Bollywood star Kajol cherishes her special bond with her mother, veteran actress Tanuja, and says she truly understood her only after she had a daughter. The actress says she realised her mother's sacrifices after having her duaghter Nysa.

"I only understood my mother after I had my daughter. I always loved my mother, always admired her and thought she was amazing. But after I had my daughter, I remember calling up my mother and having this whole crying conversation with her, and telling her that 'I know how much you love me today'," Kajol told IANS.

Recalling the conversation, Kajol continued: "At that time, I understood how much she loved me. I told her ‘Today, I understand what all you gave up for me, how you felt about everything in life just because you had me in it and how everything changed for you'."

"And also how much effort she put into being my mom. I got it only after I had my own daughter. I realised what it took to bring up a child. My respect for my mother went up 100 notches after that. Her entire life played out in front of me, and her entire life took on a completely different meaning after that," added the actress, who gave birth to Nysa in 2003.

Kajol, who also has a sister Tanisha, says her mother was always real and clear with them.

"My mom was very real with us. When she couldn't do something, she just couldn't do it. She was not apologetic about it," she noted.

The actress continued: "She was like ‘Baby, I am working. I will not be able to manage this'. I remember her refusing films, because we were going to be on a holiday. She said, ‘I'm sorry, I will not be able to work in the month of April and May because my children are on holiday, and I promised them that I will be with them'."

"I remember how valuable we were to her… Just the fact that we mattered the most to her. She made us believe it with our whole hearts. I think that is what mothering is about," added Kajol, who also has a son, Yug, with husband Ajay Devgn.

Kajol is back on the screen, this time on OTT. The actress has made her digital debut with the film, "Tribhanga: Tedhi Medhi Crazy". It is a family drama about three distinct women, and their unconventional life choices. Written and directed by Renuka Shahane, the film also features Tanvi Azmi, Mithila Palkar, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Kanwaljeet Singh, Manav Gohil and Vaibhav Tatwawaadi. It was released on Netflix on January 15.

"We had a great time shooting the film. Renuka has written the film very nicely. It's a mother-daughter story," she said while talking about the film.

(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)