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Vimla Patil was associated with Femina, India’s number one women’s magazine, published by the Times of India Group for 29 years. Femina is Vimla Patil's personal success story. Today, FEMINA is one of the strongest international brands with a vast readership in India and abroad. She initiated the Miss India contest in the mid-sixties for the journal and brought it to its present international stature. Vimla Patil promoted Indian textiles and fashion garments – especially handlooms – for decades by presenting over 4000 fashion shows in India and most countries of the world. After finishing her long stint with Femina, she built a brand new career for herself as a freelance multi-mediaperson with writing, events, public relations, shows and many more activities in her portfolio! Vimla Patil will be delighted to answer readers' questions. Please click on the comments page link at the bottom of the article to post your questions for her.

A now-outdated school of thought in our society decrees that women lose their beauty, sex appeal and figure after childbirth…that motherhood makes them less desirable in the sensuality stakes. To some extent, these statements held a grain of truth in the past! Women themselves believed that having children robbed them of glamour and beauty and made them look ‘motherly’!

Full marks to today’s women – especially film stars and models – that this perception has been completely demolished over the past few years. The reason? There has been a virtual baby boom among Bollywood stars and top models in recent times and each one of them has retained not only her glamorous looks and figure, but also come back to her profession with more vim and vigour.

Madhuri, Raveena, Karishma and Rinke Khanna To Become Moms In The Next Few Months!

Madhuri Dixit, who is expecting her second child early next year, feels the same! "Who cares about work? It will come if I am good!" she exclaims, "I was just going to resume my career when I discovered that I was pregnant again. Sriram and I are delighted. I will always balance my career and family life. Today, the perception of an actor has changed dramatically. A married film star or model can work as long as she wants – because she has talent, beauty and a figure that can be the envy of many unmarried, young women."

"I believe motherhood makes no difference to a woman’s beauty and desirability," says a visibly pregnant Raveena Tandon, "I was keen to have a baby soon after my marriage to Anil Thadani last year. We are waiting to welcome the baby. With discipline, I will become my old slim self within months. So this is no worry. I will also work as and when I get a good film."

Karishma Kapur's pregnancy has been recently confirmed - the baby will come in early 2005

Karishma Kapur’s pregnancy was confirmed recently. Both the Kapoor and Kapur khandaans are delighted at the prospect of a new arrival after a long while. Karishma will continue to work till she begins to show her pregnancy and then take a sabbatical till she is back to her slim self again. "Glamour and beauty are essential in a film star’s life and motherhood or fatherhood does not come in the way of achieving these," she says, "Today, men like Jackie Shroff, Bobby Deol, Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar and others are proud fathers and often talk about their children in the media. Their sex appeal increases because today’s hero is not merely a sex object for women to drool over, but also a metro-sexual man who has a ‘feminine’, caring and nurturing side to his personality. Gone are the days of singles being desirable. Married men and women too remain objects of desire because of their professional skills – but more because their well-publicised personal lives. Their social commitments and soft heartedness for the underprivileged add to their appeal. Macho men and sex-object women are no longer the icons in glamourville. Because of television, personal appearances and political or social engagements, stars become social icons. Motherhood is a joyous part of life and must be enjoyed by all women!"

Rinke Khanna, younger daughter of Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia too, is expecting her first baby. Married to an NRI, she lives between the US and India and acts in plays and films whenever a good offer comes by.

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Other Moms Counted In The Glamour Brigade!

Aditi Govitrikar Is Top Model Of The A-List!

First in this list of glamorous mothers is supermodel Aditi Govitrikar, brand ambassador of the hi-society Kaya beauty clinics in Delhi and Mumbai and star of Bollywood movies and music videos. She has a four-year-old daughter called Kiara. Not only did Aditi win the international title of Mrs. World as India’s representative, but she also featured in movies and music videos after motherhood. She has remained the top catwalk model after motherhood. She commands the highest fees even among A-list models. "My being a mother has not affected my career at all. Indian viewers and the glamour industries of film and fashion have changed 180 degrees in recent years. As in Hollywood and the Western fashion industry, here too, many leading stars and models have married and had babies. Their pregnancies and babies have been well publicised. Their longing to become mothers has also been publicly acclaimed.

"After all, stars and models are normal women. They too want to experience the warm companionship which a secure marriage brings. They too want to become loving mothers to their children like all other women. Additionally, men have changed in recent years. Gone are the days when producers and directors insisted on unmarried heroines. Husbands, families, audiences and viewers now accept a woman’s right to lead her life in the way she wants. If she remains as fit and beautiful as before, she can certainly continue to act or model according to her wish. The new-age stars have asserted their right to their personal life and the result is there for all to see. Today’s women are superwomen. They have proved that they can handle a busy career, marriage, home and motherhood with finesse. Also, the money one can earn in the glamour industries is big. No one wants to give up a career which can make one rich at a young age."

Malaika Arora Khan Still Draws Crowds Yet another model, who is back to her sensual shape is Malaika Arora Khan who had a baby son called Arhaan last year. "Giving my son a name which combines Arora and Khan is symbolic of my marital bliss," says Malaika, "Arbaaz and I wanted a baby to complete our family. He is so understanding and loving that he really pampered me in my pregnancy. I worked till I was almost six months pregnant. Now that Arhaan is a toddler, I am back to my shape after exercising and workouts and I at work again. I will start my MTV job and take any good assignment which comes my way. My husband and family are totally supportive and the industry is receptive to married-mother models and stars."

Malaika Arora Khan whose son Arhaan is almost two years old

Juhi Chawla Has Two Children

On the starry firmament, three heroines have become mothers in the past two years. The first among them is Miss India 1984 Juhi Chawla, top star and partner of Shah Rukh Khan in the production company called Dreamz Unlimited. This team produced Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and Asoka earlier. Their next production Chalte Chalte did excellent business. Juhi secretly married Jay Mehta while she was one of the top heroines of Bollywood but waited to have her baby daughter Janhavi after her major assignments were completed. In Ek Rishta, for instance, her pregnancy was clearly visible. Just as she was getting ready to restart her career after workouts and shaping up, she recently discovered that she was pregnant for the second time. Juhi has had a wonderful and long career and has planned her motherhood at a time when she can afford to take a long break from acting. She planned her production company so that her link with Bollywood continues. After her second baby, she continues with her career.

Madhuri Dixit’s Second Baby Is Due

Madhuri Dixit’s son is called Arin. It is said that she planned to return home to India to have her baby. As things turned out, her husband, Dr. Sriram Nene, a cardiac consultant in the US, had to rush her to a hospital in Detroit and help to deliver the baby. Mother and son, who has been named Arin, were much in the news. Madhuri’s motherhood did not affect her lifestyle at all. She continued to endorse beauty products and planned her post-motherhood career as soon as she was fit and shapely again. In a recent television interview, when asked about her chances of again reaching the number one position among female stars, she said, "Who cares? I have got everything I want. A wonderful career, a fabulous husband and now my second baby is due! I will design my future career after I have come out of my present state of total happiness." However, it is also a fact that Madhuri decided to get married and become a mother – through an arranged meeting – when she was in her thirties and her career was on a downswing. Her last performance in Devdas has left a wonderful imprint of her beauty and acting skills. When she wants to re-launch herself, there will surely be producers waiting with open arms to welcome her!

Twinkle Khanna and Kajol Too Are Shapely Mothers!

Twinkle Khanna with son Aarav and Tanya Kumar with her daughter Shanaya.

Younger actresses than Madhuri – Twinkle Khanna and Kajol – have gone one step further. Both took a break from their careers at the age of twenty-four and married the men of their dreams. Twinkle, whose career was stagnating at mid-level, left Bollywood for good when she married top hero Akshay Kumar. She took a second option and opened an interior design business called White Windows, taking inspiration from her mother Dimple and her friends Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla. Twinkle’s baby son is called Aarav. Both Akshay Kumar and Twinkle dote on him and take him everywhere so that the family can enjoy quality time together. Twinkle is svelte and beautiful now and is the brand ambassador of many hi-end watches and luxury products. Twinkle says she spent hours in her gym to lose the extra weight though she may never return to the silver screen. White Windows has been voted one of the best lifestyle stores in India by Elle Décor, the Indian counterpar! t of the Elle Décor French magazine!

Kajol, on the other hand, took a break from her career while she was the reigning queen of Bollywood. Her talent was rated the highest in the industry. The best banners with the top directors wanted to work with her. She completed Kabhie Khushi Kabhi Gham after her marriage. So badly did she want a baby that she became pregnant almost immediately and gave birth to her daughter Nyasa. It was widely reported that to celebrate her motherhood, loving husband Ajay Devgan presented Kajol with a Mercedes car. "Nyasa has brought great luck and fortune to us," say the Devgans, "After our marriage, Ajay’s career has taken a leap into superstardom. His performances have won critical acclaim and films like The Legend of Bhagat Singh and Company have been hits. He won awards for his performance in Diwangee. We always wanted a girl and are over the moon with our happiness at Nyasa’s birth." Devgan Entertainment Ltd., their company, will earn millions now with the distribution rights of Gurinder Chadhas’s Bride & Prejudice, which has been released in India in October under the title Balle Balle – Amritsar to LA!

Filmi Moms Of Adopted Children…

Raveena Tandon Adopted Her Traumatised Nieces

But more than all these stars and models, two women have exemplified the role of a mother in a unique manner – Raveena Tandon and Miss Universe 1994 Sushmita Sen. Both of them are beautiful, sensuous and super-successful. Raveena crowned her career by getting the National Award for the Best Actress for her role in Kalpana Lajmi’s Daman and then she excelled in Satta, made by Madhur Bhandarkar. Sushmita showed her super sex appeal in Main Hoon Na made by Farah Khan.

Both Raveena and Sushmita have achieved something extraordinary as ‘mothers;. Both are ‘single’ mothers in the most beautiful sense of the word. Both of them have daughters through different circumstances and both have shown the cobweb-riddled Indian society that a single woman is not only capable of looking beautiful, having a brilliant career and building a beautiful home, but also of giving compassion, love and nurturing as a single parent.

Several years ago, Raveena found herself in unusual circumstances. She learnt that two daughters of a distant cousin were not being looked after well by their step-aunt after their mother’s death. "I found that this step-aunt was doing a horrid job as a parent. She separated the two sisters and sent them to different cities to live. They were lonely and their lives were full of trauma," recalls Raveena, "I adopted them with the consent of their father. So I am their legal guardian and parent, though technically I am their aunt. They fondly call me "bua". I am passionate about children, especially girl-children. When I heard about the plight of my children, I instinctively offered to give them a loving home. Adopting them was not a calculated move. Becoming a single parent was something that ‘happened’ to me. I did not plan my single motherhood.

Raveena Tandon who is expecting her first baby in 2005

"I adopted the girls when they were 11 and 8. Now they are 19 and 16! I am very protective of them and don’t even like to publish their names in the press. I want their lives untouched by any media hype. I did not adopt them to get media mileage. So this part of my life is my precious property and I share it only when it can serve a purpose. I want all women to know that motherhood, natural or otherwise, is a wonderful experience. A mother can give her child everything today.

"My daughters are more my friends than children. I have seen them grow up under the umbrella of my love and affection. I think women should adopt children. Yes, every child needs a father figure. But times have changed. Today, a strong woman can perform the roles of a father and a mother. She is certainly a home-maker, but she is also the bread-earner."

Raveena says that her relationship with her daughters is very open. "Their childhood trauma has made them wise beyond their years," she says, "I support them in everything they do and let them see life in its raw form, without superficiality. They have seen me go through the trauma of broken relationships and helped me to come out of my grief bravely. They look after me as if they are my mothers. They stay up late when I am shooting and we love spending time together. They pamper me when I work hard. Their simple gestures of love are deeply touching. Would you believe that their present mission is to set me up with a suitable man and get me married? Both the girls are an asset to my family, as is my brother and bhabi. My family – my parents, brother and bhabi - are very fond of my children and I feel blessed to have them!"

Sushmita Sen Adopted A Baby Girl

Sushmita Sen with her adopted daughter Renee

Sushmita adopted a baby girl for totally different reasons. Coming to the film industry on the wings of her success as Miss Universe 1994, she jumped into the fray of the glamour world with a rare passion. Her relationships, her affairs, the controversies, the heartbreaks and the downsides of her career affected her deeply. In the doldrums of such confusion, she decided to experience motherhood for the undiluted love it implies. She walked into an orphanage and asked to adopt a little girl in early 2001. "Being a single woman, it was not easy for me to adopt a child," she says, "I had a hard time convincing the authorities that I would give the child everything that a parent should give. After months of efforts, I succeeded. I brought my little bundle of joy – Renee – home, and looked after her with love.

I became a real mother to her and in the process, I turned around my own life too. I stayed away from controversies and became a serious actress. The result of my hard work shows. I have more films on my hand now than ever before and some roles I have performed, have been acclaimed by critics and audiences alike."

Renee is now almost four and a half years old. "My daughter is my strength," says Sushmita, "I’m proud of her and she is my whole world. The way she is attached to me, I believe we must have been related in our past births. Renee goes to play school now. Last year, when she performed in the annual function of her school with other children, I was in tears. I could not contain my emotions when I spoke about my daughter and how proud I was of her. My mother sat in the audience and thinking how she must feel looking at both of us, I was overwhelmed with emotion." Renee is a beautiful toddler and promises to be a beauty like her mother.

Now Amrita Singh and Sarika Have Joined The Glamorous Mother Brigade!

Film star Sarika – earlier married to superstar Kamala Haasan – obtained a divorce last year from Kamala Haasan. Showing rare spunk, she refused to take any support from her wayward husband and is working at her acting career to bring up her two daughters. Amrita Singh, who has been separated from Saif Ali Khan more recently, is already on the list of producers to get back to her career so that she can bring up Ibrahim and Sara, her two children!

All these star-and-model mothers have proved conclusively that the 21st century Indian woman can be beautiful, successful, famous and make a loving mother too!

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