"there was this privilege but not enough of it"
Palak Tiwari returned to the big screen in May 2025 with the horror-comedy The Bhootnii, two years after her film debut in Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan.
But the actress says her experience hasn’t followed the usual pattern expected of a star kid in Bollywood.
The daughter of Shweta Tiwari, Palak says her journey has been more complicated than many assume. While some labelled her a star kid, she was often unsure where she stood.
She said: “I was somewhere in this middle ground. I was like, ‘Oh these people are calling me a star kid, but I’m not really a star kid. But also, I’m not a normal person who’s auditioning in Andheri’.
“So, there was this privilege but not enough of it; there was also normalcy, but not enough of it too.
“It was very tough to find my place. In many ways, it was a privilege, but in many ways, I was typecast instantly. I did struggle with that, but I’m still trying to find my place.”
Palak has grown up in the limelight, but her mother’s rise to fame came through television, a route often seen as separate from Bollywood stardom.
She says that difference shaped her identity and choices.
On whether her own rise is a continuation of her mother’s dream to be in films, Palak said that was never the case.
“My mother got multiple chances to be on the big screen, but she was very content with television. It has given her and us so much.
“I have a house with a roof, and I have cars in my life due to it. My life is comfortable, my brother has lived a comfortable life, all because of television, so I will always respect and honour television.
“My mom was very happy there and she never felt the need to leave and go into films.
“She really knows her roots, and she never was greedy in that sense.”
Despite growing up in a household shaped by television success, Palak Tiwari chose not to follow her mother into the same medium.
The decision, she says, wasn’t about looking down on TV, but about carving out her own path.
“It wasn’t like I didn’t want to do television because it’s a smaller medium, not at all. TV has given our industry such brilliant, versatile and phenomenal actors.
“But I felt that because of my mom’s legacy in television, everything that there was to be explored, she had done that. So, there was nothing new for me to discover there.”
With The Bhootnii, Palak Tiwari is continuing to explore her space in the film industry, a world she’s still navigating on her own terms.
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