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Tomorrow, Today
Success, Spirituality & Staying Real | Shilpa Shetty Kundra x Shekhar Natarajan
01:25:19
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- [00:00]
Shekhar Natarajan
The scenarios that you are trying to solve a problem artificial intelligence cannot solve, like how a human thinks. So can I bring the soul of a human, the heart of a human into the intelligence?
- [00:17]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
When I'm not being watched, when I'm not being judged, I think there is a quieter side to me.
- [00:27]
Shekhar Natarajan
Poverty was my origin story. It was not my destination.
- [00:35]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
It's the many nos that have made me. It's not the yeses.
- [00:44]
Shekhar Natarajan
She traded her life for my education. Just like my mom did.
- [00:53]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
You can bend me, you can't break me.
- [01:08]
Shekhar Natarajan
Ladies and gentlemen, today's guest represents evolution in its truest sense. She's not just a star who conquered cinema, but a woman who continuously reinvented herself across decades, industries and generations. From becoming one of Bollywood's most celebrated actors to emerging as a global voice for wellness, mindfulness and conscious living. She has transformed fame into purpose. An entrepreneur who built successful ventures beyond entertainment. A fitness icon who inspired millions to prioritize health. A style symbol known for elegance and confidence. And a mother who speaks openly about balance, resilience and growth. Her journey reflects discipline, reinvention and the courage to stay relevant in a rapidly changing world. In an era driven by technology, influence and and personal branding, she stands as a powerful example of how authenticity can become one's greatest strength. Please join me in welcoming an icon who continues to redefine success, inspire generation and lead with grace and determination. It's none other than Shilpa Shetty Kundra Foreign. Welcome to another episode of Tomorrow today with Shekhar Natarajan. I am very, very excited about this episode because my life has been a series of accidents and I've been surrounded with one common theme. Strong women around me. Very strong women. Be it my grandmother, beat my mother, be it my wife. And I'm very excited to have someone I have deep admiration for because she's played, played what, you know, versatile role in her life. Please welcome Shilpa Shetty onto the show and we're going to have a lot of ground to cover. Shilpa, I'm excited to have you here and let's have some fun.
- [03:32]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Absolutely. Thank you for having me.
- [03:34]
Shekhar Natarajan
Absolutely. So you've been famous since age 20s, you know, I'm guessing right?
- [03:40]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
17.
- [03:41]
Shekhar Natarajan
17. And, and, and basically like a lot of people know, you wearing different hats. Who's real? Shilpa Shetty for the audience, I think
- [03:54]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
the one that they're paying money to see has to gratify them and that's, that's what, that's the Persona I think that they remember Me as. Because I do a lot of TV as well. I've done YouTube, I've done radio. So through these mediums, you get to see the real me. That's a very bubbly, very happy, very positive person. But in my alone time, when I'm not. When I'm not being watched, when I'm not being judged, I think there is a. There is a quieter side to me that is a facet that I'm sure people wouldn't want to pay for. So I played the gallery, and I'm deeply spiritual. So, yeah, I guess that's. That's a side that people don't see too much.
- [04:56]
Shekhar Natarajan
Say more about that.
- [04:58]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
I'm. I'm honestly quite a home bird. So the time that I get, I. I prefer to spend it learning something new, doing the stuff that I enjoy doing, stuff that, you know, makes me happy, spending time with my kids, yoga, watching interesting content, which I get very little time to. To do. Taking a massage. Yeah, the little joys. But, yeah, I just. I just like to switch off sometimes because, you know, you're constantly. Otherwise, when you're playing the actor, the celebrity, the speaker, the businesswoman, all the different facets that I have to my personality, the mom, the wife, the daughter, the sister, you have to cater to everyone's needs, and that leaves you with very little time to cater to yourself and to listen to yourself and your soul. So that is mine. And I want to nurture. I want to understand. I want to see reason from why I am born, my purpose in life. So I'm still learning, discovering, and.
- [06:30]
Shekhar Natarajan
And so how spiritual. How does spirituality help you through that process?
- [06:35]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Every person's understanding of spirituality is different. And when I say I'm deeply spiritual, it doesn't mean that I'm also very religious. But for me, the connotation of Dharma is to do the right thing. I follow my Dharma, and that is to do the right thing. And that. I think, with that alone, my spiritual journey has seen evolution. It's changed me as a person, made me very, very patient. I think human beings tend to want results quicker. But my guru says, you know, I'm a huge Sai Bhakt. And the bedrock of his preachings and his teachings are that you must have shraddha and saburi, which means faith and patience. And I think that that understanding has come with time. So you just say it. Oh, you know, you're a Sai Bhakt, and you have faith and you have patience, but there are times when you're, like, questioning God and like how much more time? Well, I have faith, but that's not faith. Right. So Sai says that faith and patience have to be unconditional. And when you have faith, patience means that, you know, it's how you behave in the time when you don't even have those answers, how you behave in that time. And faith is to know that whatever is happening or is to happen is going to be for your better good. So if you have that understanding, that's the kind of spirituality that I practice.
- [08:49]
Shekhar Natarajan
Very good.
- [08:50]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Yeah.
- [08:51]
Shekhar Natarajan
So like, this is exactly the reason why I like you a lot. Because I think your, your sense of confidence, your sense of understanding of the world in general and how strong you are as a person is like deeply endearing because those are the very attributes like I grew up around. Okay.
- [09:10]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
What an amazing journey you have had as well. A life of struggle. I was going through all your accolades. Amazing how many, some 307 odd patents after going through so many hardships in your life and you know, studying under a street lamp. I believe so. I'd heard of these stories. You know. My mother also came from very humble beginnings and she used to tell me that, you know, while the whole house slept, she'd go under the table and she would study. She was a very, very bright student. And then obviously she had to at a very young age, start earning. So she started doing at the age of 13 or 14, she started doing tuitions and stitching people's clothes. So I, I kind of understand. And we came from very humble beginnings as well. So I kind of resonate with that hunger in your belly when you go through that struggle in life. So tell me about your journey. I want to know about your journey. It's so amazing. I've turned the tables.
- [10:24]
Shekhar Natarajan
Thank you. Amazing. Thank you so much. See, I, I think to your point, right, like everyone has a purpose when they come to this world. And I don't basically think about my journey any different than most of the middle class family in India. Probably I was a little bit more impoverished than others, but poverty was my origin story. It was not my destination. And for me, one of the ingredient of what I became, who I became is my mother's will and her code. So a lot has been talked about people's like, journey in life and other things. They rarely talk about the, the genesis of that. Like what, like was the bedrock of that, you know, kind of beginning. And my mother, when I was like, both my brothers went to Jesuit school, you know, and she's not as educated. My father used to deliver telegrams in those days, you deliver telegrams for only two reasons. Money or bad news. Going to a house and saying like, you know, someone has passed away or about to pass away or here's your money, right? And he used to cycle 15km and all that stuff. So when, when my mother said, okay, like my third son, like he has to go to the same school, my two elder brothers, I went and interviewed Blue hair. And then they wanted for like some, you know, it's a Jesuit school. So they were all expecting that we change religion to actually go to the school and other things. And she said, hell no, I will never do that. And she stood by her, by her conviction. And every day for 365 days, she went and stood in front of the head minister's office. Not protesting, just standing, just standing. Like she used to drop my brothers. She used to stand there till 10:30 and she'll like just stand there, just stand. And the principal would like, you know, go around and like, you know, he'll find like the shortcut. Like, you know, he couldn't ignore her after a while. And after 365 days, the guy said like, enough is enough. I will give your son the admission. Okay? So that's where my life started. And for me, unconditional love. And when we did, we could not pay. She took off her wedding ring. Like, you know, she took that off, she sold it so I could have education. Like they feel like tired. You know, even modern day mothers don't have patience. My mother had unlimited patience, unlimited conviction and super driven. That conviction she had was amazing. And every time there was a low moment in my life, I used to remind myself of my mother. I don't want to let my mother down. And so that was the real sort of the catalyst or the escape velocity. So not to let my mother down, not to let my family down, not to let the expectation of my family down. And it was never about. I think everyone has a different story of what drives them. And you know, my story was that it's amazing. Yeah. So. And I grew up in the second biggest slum in India, proud to say that, but I work for a lot of. Oh yeah, it's amazing. So now let's actually talk about like the many hats you wore in your life. Right. You have sort of reintroduced yourself to the world in many different forms. First as an actor, then basically as an entrepreneur, a wellness icon, a mother. Right. So these are very different form factors in life. So how do you go about reinventing yourself and what is the Real, real you in all of these. Are you a businessman? Are you a fitness freak, Are you a mother or. Which is more, which is less
- [15:08]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
mentioned, was never really contrived. It was Majpuri, the survival of the wittest. So when I felt like I have to have a plan B because, you know, films were drying up, or maybe I considered. Didn't consider myself to be, you know, the quintessential good looking actor and, you know, I also really.
- [15:32]
Shekhar Natarajan
Is that right?
- [15:32]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
No. I mean, I have a personality. I'm not conventionally good looking.
- [15:42]
Shekhar Natarajan
Come on.
- [15:43]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
I mean, yeah. I mean, beauty is very subjective. So sometimes the most beautiful people look so ugly if they're not good people, you know what I mean? So maybe you think that I'm beautiful because maybe you like me as a person and maybe you have the ability to recognize my soul, which goes beyond beauty. So I'll take that as a compliment. But I just feel that I just lived in the moment and for me, I just did stuff that I felt instinctively drawn to and I just went with my gut. So whether it was, you know, wanting to make my own yoga dvd back in the day after winning Big Brother and nobody wanted to do reality at, at that time I was shooting for Apnea and Life in a Metro and I literally told them, I said, you know, it's a great opportunity, let me do it. And I thought, I will, you know, I won't last for so long. It was just a 20 day stint and I thought I'd maybe get out of the show in like five, seven days. And before we got into the show, they had asked us, who do you want to pledge the winning money to, the winning prize to? And I remember I said, To maybe, you know, an AIDS foundation or something. And I remember Parmeshwar Godrej, God bless her soul, was actively working in that direction. And I had done a little amount of work with her and I just finished with a film called Firm Elengi where, you know, the protagonist suffered with hiv. So I felt very strongly for that cause at that time. And then I just won and my life just changed overnight. So I just went with what came my way. And when I won that, I got various other opportunities. I also had the opportunity of maybe shifting base, you know, doing a very famous TV series in Britain. But I decided against it because I was like, you know, I still want to come back home. I have to complete the work that I've taken up here. And I don't. I'd feel like a fish out of water if I went to another place. And most actors don't want to shift base because in terms of naam pesa jobi hai and then you start as a Persona grata in a different place. It's. It's very unsettling. But for me, people knew me by name and face, even in. In the uk, so I should have felt very comfortable making that shift. But I decided against it because my gut didn't allow me to. So I went with the flow and then I met my husband and I got married. That, again, was a decision I took. And then I slowly, slowly decided on doing different things for myself. I said, you know, now is when I want to start a family, give that priority. And as an actor, your life is very erratic. You know, you're working for a producer. You have to. Obviously, I'm a. I'm a professional and my work ethics. Yeah, you know, are. Yeah, these benchmarks very high.
- [19:21]
Shekhar Natarajan
These guys were telling me, like, don't run. Overrun the other one, because you're going to run into time limits here, because she's going to come on time and she's going to leave on time.
- [19:31]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
So if I commit to something, I will have to deliver, you know, come hail or storm. So I just went with what I resonated with, what was synonymous with my personality and my philosophies. I could never endorse anything that I don't believe in. And even when I was younger and I couldn't afford it, that was where I came from. So today I've become this brand that I have become. It's the many nos that have made me. It's not the yeses. So. So, yeah, so from there I decided, you know, let me take yoga forward and we need to reclaim what is ours. So I. I decided on doing that because people in the UK saw me practice it and they said that, you know, you should come out of the dvd. And back in the day, that was the culture. You, if you become famous, if you become a celebrity, you come out of the perfume, you do your own thing and, you know, there's a lot of avenues that really open up. So I decided to go down that route and I continued because I believed in it. I walked the talk. So for me, it's not just saying so. The whole branding with yoga and wellness happened quite naturally. And then I decided during COVID and a little before that, I said, how do I make myself of some use to people? You know, and there's always this preconceived notion about food that if it's not made In a certain way, it's not going to be tasty. So healthy food is already looked at with a lot of doubt. So I wanted to debunk that myth, which is why YouTube happened. And I started it, like way before YouTube even came into play. And everybody's making money now. I had three and a half million followers then, like pre Covid.
- [22:02]
Shekhar Natarajan
Wow.
- [22:02]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
And I made nothing. I was only putting money into. I wish, I wish I continued, but now I don't have that much time. And then I decided on the app, the simple, soulful app, which again, was quite a hole in my pocket because I was only putting money. Everyone started working out online because of COVID So I had a lot of first mover advantages. So I did it because I believed in it. I wanted people to eat healthy and I wanted people to live with awareness and to live mindfully, eat mindfully, practice yoga was, was the way I thought I could play a catalyst and, you know, introduce to people in this lifetime of mine. And I, I just went with that.
- [23:03]
Shekhar Natarajan
So.
- [23:04]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Yeah.
- [23:05]
Shekhar Natarajan
So free will, like seeing the world before everyone else saw and, and like a little bit of like serendipity in life.
- [23:17]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Yeah. I mean, it is a little serendipitous, if I may call it so. But we think that we are doing
- [23:29]
Shekhar Natarajan
it, someone else is doing it on our behalf.
- [23:31]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
It was already planned.
- [23:32]
Shekhar Natarajan
Yes, that's right. Yeah, that's absolutely right. So I, I have this theory about like angels in my life. People ask me, like, how do you define. Because like, I'm building something called angelic intelligence.
- [23:43]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
What is that?
- [23:44]
Shekhar Natarajan
Well, it's exciting. So I believe that there are three types of problems that we all face as humans. One is like purely efficiency based. Efficiency takes over the world, like paying an invoice, writing a PO and other things. But like, the remaining two decisions that we as individuals make or company makes is rather contextual, which is like negotiations, like, you know, we're trying to decide or something which is morality based. Right. I see that basically, like, you know, this person has a break in the carrier. Should I hire that person? Morality. Someone is seeing beyond what you see. Right. In those kinds of the scenarios that you're trying to solve a problem artificial intelligence cannot solve, like how a human thinks. So can I bring the soul of a human, the heart of a human, into the intelligence? Like the angels who showed in my life, they saw something that I couldn't see. Can I replicate that? Because my son is like a Xerox copy of my father. My father was a very kind man. So Karma was a boomerang in my life. It came from everywhere. And they all showed me a path and I am where I am today. So I wanted to create something for my son that is something my father left me. But I wanted to do it in a way that amplifies what my father left for me
- [25:23]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
away.
- [25:24]
Shekhar Natarajan
And so I wanted to build this technology and that's what I'm building. It's called angelic intelligence. The technology that mimics what good humans do.
- [25:31]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
So it'll be based on empathy and compassion, emotions.
- [25:37]
Shekhar Natarajan
Very, very.
- [25:37]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
That's what we lack actually in today's AI.
- [25:39]
Shekhar Natarajan
Exactly. And like, you know, like, and we, we'll touch on that topic a little bit like when we get there. But there's a lot of fundamental flaws in terms of how AI was designed. It was never designed to think about. You said you have a 14 year old, about like a 30 year old, your son 15 years, 16 years from now. We are not designing with that in mind. We are designing for the 14 year old will consume 14. So it's like, it's all short term, it's all like, you know what the present problem is because that's the data
- [26:12]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
that they're getting, they're the ones who are using it the most. Right?
- [26:15]
Shekhar Natarajan
Yeah. So projecting yourself and seeing the world at, from that point and saying, how do I design something that is not being done today? So like, you know, so I'm trying to flip that story a little bit. So now coming to this very fascinating question, like, you know, like, because like everyone's life is very glittery from outside, huh? Like everyone thinks, oh, you arrived. Like, you know, like what is wrong with you? Like professional, personal, in all of that situation, how do you even have the courage to rebuild yourself? What do you do? You've gone through like a lot of highs and lows professionally and personally. And to come out of all of that and every time project yourself the way you did is fascinating. Like I'm, I'm not trying to like, you know, you know, sugarcoat or whatever it is I, I really admire and that's why I wanted to sit and talk to you to understand like your psyche, how do you go about it, like you know, painful process.
- [27:20]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Well, you rebuild when you think something is broken. I've never broken, so there's never been any need to rebuild.
- [27:31]
Shekhar Natarajan
You have to reproject.
- [27:33]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
So that's, that's my perspective on it. Yes, you can bend me, you can't break me. So that's, I think that comes from a sense of Deep faith. And also with the philosophy of whatever happens, happens for the best. And it was a small paper cutting that I had when I was 16. I don't know where I saw it. And I remember cutting out that piece and sticking it outside my door so I'd see it every day. And since then, it's just embedded in my subconscious that. Jo manka hovo acha naho sebi acha.
- [28:25]
Shekhar Natarajan
Beautiful.
- [28:26]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Yeah. That's not my line. It's Shri Hari Bansh Rai Bachchan's line, but I made it mine. I really believe that because I am a huge believer in the universe in manifestations. I'm a living example of how one can actually manifest what one really, really wants. And not not just wanting it because you want it, because you really want it, because you want to make a difference. And then that requires a whole lot of effort, consistency, discipline, sacrifice, sacrifices. And yeah, that's how you. You kind of reinvent. And sometimes, you know, who wants to be the same person? So when you say, you know, rebuild, it's a great exercise, maybe you're not broken, but it's sometimes important to walk away from a structure and look at it pragmatically and say, is this working in this time? Should we change the way? This is now email. Correct. You have to move with time, times. And then there are sometimes. Creston Lutron doesn't work for you and you still want the switch. Right. So horses for courses. You have to decide what works for you in that time and then take a decision. So that's how I have worked and that's how I deal after being in the industry, I think, or rather in the limelight for the last 32 years. I think it excites me to be able to still stay relevant. And that only happens when you're able to reinvent, do different things. And this decade has been, I don't know, an emergence of a different kind of me in terms of the entrepreneur I've become from a brand to an entrepreneur, and me foraying into the hospitality space with Bastion, I mean, for me, that was. Was different, but I'm doing it with a lot of passion and I have a great partner that I've invested in. So, yeah, you have to. You have to keep moving with time.
- [31:32]
Shekhar Natarajan
So what has the industry given you and what is the cost of what it gave you?
- [31:42]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
It's given me my identity. I have so much gratitude for that. The love of people, To become famous and to be loved. I must have done something good in my life. It's My parents blessings. And I feel very fortunate to be the. In the position that I am in today. But I think that you can't, you can't sit in then be dissing what you should be grateful for. Because there are always pros and cons, but the pros are far bigger than the cons. So I look at it like that
- [32:29]
Shekhar Natarajan
maybe, but what is the con like, you know, for people who only see the. The image that people project. Right. Obviously there's a lot of. There's a lot of, like you're under like immense scrutiny and like, you know, people are like always talking about you and there's no privacy.
- [32:50]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
You know, Shekhar, I'm someone who takes things in my stride. I think I'm old enough to kind of deal with also making mistakes in the open, because once you're famous, you're not allowed to make mistakes. So you're not forgiven easily for your mistakes. But I feel the one who will face the brunt of that will be my kids. Because when we were growing up, we made a lot of mistakes and that's made us the people that we've become. Right. But when you are children of famous people, there's that added pressure on them. And I think that is a big con for me. It's not for me, but my kids. So while they're growing up, they won't be able to enjoy the luxury of making mistakes because that was a luxury for me.
- [33:56]
Shekhar Natarajan
Wow. Interesting. Yeah, interesting, interesting. Like, they all think like, you know, it's like.
- [34:08]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
We are able to deal with, you know, fame comes with. There is a flip side to it. Yeah, but do kids understand that? My son's still very young, but I'm, I'm somewhere teaching him how to deal
- [34:25]
Shekhar Natarajan
with it, you know, and there's also
- [34:28]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
explaining is very different.
- [34:29]
Shekhar Natarajan
And there's also a lot of expectation of them, like Sachin Tendulkar ka beta.
- [34:33]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Like, you know, the poor soul is trying to find himself.
- [34:38]
Shekhar Natarajan
Yeah.
- [34:39]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
And not allowed to make any mistakes till he decides. Yeah, okay, is this going to work for him or not? He's not going to ace it in the first round. It's unfair to even expect that, you know, from, from our children.
- [34:54]
Shekhar Natarajan
Yeah.
- [34:55]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Yeah. So whatever he chooses to do or my daughter chooses to do, I really hope that they find satisfaction because satisfaction for me is the true definition of success. What, what others think is, you know, success, because they put numbers to it and all of that. There's some, you know, there are people who do so well in life and they're not Satisfied?
- [35:21]
Shekhar Natarajan
Neither. They're happy.
- [35:22]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Exactly. For me, success is defined by true satisfaction.
- [35:28]
Shekhar Natarajan
Yeah. So now tell me. I want you to be honest with me.
- [35:36]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
So what do you mean? I'm only being honest. I know, like I don't, I don't know. Unfortunately, another way to be.
- [35:42]
Shekhar Natarajan
I like, I really admire you. That's why I'm asking you this question. You know, I know that I'm gonna get an honest answer but like I think I gotta ask you this question. So early in your life you're always in this theater. Like you're performing. Like, you know, like, you know, you're in the people pleasing mode. Like you know, You stop like at some point in time and I went through this in my life. Forget it, like throw it aside. And then you go from like theater to actually like, like you know, that validation to vision, following the vision. So when did that happen to you? Did it happen to you or when did that happen to you?
- [36:33]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
That shift happened.
- [36:36]
Shekhar Natarajan
Why did that happen to you?
- [36:40]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
I've taken the carte blanche to even put you in the same bracket. We're all self made, right? So we value what we have made and we constantly feel, you know, wrong move. What will we fall back on? Or bana or banao Safeguard karna. Then you reach a point where you're like, okay, you know what? Now I'm not going to compromise. I'm not going to be undervalued. When you reach that state where you do not want to be undervalued in
- [37:33]
Shekhar Natarajan
someone assigning a value on you.
- [37:34]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Yes. That's when the flip happens. That's when you gather the gumption and you say no, now I don't want to do this because now I'm going to do it on my terms because it's a risk I can take.
- [37:53]
Shekhar Natarajan
So you want to get to the place of security before you?
- [37:55]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Yeah. Yes.
- [37:58]
Shekhar Natarajan
Very good. So if there is a young aspiring actress who's starting her life, what is that one lesson you would tell them that you want them to know so that they are going to be another Shilpa Shetty who reinvents herself like 15 times.
- [38:20]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Oh darling, a lot of people want to walk in my shoes. But let me tell you, it ain't going to be an easy walk. The heels are too high. First and foremost, I don't think I would ever, ever advise someone to want to emulate or try and be someone else. I tell my kids this all the time. Don't try to be like someone else. Be someone other people will want to be like So I think you have to go with your gut. And if you love what you are doing, keep consistently doing it with discipline and be kind in any situation. Kindness goes a long way. I may have been a mediocre actor. I say this myself because I'm sure there are hundreds in, you know, brilliant actors that we have in the industry. But I always got work. And I got work because I think people saw the hard work I would deliver and I'd show up, whatever be the circumstance, if I was unwell. I remember I was. I got burnt by. By an HMI light in a shot on my back. The shot was where I had to get out of frame and there was a little baby light at the back and I slept on it. And you know, when you get burnt, you don't realize it that very second, only that you realize. And I got up and I was like, chatka laga. And then they say, you know, jalgi, Jalli, Jalgi. And I still showed up the next day and I was supposed to wear this outfit and I couldn't wear it because I was badly burnt, but I wore just the front and I made them stitch it, like put a thread on it so that we didn't have to zip it. So I've worked so hard in my life that Kisi dusreka, nuk sahni. So I just feel that if you have that kind of work ethic, you'll always, you'll. You'll go back feeling happy, you know, and you'll always be successful. So. So whether it be in the film industry or any other milieu that I chose to work in, I've always worked like that. I always think about the other person, you know, the people that I'm working with. Is it going to make that person profit? Is it going to be, you know, lucrative venture for. For me to leverage my name to. So I always think my mindset is very different or has been very different. So, yeah, just put in that effort, do it with heart, be kind, and the rest you have to leave to God. Whatever is destined to happen is going to happen.
- [41:31]
Shekhar Natarajan
Yeah.
- [41:32]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Yeah. So
- [41:35]
Shekhar Natarajan
talking about like business building, right, like, you know, you went from being a star to building businesses. And thinking like an entrepreneur is very different than thinking like a star. Right? Like one you were, you know, you're, you're leveraging your brand, you know, so to say. But like, you know, as an entrepreneur. But business, may coffee are the different mentality, business. So how did you. How, like, how do you kind of plan for that? How do you go about it like, like there's so many people who are aspiring to be entrepreneurs today. What advice do you have for them?
- [42:10]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
I don't even know how I'm a
- [42:13]
Shekhar Natarajan
businessman or a businesswoman.
- [42:15]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Come on. I didn't contrive this to be honest. It just happened. I, You know, Shilpa Shetty has the acumen and she's this businesswoman and look at her. And you know, let me just tell you, I had no idea. My, my father was a small, small time entrepreneur. We manufactured pilfer proof caps for medicine bottles. I was learning commerce, studying commerce that I hated. I had no idea why. I was learning economics, learning cosine, cosec, trigonometry. I came back home one day frustrated as my dad. I said, where am I ever going to use this? I was frustrated, I hated math. And then I went to the factory. Like I said, we used to make pilfer proof, you know, caps for medicine bottles to wadding machine, that little sponge that used to go into the cap, bottle caps. So I went and I sat on his chair. He said, get up, go where all the girls are sitting. They used to manually put all the cap, the bags. He said, you have to start from here. So at that time I decided, I said business. So see, but God had a different plan. And then I became an actor. That again was literally just by chance after, you know, the 10th grade you get, you wait for your results. It's a long wait. And my neighbor was a photographer. He saw me, he was like, you know, you have a very photogenic face. Can I shoot you? And it was, I didn't have to pay for it. He called a makeup artist and he was testing some lights and he shot some photos. The makeup artist gave my photograph to agencies. That's where I got discovered by this. So it was all planned. How can you plan this? How can you think that I, you
- [44:35]
Shekhar Natarajan
know, responsible for that?
- [44:36]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Yeah, I, I have thought about becoming into, you know, becoming an actor. And I have achieved all this on my own. There, there are no coincidences in life. It's all planned. So you have to just go with the flow. So I was meant to go through this journey and then become the person I am and become an entrepreneur. I think I started my tryst with investments, started with Mama Earth where they came to me and wanted me as a brand ambassador but they couldn't afford me. And when Varun and Ghazal came to me with all their products, I think I said yes to them. Not as Shilpa. Shetty the celebrity as Shilpa Shetty the mom. Because I just had my son who was 2 and I was constantly looking for products that could suit his skin. See, I could afford to travel and buy those products. I would come back with kilos and kilos of, you know, I would come back with, you know, moisturizers, shampoos, conditioners.
- [46:00]
Shekhar Natarajan
Customs take now.
- [46:17]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
So I was like, this is crazy. Why can't we have products? And then the products at that time that were selling were filled with parabens and they were for kids, you know, they were not safe. So why couldn't we? We have non toxic products, hypoallergenic products. And they came up with this great idea and I said, okay, you can't afford it. She said, we'll give you sweat. And I jumped on the offer. But us time may, I think it must have been one of the first brand deals I lucked out on. You know, who knows how many companies really become unicorns.
- [47:02]
Shekhar Natarajan
So no, I think the intention was good. No, so like exactly. My, my brother's mentor, like, you know, this guy is a Pakistani and he used to always say so like, you know, always like set your intention and the intention should never be you.
- [47:24]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Absolutely, I, I totally agree with you. So I would always invest and even now when I invest, I don't just invest in the product. I invest, invest in the people that have that vision for the product and the intent with which they've made the product. So for me that matters, you know, because our product, vision, end goal,
- [48:01]
Shekhar Natarajan
You
- [48:01]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
have to have knowledge, you know, so I don't have that. I have. What works for me in my favor is my instinct and my gut feeling and I just go with that, you
- [48:12]
Shekhar Natarajan
know, like it probably is because of what you said in the beginning. Not trying to philosophize here, but I think like, you know, you said like you want to connect with the universe and when you connect with the universe and your intentions are right.
- [48:24]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Yeah.
- [48:25]
Shekhar Natarajan
Things manifest, you know, so. And like results follow. So you, a lot of people talk about women's empowerment in general, right? Like, you know, there's a lot of slogan about women's empowerment, So. But you are living proof of creating products and not slogans. So how do you go about that? What does it mean to you in the first place?
- [48:54]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
You know, I really, I believe that strong women make stronger women. So when I see a woman in any field doing well, I reach out to them. I really wish we are able to become a community and community building really is a very important aspect we have to ask ourselves questions like, are we building an empowering space for women? Is it a safer working space for women? Are we giving women more opportunities, pay parity? So empowerment is. It's not just a hashtag. It's an infrastructure, and it has to be built. And I think today, in this egalitarian world that we're living in, I look at it like that. While there is a dichotomy as well, because the metros you see, women are treated and looked upon very differently. The mindset is very different. And you go into the interiors, the two tires. Again, it's very different. So you have an India where there are different mindsets, different kind of women. But the one thing that is a constant in women across India is they are able to multitask. And their conditioning is such that they grow up to become multifaceted because they are taught it doesn't matter if you're from the metro and you're a working woman or you are from the interiors, from the back of beyond, of some place in India, they know. Tangi. That's the strength of a woman. Asian women are built very differently, you know, so it's our conditioning, I think, and our mindset that make us empowered.
- [51:14]
Shekhar Natarajan
But in the, like, you know, I still see this society, right? Like, you know, women rarely get the recognition of the sacrifices they have made. Right. Like, you know, I will. My grandmother was a widow at age 13.
- [51:32]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Oh, my gosh.
- [51:33]
Shekhar Natarajan
At age 13. And, you know, and she never was married after that. Like, you know, she. She's my mother's father's sister, and she lived with us, right, all her life. And for the longest time, she used to be the person who used to come grab me from the school and walk me back home. And, You know, that was my breakfast for the evening. And, like, you know, late, late dinner. And I remember, like, 95 on my. On my birthday, you know, she had a stroke. And so she refused to take treatment because in our. In our. In our family, trading for education versus trading for health was like, something we always had to do. What is more important? And so she traded her life for my education, just like my mom did. And when I. When I think about, like, success and all that that people talk about, like, you know, they like, Basically, grandmother, unconditional support. And, like, you know, we as men always take women for granted, is my general assumption. Even my wife will tell me about it. She'll say, like, you know, she's watching this because sometimes even I forget how to recognize, like, what she's doing for me, you know, so we haven't transcended as a society. I still feel to like, understand what you just said. It's a very profound thought. Women always are multifaceted. They're always like caregiving. They're always like, you know, focused about the family. They put everyone, everything above and beyond, you know, their, their personal identity, comfort, everything. I've never heard like, someone like, do the opposite, like rarely the case, you know, normally, yeah, it depends on the
- [53:55]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
upbringing, where you've come from and all that stuff.
- [53:58]
Shekhar Natarajan
So, you know, but, you know, I still feel like, you know, I hear so many stories about child abductions, rape, like, you know, you know, kids being burnt alive for marriage for, like the way they, like, you know, we have progressed economically, but we haven't progressed intellectually as a society, you know, so is that, is that like, am I just like hallucinating or am I like, am I, am I real here? And I want you to be honest because one of the things you said, you know, you don't care about anyone anymore.
- [54:39]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
I thing is sometimes when you're in a position where people take you seriously, it comes, you know, great position comes with great responsibility. So I don't want to say something that'll just make headlines and there's no use of that line. So I don't make loaded statements only because you have to think before you speak. But coming back to your question, like I said, and I reiterate, there will always be different mindsets. There will always be different kinds of people. So you really have to choose what kind of woman you want to be and what works for you. It's very easy for me to say that, you know, Ja Jeelo, Apnee, Zindigi
- [55:42]
Shekhar Natarajan
or Jaasimaran,
- [56:01]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
But she, she does it out of frustration because, you know, she was this go getter and she sacrifices, you know, all her dreams and her life and she, she becomes, you know, a housewife. And no one appreciates or even acknowledges those sacrifices. And one fine day she decides to go and, you know, live her life the way she wants to for those five days. But like I said, everyone doesn't have the luxury to be able to switch off from their life. You, you know, when you give birth to a child, that comes with a responsibility. When you make a commitment, whether it be in a personal capacity with your husband or at your workplace, it's a commitment that you have to, you know, that has to have some consistency, some constants, right? So everything has to be looked at and weighed and thought about. So Whatever works for women out there in their capacity. But yes, I can only say this much. If someone disrespects you in terms of putting you down constantly, whether it be at your home, your workspace, it is becoming a pattern. It's time to wake up and break it. Because still you do not learn from that pattern, it'll keep getting repeated. And that's God's way of teaching you to become stronger. The day you are able to break that pattern and value yourself to be able to say, no, I will not take it. Only then will your next phase start. So to all those women out there who are facing any kind of disrespect, abuse, it's time to empower yourselves and it's time to be that stronger person, be the new you. And trust me when I tell you this, it's only happening for the best. And believe in it. Yeah, I mean it.
- [58:26]
Shekhar Natarajan
Absolutely, absolutely. And I think like, you know, we as a society like to actually assume that women is, needs to be submissive and has to live with it all
- [58:40]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
to be submissive, if that is your choice for whatever reason, again, it's a choice. You don't have to be what is. You know, a lot of women, they are meant to be subservient. I don't understand for what see, but it's easy for me to say that
- [58:59]
Shekhar Natarajan
because you have a right.
- [59:00]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
I'm self, no, I'm self reliant because I always believe that you, you must always do something in life, something to keep your mind active, something you can't only. There always has to be a little bit of plan B in life. This is for self preservation. I believe. I remember this line. Somebody told me, don't bend so much that will break your spine. Bend only as much as you can.
- [59:40]
Shekhar Natarajan
So what comes across to me is there are actually like, you know, I've seen, I've lived in Corporate America for 23 years of my, 25 years of my professional life. Like work for large companies, manage very large teams, sometimes 80,000 people, sometimes 20, sometimes 40. And that is nothing in comparison with like the population of India. It's a different scale, USA versus here. So people are very complex. So I've seen two types of people, right? Like one who look very strong and one who are really strong. So you come across to me as a strong person, like someone who's self, aware, like you know, who has a good sense, you know, who has her own confidence and identity and everything. Like you know, you know who you are and you feel like very, very much in your skin. So what's the real, like, how do you actually discover that in your life? What's the process.
- [60:53]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
When you look really strong, as in like physically, there's physical fitness and then there's mental fitness. So there are a lot of people who look really strong but mentally maybe not, not able to handle certain situations. And then there are some who look very meek and mild and who don't look that strong from the, you know, with their appearance or in their appearance. And they're able to dabble with a lot of things and you know, with different situations. So I don't know, I, I think it has a lot to do with your mind and how you train it. And being into yoga for many years has taught me to live in awareness. And breathing is a huge asset in my life. To be able to breathe with awareness in awareness is something that I have been trying to tell people to also follow. And I think if you're able to live in the moment and be aligned, once you're aligned physically, mentally, soulfully, everything falls into place. You will have your weak moments. If people think that, you know, Shilpa doesn't cry, oh, she's so strong that she, you know, she doesn't crumble. No, I've had days where I have, I've, you know, So there are times where I, I mean, I'm only human. But then you have to gather yourself and you have to, you have to know that that is that moment. You have to fully, you have to fully embrace that moment and you have to accept that this has happened to you. And that's where awareness comes into play. And that's where training of the mind comes into play, which happens with yoga automatically. So most people have this preconceived notion that, you know, yoga has a lot to do with asanas and you know, contorting your body like a pretzel. No, yoga is training the mind.
- [63:39]
Shekhar Natarajan
Yoga, like it's like so cultural to us, right? Like I go to like, you know, obviously like I shop like in Costco and other places in us. Like when you go around the aisle like, you know, you'll see like they're selling turmeric, right? Seriously, they are selling turmeric, like and
- [64:00]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
then, you know, clarified butter, ghee, coconut oil, cold pressed liter, literally.
- [64:14]
Shekhar Natarajan
So, you know, don't you feel, you know, a little cheated that someone has to teach us what is our ancient wellness structure?
- [64:24]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
I mean, like I said before, yoga, Ayurveda, mindfulness. I feel so proud to belong to a country like ours. With such a, you know, deep cultural resonance ethos where medicine is holistic, you know, where strengthening of the mind, the body, the soul can be holistic. So I just feel like why don't we rely on this? Why when it comes through the west, we believe, we tend to believe in those things more then olive oil. Why can't you cook in mustard? Kachi ghani, mustard oil and coconut oil and ghee apne kha daal mekhao. I've said this before many times when Madonna has eaten, eating clarified butter on her crisp gluten free toast, suddenly we wake up, oh, let's have ghee. I know it's crazy, you know, I think it's time to reclaim what we have that comes from our country. And I've been trying to do this for the last 10 years. So I'm at it and I think we as Indians must wake up and smell the ghee.
- [66:01]
Shekhar Natarajan
Absolutely right, Kyuki. See I, I think it's like, it's also like a little bit of like human. Right. In the sense. I know, I like for all the, the glorious speech I gave, like, you know, I'm also a big time hypocrite. My father used to practice yoga and.
- [66:32]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Right.
- [66:32]
Shekhar Natarajan
So we actually disregard the things which are closest to us. We are always fascinated by someone else's validation of us.
- [66:48]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
You know there are more yoga trainers abroad then they are here in our own country.
- [67:03]
Shekhar Natarajan
And we actually like take that video.
- [67:18]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Yoga. I think suddenly people have woken up to yoga. Not just around the world, but even in our own country. And a lot of people are steering towards yoga because they can see the benefits. I told you, it's a single form of exercise, holistic way of curing and alleviating all your problems. Yoga and Ayurveda as a combination can be lethal and you just have to believe in it. And we have so many gems like that in our country that have yet to be discovered and simple remedies that we, we maybe have forgotten. But I go to all those age old, you know, way of living life, I, I really want to tell this generation to start living like how we lived right up to even like as recently as 70 years ago. If you're able to just wake up early, sleep early, eat mindfully, eat and breathe in awareness, have lots of water, eat the quantity that's required and eat, eat with gratitude. You see how your life will change. We're not able to do all these things and yeah, I think you know, people are having ready made food. You know, there's so Much Kitteni, milavati, khanani, kharan. And there are so many compromises and quick fixes, then how can you have long term results with quick, you know, with quick fixes. So if you want something to be long term, you have to practice it also long term. And it has to have some kind of effort. Without effort there is no result.
- [69:19]
Shekhar Natarajan
Absolutely.
- [69:20]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
So you have to make that effort, be consistent with that effort. They say karat, karata bhyas jarmato hove sujahan rasari aavat javat.
- [69:32]
Shekhar Natarajan
What does that mean?
- [69:44]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
It's about consistency.
- [69:46]
Shekhar Natarajan
Consistency?
- [69:46]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Yeah, that if you do, if you do the same thing again and again and again, something as flimsy as a string, when you put it on a rock and you move it consistently, it will create a mark, even on a rock. So if you. You have to do it consistently and only then will you see results.
- [70:06]
Shekhar Natarajan
One of the things you touched on was, was basically like, you know, the number of inventions I was able to create, though, I have a ritual. So every 12 to 14 months I
- [70:22]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
take three weeks off to learn a new skill.
- [70:25]
Shekhar Natarajan
No, I just go to Ayurvedic Center.
- [70:28]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Wow.
- [70:29]
Shekhar Natarajan
And I completely shut myself off. And then I sit and paint in the.
- [70:33]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
You paint?
- [70:34]
Shekhar Natarajan
I also paint after that, like so basically like around. Treatments, detox. And I enjoy that like 21 days process and then like energy. So I then take that time and then like, you know, starting like, you know, around 3:30, 4:00 clock in the evening, up to like, you know, 9:00', clock, 9:30, I sit and paint continuously. Creative mind offline. When I come out of that process, like I am like thousand times lethal because the mind is like so calm, so protected. And like even recently before I came here, like I went to Neem Karoli Baba. Beautiful.
- [71:31]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
I've heard amazing things.
- [71:32]
Shekhar Natarajan
It's beautiful ashram, like, you know, like you have to go there to experience it. The energy is like so sacred and gives you a lot of clarity of thought. Now coming to the mind, I've had a very turbulent early day in my life. Early days, right? So my brother has bipolarity. Okay, so bipolarity, basically lunatic. And he used to see things that no one could see that he would experience. Like his IQ was like beyond any imagination. So. And it was a taboo for us, like living in a slum. Right? Think about it like, you know, when
- [72:21]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
did you all detect it?
- [72:23]
Shekhar Natarajan
Not until like 2004. He was actually detected in 99 for uni. Like everyone thought like he was unipolar, not bipolar. So treatment Protocol, basically he got obese, he had like all kinds of other problems. And then when we, when we went to Grady Memorial, like in Atlanta, they discovered it and then they put him on a regiment. But all of that life, right. Oh, time. Basically like, you know, So mental health, it is like such a taboo. Right. And I lived with that and I feel like, you know, like we don't talk about it as much.
- [73:10]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
No. Now I think people are coming out like mental health important day hopping on that. Especially now.
- [73:20]
Shekhar Natarajan
Yeah.
- [73:21]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Everything is so fast paced and oh, that the stressors are so much more. You're constantly in the midst of meeting deadlines and you know, I don't know, it's such a shallow life. Most, you know, a lot of people are living, especially the younger generation where everything is, you know, about how you look and the pressure of living up to someone else's expectations or being like someone else, the comparisons. It's really, really sad. We didn't grow up, you know, with those pressures. So this generation is dealing with far more, but they're also far more elevated souls. Let me also say that because I have children and I've seen the clarity that they have we didn't have at that age. Especially for this generation, I feel there's nothing, I always say this, that the mind is more powerful than the body. So if you tell your mind that my body can do this, your body will. But if the mind has decided that it can't, nothing and no one can make it happen. So you have to be able to train your mind. And that can only happen with a regimen. And when it comes to mental health, I would urge people to please seek hell. I mean, when you break, you know, you break a bone, you will go to a doctor, right. You'll go to a physiotherapy, seek therapy. And rehabilitation is a process. The same with your mind. You must seek therapy if you can afford it. Or you go, you start doing yoga. It's the cheapest way. You'll not even need to invest in a mat. You can do it on the ground. So I mean, breathing is a, is a tool that you can use. And you will see the change, you know, it'll, it'll, have and the effects it'll have positively in your life.
- [75:53]
Shekhar Natarajan
Yeah, very good, very interesting. So tell me a little bit like, you know, there is a screen and then there's a person. So your son watches you a lot on the screen? He doesn't.
- [76:09]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
He stopped working when he was born. Like three films. Yeah. And none of my Films are on.
- [76:15]
Shekhar Natarajan
I liked, really like one of the, one of, I like a lot of your movies. But my father used to say like, So he. Anyway, so life in Metro was amazing. Your role was amazing in that. Like, you know, I really enjoyed it so. Because you know, when you, when even for me, my son, right when he watches me on the screen, like I'm giving TV interview or whatever it is, like, how do you distinguish between the image and the person? Like, how do you teach them that?
- [76:57]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
I think they're very smart. We underestimate the intelligence of kids. They have a different understanding. My daughter was five and I asked her, I said, samisha, what is it that you want to become? Because my son said, you know, mama, I think I'm gonna, he wants to be an actor, director, whatever. He's going to get into the, there's something called genes. And I, I, I believe that. So I asked my daughter, I was intrigued. I said, samisha, what is it that you want to become? You know what she said to me? She said, mama, I want to become famous. She said, I want to be famous. So I was like a four year old, four and a half she was at that time. She said that to me because she's seen, she's seen people react to me in a certain way. Give me love, you know, paps clamoring for photos. She thinks it's a great position to be in where people, you know, are showing you that kind of love. And she doesn't know the cons.
- [78:11]
Shekhar Natarajan
Yeah, not yet.
- [78:13]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
But her understanding. But then she also knows that Mama goes to work to get that, but mama will come home and put her to bed as well. So that kind of understanding is, is built. So who I am at home is just Mama for them. They know that that screen Persona is
- [78:36]
Shekhar Natarajan
one thing and so you don't carry it home.
- [78:39]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
No,
- [78:46]
Shekhar Natarajan
You can't bring that because conversation, dinner table.
- [78:52]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
No, we never discuss those things at the table. We're very aware what should be said in front of the kids. And one must be our discussions, our personal discussions, our serious discussions will be in the confines of a room between my husband and me. It'll never be in front of the kids.
- [79:14]
Shekhar Natarajan
So what is that one value that you're teaching your kids today that like you want them to inherit?
- [79:19]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
To be good human beings and to be kind.
- [79:25]
Shekhar Natarajan
Yeah.
- [79:26]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
To have grace under fire. Yeah.
- [79:30]
Shekhar Natarajan
Very beautiful. Yeah. So everyone is actually talking about artificial intelligence today. Like, you know, it's like, you know, it's the talk of the town. AI Actually India, Indian government, Actually hosted the AI Summit as well here. A lot of big guys showed up, a lot of investments going in. So my question to you is, are we building a more disconnected, more lonelier world in the world of intelligence, or are we trying to build a more connected world through artificial intelligence? What is your take on that?
- [80:05]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Well, AI functions on the basis of data. Right. So it will answer you, or rather cater to your demands, depending on the data that it's been fed with or it's accumulated. So I think it's. It's a. It's like power. It's neutral. Power is neutral. It really depends on the hands that use it or the hands that it gets into. So you have to use it depending on where you are using it, with whom you're using it. So I think as a parent, I would teach my children discernment when it comes to AI, and as a businesswoman, I would use it ethically. So I think you should use it, and you must use AI because it is. It's a tool and not view it as a threat, but know how to use it. Yeah.
- [81:14]
Shekhar Natarajan
So there's a lot of deep fakes.
- [81:17]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Yeah.
- [81:18]
Shekhar Natarajan
A lot of, like, you know, so does that concern you? Like, you know, the kids are growing up with that and, like, they will assume, like, whatever they see is what they. What is reality?
- [81:26]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Absolutely. It does concern me. And we've had a lot of issues with kids, you know, connecting with characters and then obviously committing suicide. And it's. It's quite scary. It's a. It's a different world that we're living in. So I think in this time and age, as a parent, you have to be very aware about what your kids are doing. 1. And also teaching them, educating them not to believe everything. So I think discernment is definitely a great factor. And honesty to tell them that, you know, use it to your advantage and don't get addicted. That, That I think really is the important aspect. While it can make your life very easy, it's very easy to also, you know, you tend to stop using your mind. So I, I just feel that you have to know where to cut off and how to use it. So as far as the deep fakes and all of that are concerned, I mean, we've. We've had huge concern as actors. So I've actually filed for personality rights. And there, There are so many sites that are actually using my face with those images. So it's, It's. It's scary. And my son, it. You know, the first time I, I understood that I am so dumb. And children are smarter than us. My 13 year old, so there was a site with, with these two girls with two, you know, heads. And I thought this is, you know, a Siamese twin kind of situation. And he was like, mama, you are so naive. This is AI. And I was like, oh my God, beyond. Just look at it. How do they live? You know? And they, they look so genuine. But imagine someone who's actually seen the world, is seeing the world like taking it like as if this is the truth. And then there are so many of these like on, on even on the gram, they're giving you gyan, they're telling you stuff. And there are people in important positions, you know, saying things that are actually not being not said by them. So you really have to use discretion and you have to really be aware. So it was my son that brought it to my notice. So I don't know how kids this generation, the Gen Z's and the Gen Alphas know in an instant that this is fake and this isn't. And this can actually open up a whole array of choices for you to make. And I think that is an advantage for this generation. So from his standpoint, I think AI is great. But from mine, I feel like an old hat. I have to learn a lot, but thankfully I have kids who are teaching me and it's my time to learn.
- [84:51]
Shekhar Natarajan
Very good. So with that I wanted to. We really enjoyed the, the two hours that we spent. I'm sure like there's going to be a lot of amazing takeaway for a lot of people out there who are listening to this. Thank you for your time and thank you for making the time with us. Thank you. Absolutely.
- [85:08]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
And great fun. Thank you. All the very best.
- [85:10]
Shekhar Natarajan
Thank you so much.
- [85:11]
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
You're an elevated soul yourself. It was wonderful, wonderful meeting.