Mom, sister have been stabilising force in my life: Tanishaa Mukerji

Acting runs in her blood, but Tanishaa Mukerji's career couldn't take off in a big way. But she is thankful to her mother Tanuja and sister Kajol, both actors, for "protecting" her and being her support system. She says her motto is to live up to her own expectations.

"My mom and my sister have taught me a lot as far as my career goes. They have supported me unconditionally. But more than that they have protected me and been a very strong stabilising force in my personal life," Tanishaa told IANS in an interview.

A decade ago Tanishaa followed in footsteps of her star sister Kajol and entered Bollywood with horror thriller "Ssshhh.." Post that she featured in notable films like "Tango Charlie", "Sarkar" and "Neal N Nikki", but couldn't replicate her sister's success story.

"I believe that if your personal life is not strong, you can never succeed in your work," said the actress.

She has deep rooted film legacy. If her maternal grandmother Shobhna Samarth was one of the reigning queens of 1950s, her paternal grandfather Sashadar Mukherjee was the pioneer of Indian cinema. Her father Shomu Mukherjee made films like "Sangdil Sanam" and "Pathar Ke Insan".

Her illustrious family background raises a lot of expectations from her, she admited.

"My family background raises a lot of expectations. But I don't think like that...I have always been taught to walk my own path and not allow opinions and expectations guide you. And the only expectations I want to live up to are my own," she said.

She has stayed away from greasepaint and arclight for a while now and said it was because she was busy with the production of "Son of Sardaar", which starred her brother-in-law Ajay Devgn in the lead role.

She clarified she has "not disappeared from any scene".

"I am and will always be very much a part of the film industry. I have not been on camera in a while, however, I was working with production of for 'Son of Sardaar'. It was our second Rs.100 crore hit that year...and my first in production work," she added.

The actress has been a part of regional films as well and said that it was "a conscious decision" to branch off into so many domains.

"I love challenges. And acting in a language like Telugu or Tamil, which I am not familiar with, was so much fun because of how much I learned from it," said Tanishaa who has been seen in regional films like "Unnale Unnale", "Kantri" and "Mukti".

Now she has signed Akshay Kumar's Marathi production venture "Adhantari".