INDIA WAS THERE LONG BEFORE MARVEL:

Kajol on horror film 'Maa': If Hollywood has superheroes, Bollywood has fierce mums in saris

- By Manjusha Radhakrishnan Entertainment Editor

In film school, they often say there are three things you should never work with: husbands, kids, or animals — the logic being that it never ends well. But Kajol has never played by the book, and she’s certainly not about to start now.

"We've been married for so long — 26 years — that tag of 'I can’t work with my husband' doesn’t work anymore," she says matter-of-factly, referring to Ajay Devgn, the producer of her latest film, Maa.

"If I have an issue, I'll sort it. If he does, he'll sort it. Most of the time on set, we're both super professional - very time-bound, very obsessed with work."

FANTASTIC PRODUCER

She's also quick to give credit where it's due. "I’ll go on record to say that he’s a fantastic producer," she adds. "We've really come together and made a good film. That’s always been our aim."

In Maa, Kajol plays a mother forced to confront a deep, ancient evil — and she does it while carrying the full force of feminine mythological power.

"I think your 14-year-old daughter is going to have a fabulous time," she says, when I mention I plan to take my daughter along. "She really needs to know what Indian mythology is all about."

For Kajol, stories like these are not new — they’re ancient.

"Our country has such fabulous culture. We just have such a colourful oral tradition," she says. "Long before Marvel found their comics, we had all these stories. They just wore different clothes in our stories."

The crux of