detective Karamchand’s assistant Kitty, blind Mangala Dadi of Golmaal and Bua Maa from Ishqbaaz, has made her debut as a published writer with her book “Mee and Juhibaby”. The book will be launched today at Prithvi House by writer-journalist Shanta Gokhale.
This is not the first time, Sushmita tried her hands in writing, she has been writing for television shows and plays for a long time. “I would ghost-write for television shows, plays, and even pen short stories. But none of it took precedence over acting or my family,” she says. Mostly she wrote for her husband Raja Bundela’s TV production house.
Sushmita rose to fame, by playing the role of silly Kitty, assistant of detective Karamchand. Talking about her role, she says, “Back in the day, when the role did come to me, I was very upset. Kitty is a bimbette and I, who had just moved to Bombay after studying at the National School of Drama (NSD), was not keen to play a ‘dumb’ character. I was extremely unhappy but took the role to survive in this city. But in retrospect, I am glad to have been a part of a landmark show that made me an overnight success.”
“Mee and Juhibaby” is based on a mother-daughter relationship between protagonist Meehika aka Mee’s with her mother Juhibaby. The tale explores the protagonist’s conservative middle-class Bengali family, a troubled marriage, the hidden unpleasant part of Bollywood the before bring stable and then becoming a mother.
Mukherjee says, “The relationship between a mother and a daughter is the first complex bond a girl is exposed to. I believe all of us women have experienced that shifting dynamic with our mothers over time and that is what I try to bring to life in the novel.”
She started writing the book eight years ago and the actor has shared some of her own experience. Talking about the locations mentioned in the book she says, “It’s my first book and I suppose it’s only natural that the places, incidents, and people in my consciousness will seep through in my writing. For instance, like me, Mee moves to Bombay from Delhi to join her artist husband. While there is nothing in common between the character Kishore Bohitdar and my former husband Sudhir Mishra, it is the marriage that brought me to this city.”