Mumbai: When she first set foot in Mumbai, Divya Khosla Kumar was a young beauty pageant winner from Delhi wanting to make it big in the city of dreams. Two decades down the line, she has turned into a director with a blockbuster to her credit, is married to a music mogul and well on her way to churn out more B’wood flicks. The journey she says was rather hassle-free, by God’s grace.
“When I was crowned the college queen, I got a lot of modelling offers and I did a fair amount of work in Delhi. But, I had a thirst to do more work and moving to Mumbai was an obvious decision. It’s scary for a 20-year-old to move to a city where she knows no one, but I did it and thankfully for me, I met the right people and got a whole lot of work in terms of commercials and music videos,” says Divya.
It was during one such assignment that she met her husband Bhushan Kumar, the chairman and MD of a leading music company. It was, Divya admits, a rather filmi chase sequence. “I met him at director Anil Sharma’s house. There was a spark, and Bhushan instantly took a liking for me. I was a conservative girl and paid no heed to his advances.
I knew him as a young, rich bachelor, so was very hesitant of his admiration. He was in fact used to girls running after him, so he found my disinterest charming. Like I said, I was very conservative, so I asked him to speak to my parents. He did that and we’re happily married today,” says Divya who also has a two-and-a-half year old son, Ruhaan.
Though she came from a non-filmi background, settling into the illustrious Kumar family wasn’t much of a change she says. “People always assume that the change may have been dramatic, but that’s hardly the case. His family is very grounded and they made me feel at home,” she says. There are two things she admits that the couple indulges in; vacations and cars.
The man is known for his enviable collection of cars that includes a Ferrari, Bentley and a Rolls Royce Ghost. “We’re very fond of vacations, but just not the same type. I long for quiet places and Bhushan is crazy about shopping. He’s at the mall even before it opens! Shopping and cars are his two biggest passions, so we invariably end up shopping and renting a car when we are abroad. I am not much of a fashionista myself, but coming into the limelight after Yaariyan has made me conscious of what I wear. Although, I believe that it’s just clothes at the end of the day and it doesn’t define who you are.”
A hands-on mother, Divya admits her world revolves around her son. “It is my responsibility to make sure that he grows up to be a responsible citizen. I realised how big an influence I am in his life when he picked up English despite being spoken to in Hindi by everybody at home, including his father, and I am the only one who speaks to him in that language. I understood the importance of being a mother,” she says.
Recently taking up direction, Divya says it offers her creative satisfaction. “I wanted to channel my energies into something creative. By God’s grace the film has done really well and I am looking forward to start another one soon,” says Divya who would rather stick to working behind the camera than in front of it. “Bollywood has really opened up to newcomers today. But when I was making my debut, that wasn’t the case. There was a lot of politics and I didn’t want to do anything that would make me compromise on my morals or dignity. I don’t want to go for it right now. I am very happy directing and hopefully will continue to make many more good films,” she says.
