Tell us about your childhood.
My childhood was very different. My mother (Pooja
Bedi) was very strict with me. Academics had to come first. It was like 'first
do well in your studies and then go out to have fun'--- that was always the
rule. So that’s what I did. I kept my grades up and everything was great. Now I
study at New York University.
You are rampant on social media and have many
followers...
I have no commitments here right now, so I come here
and do whatever I want. My trip to Mumbai is always a lot of fun. And with
social media, honestly I don’t know how it became such a big thing with me. I just
went on to start off with a site called ‘askfm’, it used to be really big
at one point and I was like ‘OK, let me see what the fuss is all about'. Askfm
became really popular at that point, so that by effect it came on to my
Instagram as well. I know that people are watching everything that I am
doing today, but it's okay; I put it out there for them to see and so I can’t
complain (smiles).
You said your mom was strict. A Bedi mom being strict
is a little difficult to digest. So, what was she strict about?
Last night I was out with friends and she was
constantly calling to ask 'Where are you? When are you coming back? Which
friend are you with? Give me his/her number, so that I can check on you'. Have
I answered your question? (pauses).
Go on...
The thing is that my mother didn’t have any rules on
her when she was a child and she hated it. She used to ask for rules and
regulations from her mother. So as a mother she has become what she wanted her
mother to be with her. She is strict but in reasonable amounts, not overtly.
For instance, we have a rule that if I am out post
midnight, I have to message her every hour to just tell her where I am and if I
am okay. Nowadays it has become lesser because I fight back saying, ‘I can’t
have these rules anymore, I am old enough, I live in New York all alone, if you
can’t control everything there then why here?’.
How did your mother react when people comment on the
pictures you put up on social media?
Some are very nice comments, very sweet people that I
see all over the place, they always come up to me to say that how much they
like the way I am and the way I behave.
And then there are people who comment and say hurtful
things at times and of course I would be lying if I said that it doesn’t hurt
from time to time.
But I shall remain on social media. There are many
lovely people out there. For every one hater, there are hundered people who
love me for what I do. And those hundred people pounce on that one hater and
that makes it even better (smiles).
You still haven't answered my question...
My mother understands because she also had to grow up
with the same thing; she has always been under the public eye. I am strong and
thick-skinned, it's not getting to me.
Going back a little, how was it when social media
started commenting on your body. Where were you? What was happening at that
time? Also, what made you put out those pictures?
I put up pictures regularly. My Instagram is exactly
what I am. For instance, if I am having a sleepover with my friends and we are
all in our night clothes, in loose baggy t-shirts and pyjamas--- I will click a
photo and if I look nice in the photo, I’ll post it. 
At the same time if tomorrow I go out for lunch and I
am wearing a top and jeans and I look nice in a photo, I’ll post it.
Similarly, if I am at a beach or in a pool in a bikini
and I look nice in a photo, I’ll post it.
As long as I am adequately covered, it’s not vulgar in
any way. My Instagram is my life. I feel like it will be dishonest of me to not
portray a certain aspect of myself just because of what a few people would say.
I feel like I will be betraying a certain portion of my followers.
Rewinding on that incident, a portal had taken my
Insta pictures and suddenly I saw a lot many negative comments: Oh, what good
is she? All she is doing is showing skin. These star kids won’t achieve
anything in life.’ And I was like--- these people don’t know that I have done
so well right from school, they don’t know that I attend New York University
which is a very hard place to get admission into, they don’t know
that I have won national awards for art and writing. But yet they're hell bent
on shooting off whatever comes to their mind.
I even read someone saying: ‘Oh! She is not Bollywood
ready, she is porn ready.’ I was like, ‘Oh! Just because I wear a bikini, which
is what everyone does anyway but don't post photos of it, how is it that it
makes me porn ready and not Bollywood ready? Do you not see Bollywood movies or
people wearing bikinis on beaches? All these beautiful, and successful
actresses wear bikinis and even short dresses. Why are they not porn ready? The
comment just confused me.
For me, I respect your comments as long as they make
some sense to me. So this made no sense to me at all. Comments starterd
increasing and they were so random. There was no substance to what people were
eventually saying.
Now, I am not the kind of person who would sit and
reply to all the comments, so I decided to say something in return.
Next morning, when I woke up my counter had gone
viral. It was everywhere. All the papers had covered it, websites had covered
it, it was all over my Facebook timeline. I was being praised.
What exactly did you write?
It was a long post titled ‘I am more than my breasts’.
Was it all your writing or your mother aided you?
It was December 31. My mother was in Goa doing her own
thing. I sent the whole thing to her before I posted it and asked for her
feedback. She didn’t have network so it didn’t get delivered and I really
wanted to post the write-up before the clock struck twelve. I said to myself:
Let me say what I have to and I am done.
So I posted it and a few hours later, she replied back
saying, ‘So lovely, so proud of you.’
Were the negative reactions coming from India only or
abroad as well?
Only from India.
Did this happen to you because you are a Bedi?
Maybe, maybe not. My question is only that why did it
happen at allI have never done anything to you. I have not even done
anything that personally affects your beliefs or values. So why be hateful
towards me?
Even stars are posting bold pics nowadays...
It’s very normal, very natural. 
Do you have Bollywood plans?
I am working on whatever it is that I plan to do. I am
training and doing my best to be the best at whatever that I plan to do. And
what I plan to do, people will see it in a few years from now.
So what’s your plan now? Are you going to settle in
New York or shift to Mumbai when your course is over?
I am definitely coming back to Mmbai. My course
in NY requires me for only one more year. And then, I will be ready to
take on the world.
Hmmm... How is your equation with your dad (Farhan Furniturewala)? Do you
meet him often?
My equation with my dad is great. My brother and I both
see him very often. In fact, I had a brunch with him recently. Even when I am
in New York, we talk very often. He calls me frequently.
You were just 5-years old when your parents parted
ways. Did it affect you?
Honestly, I was so young that I don’t even remember it
that well. I was old enough to remember my dad being around the house, but at
the same time a majority of my formative years were spent with my mom on the
weekdays and my dad on the weekends. It was a planned schedule. That’s how I
grew up and everyone was so happy in my surroundings that I never thought that
‘Oh, my family is broken. My parents are divorced’ The fact that they got
divorced is not a sad or a negative thing. At the end of the day, it was for
the better.
Do you miss your granddad? He stayed with you sometime
ago and has now moved out...
I am still on very good terms with him. We meet very
often. I don’t like fighting with people (laughs).
Coming back to your passion for social media.
Actresses put out out their pictures on social media and they're body
shamed. What do you say to that?
I think hate in any form cannot be condoned in any
form. It is as simple as that. Whether you are body shaming or slut shaming or
any type of shaming, they’ll do what they are doing and they'll look how they
look. You focus on yourself, work on yourself , make yourself better. It upsets
me so much because I don’t get how people feel the need to sit behind the
screen, phone or anything and say something hurtful.
Sometimes when there are negative comments on my
photos, I look at them and I am curious to see the person who commented. I go
to their profile to figure out the kind of people they are, what kind of
backgrounds they have. So there was this girl who had commented on the fact
that I posted a bikini photo--- but when I went to her profile, she had put up
her bikini photo as well. I was very confused. What such double standars? Are
you hating just for the sake of hating?
You should have written back to her...
No, if I go on replying to everyone who says something
negative, I will have no time to do anything else with my life. I have your
opinion and if you go overboard with it, I will just block you. As simple as
that.
When you move out, walk on the road, go clubbing with
your friends in Mumbai, or travel to any part of India--- do you think the way
people look at women in India is different from what happens in New York?
Each place has its own sentiments, culture and values.
In New York, it’s acceptable to be roaming around in a certain way. People are
not shocked if a girl is wearing crop top and shorts. At the same time, if you
roam around in crop tops and shorts in India, it’s not something people see in
their environment on a daily basis and so you have to respect their sentiments
as well. I might not agree with them, but I respect it. So with respect to that
I will make it a point to not dress in a certain way when I am walking on
the streets. Or if I am dressed a certain way, I will make sure I stay in the
car and come out only when I have reached my destination.
Coming back to your equation with your mom, how
frank/open are you with her?
I can tell her anything about my life. But do I tell
her everything about my life? No. I am not the kind who will go up to her
mother and tell her that I have a crush on someone. For me, that’s awkward. Not
because my mother will say that it’s not your age to have boyfriends but if she
asks me if I have someone in my life and if there is someone, I will admit to
it.
Do you as a teenager advice your mom when she has been
in a relationship or she's feeling low. She recently had a break-up (with
Akashdeep Seagal)...
Of course, I do. My mom was very clear since the
beginning that she loves us and will always be there for us and we can
tell her anything--- but she is not our friend but our parent. That doesn’t
mean that we can’t have a great bond or relationship with her. 
Do you fight with her? Are there days when you both
don’t talk to each other?
Of course just like any other mother-daughter
relationship, we do fight. But we are the kind of people who will fight a lot,
close our doors, and ten minutes later mom will come and ask , “Baby, what do
you want for dinner?” We love each other so there is no point holding on to
grudges. It’s impossible for two people as opinionated as us to not say
something and of course opinions will clash.
Living in New York, are you in touch with Bollywood
movies? Who are the actors you admire?
Alia Bhatt has impressed me a lot. I really liked her
in Student Of The Year. Highway and Udta Punjab took me into another world. She
definitely tops the list of my most favourite people. Then of course there is
Deepika, Priyanka and Katrina. It is impossible to be like Deepika. Ever since
I saw Krrish, Priyanka has been my favourite. She is doing so well even in
Hollywood and I have respect her a lot.
What about the male actors?
Hrithik Roshan, because he looks like a Greek
God. I like Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra too. Then there are
the classics- Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. It’s very hard for me to pick one
because everyone is so different. Everyone has their own charm is Bollywood and
that’s the best part. Even when they play a certain role, they somehow retain
their characteristic elements in it. For example when Salman Khan plays a
character, there is always an element of Salman in it. I love that part about
Bollywood films.
And how can I forget Ranveer Singh? He is amazing. The
way he behaves, the way he is, the way he dresses- he just doesn’t care and is
unapologetic about it. I love such kind of people.
You are like that, aren't you?
Exactly why I like him. I’ll do what I want. Let
people like it or not.
Image Source: instagram/aaliaf