The Path-Breaking ’70s Actor You Didn’t Know

Rehana
Sultan
was
all
set
to
be
a
path-breaker.

The
time
was
right.
Hindi
cinema
had
emerged
from
the
1960s
musicals
era.
But
somehow,
leading
film-makers
of
the
time
did
not
believe
Rehana
had
that
cachet.
It
was
Zeenat
Aman
who
ended
up
being
the
definitive
taboo-trasher
of
the
era.
Dinesh
Raheja
salutes
the
trendsetter
of
the
1970s,
Rehana
Sultan.

Rehana
Sultan,
the
trendsetter
from
the
1970s,
has
recently
been
in
the
spotlight
because
of
her
hospitalisation
for
a
cardiac
valve
replacement
which
necessitated
financial
assistance
from
Bollywood
biggies.

But
Rehana
deserves
to
be
highlighted
much
more
for
being
an
agent
of
change
in
Hindi
cinema.

At
just
20
years
of
age,
she
became
the
second
Hindi
film
actress
to
win
the
National
Award
for
Best
Actress
(for

Dastak,
1970).

In
the
same
year,
Rehana
headlined
the
critical
and
commercial
smash,

Chetna
(1970).

The
gritty
film
presented
her
as
a
brazen,
hard-boiled
prostitute
diametrically
different
from
the
weepy
nautch
girls
of
contemporaneous
films
like

Pakeezah
and

Amar
Prem.

Chetna
and

Dastak
dragged
Hindi
cinema,
kicking
and
screaming,
into
a
bold,
experimental
new
era.
An
FTII
(Film
and
TV
Institute
of
India)
gold
medalist,
Rehana
shot
to
prominence
with
these
two
films.

She
was
in
the
vanguard
of
the
FTII
invasion
of
the
1970s
wherein
trained
actors
(Jaya
Bhaduri,
Shabana
Azmi,
Naseeruddin
Shah,
Om
Puri)
brought
new
techniques
and
fresh
realism
to
Hindi
films.

Chetna
tackled
sexual
content
in
an
unembarrassed
form
for
the
first
time
in
Hindi
films.

In
this
sensational
sheet-rumpler,
Rehana
is
a
revelation
as
a
prostitute
by
choice
who
smokes
and
drinks
but
is
presented
in
a
nuanced
manner.
Director
B
R
Ishara
created
a
character
unlike
any
played
hitherto
by
a
Hindi
film
heroine.

Despite
her
avowed
disbelief
in
love,
an
idealistic
beau
(Anil
Dhawan)
marries
the
leading
lady
but
her
resurgent
sense
of
self
goes
into
a
tailspin
when
she
discovers
she
is
pregnant
from
one
of
her
ex-customers.

Rehana
is
fearless
in
capturing
the
essence
of
her
character,
even
when
she
is
given
some
rather
frank
dialogue
in
the
scene
in
which
she
lies
in
the
bed
of
her
boudoir
and
taunts
Anil.
This
drama
takes
the
camera
past
the
bedroom
door.

Anil
marvels
even
today,
“Rehana
gave
a
fantastic
performance,
one
of
the
best.
Her
dialogue
delivery
was
impeccable.”

And
the
film’s
poster
is
marked
for
posterity.
The
much
publicised
image
of
a
dazed
Anil
Dhawan
standing
in
the
distance
between
the
inverted
‘V’
formed
by
the
two
bare
legs
of
a
woman
standing
akimbo
helped
propel
the
film
and
Rehana
to
instant
fame.

Rehana
quickly
consolidated
her
position
as
a
significant
talent
with

Dastak.
A
fabulous
psychodrama,

Dastak
is
on
the
cusp
of
old
and
new
cinema
being
among
the
last
impactful
black-and-white
films
(along
with

Anubhav).

It
marries
marvellous
music
sense
with
avant-garde
sensibility.

Directed
by
litterateur
Rajinder
Singh
Bedi,
the
film
delves
into
the
life
of
a
couple
(Sanjeev
Kumar
and
Rehana
Sultan)
who
move
from
a

jhopda
to
a
rundown
flat
earlier
inhabited
by
a
sex
worker.

Constant

dastaks
(knocks)
by
clients
on
their
door
leads
to
psychological
warfare
on
the
wife
—
there
are
bids
to
abduct
her,
seduce
her
and
lure
her
into
prostitution,
especially
because
of
her
talent
for
singing.
Her
slow
mental
disintegration
sees
her
teetering
on
the
boundaries
of
the
choices
being
pushed
on
her.

Rehana’s
expressive
kohl-lined
eyes
in
the
film’s
many
tight
close-ups
convey
the
spatial
experience
of
the
surroundings
closing
in
on
her
character.

It’s
a
dark,
brooding
performance
in
an
atmospheric
little
gem.
With
the
help
of
some
great
Madan
Mohan-Lata
Mangeshkar
songs
(Maai
Re
Main
Kaa
Se
Kahoon,
Baiyaa
Na
Dharon),
Rehana
has
enough
emotional
arsenal
to
make
the

maina
in
a
cage
feel
like
an
unnecessary
cliché
in
the
film.

Fueled
by
the
twin
critical
successes,
Rehana
Sultan
decided
that
she
wouldn’t
play
second
fiddle
to
heroes.

She
was
all
set
to
be
a
path-breaker.

The
time
was
right.

Hindi
cinema
had
emerged
from
the
1960s
musicals
era.

But
somehow,
leading
film-makers
of
the
time
did
not
believe
Rehana
had
that
cachet.

It
was
Zeenat
Aman
who
ended
up
being
the
definitive
taboo-trasher
of
the
era.

Though
a
trained,
talented
actress,
Rehana
struggled
with
this
inability
to
translate
her
choices
into
big-time
stardom.

She
essayed
a
challenging
role
in

Prem
Parbat
(1973)
as
an
old
man’s
guilt-ridden
wife
who
is
torn
by
her
attraction
to
a
younger
lover
(Satish
Kaul).

But
the
film
flopped
despite
the
presence
of
the
exquisite
Lata
nugget

Yeh
Dil
Aur
Unki
Nigahon
Ke
Saaye.

Another
beautiful
song
which
would
find
a
place
among
Lata’s
best
in
the
early
1970s
was
also
filmed
on
Rehana:

Rasm-e-Ulfat
Ko
Nibhaye
Toh
Nibhaye
Kaise,

The
film

Dil
Ki
Raahein
(1973)
was
a
home
production
that
had
Rehana
playing
a
doctor
in
love
with
a
married
man
from
a
different
religion
(Rakesh
Panday).

Rehana’s
spirited
performance
went
unnoticed
because
this
film
too
failed
to
create
any
ripples.

Commercial
ventures
focused
overtly
on
Rehana’s
sex
appeal
also
didn’t
work
—
the
Deven
Verma
produced

Bada
Kabutar
and
the
Vinod
Mehra
starrer

Ooparwala
Jaane
are
cases
in
point.
Rehana
acted
in
three
more
films
opposite
Anil
Dhawan
but
they
couldn’t
replicate

Chetna‘s
triumph.

A
rare
success
in
this
period
for
Rehana
was

Khote
Sikkay
(1974)
in
which
she
was
paired
opposite
an
A-list
star
like
Feroz
Khan.

She
played
a
courtesan
in

Khote
Sikkay
and
in

Sajjo
Rani
(1976)
directed
by
Govind
Saraiya
(of

Saraswatichandra
fame)
Rehana
played
a
courtesan’s
daughter.
The

Chetna
image
remained
indelibly
inked
to
her
name.

A
significant
film
starring
Rehana
Sultan
in
the
latter
years
of
the
decade
was
the
box
office
hit,

Agent
Vinod
(1977).

Rehana
got
an
‘and
above
all’
credit
and
had
an
action-packed
role
as
a
feisty
secret
agent.

Rehana
got
another
‘and
above
all’
credit
when
she
reteamed
with
Rajinder
Singh
Bedi
to
play
the
elder
sister
in
the
romantic
triangle

Nawab
Sahib
(1978).

The
only
memorable
aspects
of
the
film
are
Sahir’s
lyrics
and
C
Arjun’s
music
score.

By
the
turn
of
the
decade,
Rehana
was
playing
supporting
roles
in
inconsequential
films,
save
for
the
Vijay
Anand-Shabana
Azmi
starrer

Hum
Rahe
Na
Hum
(1984).

Not
surprisingly,
Rehana
once
again
played
a
libertine
who
smokes
in
the
open,
but
the
film
did
fetch
her
a
nomination
for
the
Best
Supporting
Actress
award
from

Filmfare.

In
the
same
year,
Rehana
married
her

Chetna
director
B
R
Ishara
and
eased
out
of
films.
Her
husband
passed
away
in
2012
leaving
Rehana
in
dire
financial
straits
and
no
children
to
support
her.

It
seems
incredible
that
a
well-known
actress
of
30
films
and
a
film-maker
who
directed
films
starring
Dev
Anand,
Sanjeev
Kumar,
Shashi
Kapoor,
Amitabh
Bachchan,
Jaya
Bachchan,
Rekha,
Rajesh
Khanna
etc
should
not
be
materially
secure.

Rehana
had
four
cars
at
one
time
but
she
was
never
financially
savvy.

Hopefully,
Rehana
will
soon
be
well
enough
to
resume
work
of
the
calibre
she
deserves
to
get.

Rehana
devoted
several
years
of
her
life
to
her
art;
it’s
time
for
payback.