Janhvi Kapoor says she ‘pretends to be dumb’ to tackle male egos in Bollywood: ‘I pretend I am not capable enough’
Updated on: Oct 25, 2025 10:57 am IST
During an appearance on Two Much With Kajol and Twinkle, Janhvi Kapoor said she often pretends to act dumb in order to tackle male egos in the film industry.
Actor Janhvi Kapoor has made a candid confession about how she needs to tackle male egos in the film industry while navigating the space as a female actor. During her recent appearance on the talk show Two Much With Twinkle and Kajol, Janhvi spoke about how she often pretends to be ‘dumb’ and less capable than she is, just so that she can get away not offending people.
‘I have pretended to be dumb’
Janhvi appeared as a guest on the show hosted by Kajol and Twinkle Khanna on the most recent episode. She was joined by Karan Johar. During a segment, the hosts asked her about some of the challenges she faces in the industry, and Janhvi responded that it was the art of handling male egos.
“I understand that I am coming from a place of privilege in my work environment. But I feel for me it’s been (about) navigating egos, male egos. If I have an opinion, recently, I am in rooms where I can say what I want without feeling the need to tiptoe around. But I have been in rooms and situations where I kind of need to precede someone and pretend to be dumb. You need to pick your battles and manoeuvre how you need to out your point across without rubbing anyone the wrong way,” said the actor.
Twinkle Khanna interjected and said she empathised with Janhvi as she faced the same things when she was a young actor in Bollywood in the 1990s. “I had the same problem when I was young, and I never understood the need to be diplomatic,” she added.
You have to pick your battles
Janhvi nodded in agreement and added that often she pretends she is not getting a scene instead of disagreeing with it. She explained, “I am still picking my battles. I know this doesn’t make sense, but I will let it go, and on the next one, I will tell them what I feel. But I need to tell them 10 nice things and pretend I am not capable enough to perform this way, just because I think it’s too politically incorrect to perform the scene in this way. I will just say, ‘mujhe samajh nahi aa raha (I am not getting it)’, instead of saying this is f***ed up!”
Janhvi was most recently seen in the romantic comedy, Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, which also starred Varun Dhawan, Sanya Malhotra, and Rohit Saraf. The slice-of-life comedy has made over ₹100 crore worldwide, according to its makers, Dharma Productions.
