Asking critics not to compare Jahnvi Kapoor with her late mother Sridevi, film producer Boney Kapoor on Monday said that Jahnvi has picked up her mother’s ability to understand characters, which has helped her excel in her acting career so far. However, it was not right to compare the two as Sridevi had already done 200 films down South before her Bollywood debut, he added.

“Northern India saw Sri (Sridevi) after she had already done more than 200 films in the South. So, she had reached a level of understanding of what characters and how each beat has to be captured. My baby has just started her journey. Don’t compare her with the work of her mother,” he said at the trailer launch of Jahnvi’s upcoming film Mili, a survival thriller.

“Everybody has a different mechanism to understand a character and become that part. That was one of the major USPs of Sri. Janhvi has perhaps picked up that from Sri. When she picks up a part she becomes that part, which is why you have seen her growth in the films that she has done so far,” Boney added.

Mili is a remake of the 2019 Malayalam film Helen. The trailer of the film shows Janhvi as Mili Naudiyal, battling to survive after getting locked inside an industrial freezer while her loved ones search for her.

Mili is produced by Boney Kapoor and directed by Mathukutty Xavier, who also directed Helen.

Responding to comparisons between the characters Mili and Helen, Boney said, “Mother India was a remake of its own version (Aurat). The film went on to become a big success and won all the major awards. In fact, in those single-screen days, every new theatre opened with Mother India because 28 housefull shows were a guarantee. And nowhere in Nargis Ji’s performance, you saw nuances of Sardar Akhtar who had done the original version.”

Mili is set to release on November 4.