Top News

Actor Madhoo said education builds discipline, confidence and perspective, even if it isn’t directly linked to one’s profession. Speaking in Mumbai, she credited her late father for ensuring she completed graduation despite early acting offers, adding she is proud to call herself an educated person.

Actress Madhoo graced The Free Press Journal’s Mumbai School Survey Awards 2025 as the Guest of Honour last week. In an exclusive conversation with The Free Press Journal, she spoke at length about why education is crucial, even for actors and why raising financially independent daughters has always been a priority for her.

Madhoo emphasized that education shapes discipline, confidence and perspective - lessons that go far beyond textbooks and so it is equally important for actors to complete their education first. “I absolutely believe that actors must also complete their education. I am a graduate and I majored in Zoology. None of that is directly helpful in my life. I am not bringing the subject that I studied into my profession in a literal way. But the 15 to 20 years that I spent learning in a classroom - the discipline, the effort I had to put in, the sadness of not getting the marks I expected, learning that sometimes effort is rewarded and sometimes it is not - all of that shaped me. So never say, ‘I studied this but it is of no use to me now.’ It may not be directly useful, I am not a doctor in Zoology, nor am I an engineer but I spent 18–20 years educating myself, and that gave me a sphere of learning and understanding. I consider myself an educated person, I have a degree, and I am very proud of that.”

She also credited her late father for ensuring she completed her studies despite getting acting offers early on. “I give complete credit to my father because I would have been a Class 12 dropout. When I received my first acting offer, I was in the 12th standard. I fought and cried to not continue, but my father put his foot down. Today, God bless his soul, I am so proud. Especially when I filled out my children’s school forms and there was a column asking for the parents’ educational qualifications, I always wrote ‘Graduate’ with so much pride because I almost was not. So I give immense importance to education.”

Also Watch:

Madhoo shared that financial independence has always been a core belief in her life but she does not impose it forcefully on her children. “I was raised with the belief that I must be financially independent. That has been one of the most important learnings of my life, and I will definitely inculcate that value in my children. That has always been my dialogue with them. My elder daughter has completed her Master’s from LSE, and my younger one is a graduate from UCL London. They are both fully educated and are currently taking a break. I do not put pressure on them that ‘you have to, you have to, you have to.’ What worked for me does not have to be their story.”

She added that parenting, for her, is about guidance without alienation. “Everyone has a different belief system, even if it is your own child. You guide them, you show them the importance of things, but in the end, you should not be judgmental or harsh. Just because they are not following your footsteps does not mean you alienate them. I may be right in my way of thinking for my life, but that does not mean it is exactly how they should live. I believe in keeping your children close to your heart and keeping them close means allowing them to be different from you. That is my learning.”