‘You Have To Hold Rekha Tight’

‘She
was
lying
there
and
I
mustered
up
enough
guts
to
lay
next
to
her
and
hold
her
tight.’
‘And
she
said,
“Oh
my,
Girish,
isn’t
he
supposed
to
be
nervous?”‘
‘Making
light
of
the
situation,
Girish
said,
“No,
he’s
been
practicing
with
a
pillow
the
whole
day”.’

Shekhar
Suman
can’t
stop
gushing
about
his
first
co-star,
the
first
woman
he
ever
romanced
on
screen:
Rekha.

The
Patna
native
had
arrived
in
Bombay
a
few
weeks
before
he
auditioned
for
the
role,
and
couldn’t
believe
his
luck
when
Producer
Shashi
Kapoor
signed
him
on
for

Utsav.

The
film
went
on
to
be
an
important
addition
to
everyone’s
filmography,
including
Rekha’s.

We
continue
celebrating
Rekha’s
70th
birthday
on
October
10,
by
looking
at
the
beautiful
chapters
in
her
life.

Shekhar
drives
the
narration
of
this
one,
and
tells

Ronjita
Kulkarni/Rediff.com,
“She
never
once
said,
‘Shekhar,
don’t
come
so
close
or
don’t
hold
me
here.’
I
have
seen
heroines
who
have
a
lot
of
problems,
you
know,
‘Don’t
touch
me
or
don’t
touch
me
there.’
But
never
Rekha.”

When
I
think
of

Utsav,
I
first
think
of
its
producer
Shashi
Kapoor,
its
director
Girish
Karnad
and
the
fact
that
it
was
an
unbelievable
and
an
unprecedented
break
for
a
newcomer
because
I
got
the
movie
within
15
days
of
landing
in
Bombay.

A
chance
meeting
got
me
sitting
next
to
Shashi
Kapoor
and
he
offered
me
the
role.
I
went
for
a
screen
test
and
the
rest
is
history.

I
still
pinch
myself
and
wonder
how
I
got
the
role.

I
mean,
everybody
was
vying
for
that
coveted
role
and
a
rank
newcomer
got
it.

When
I
was
cast,
Amitabh
Bachchan
was
playing
villain.
There
was
Kamal
Haasan
also,
so
it
had
a
stellar
cast.

There
were
a
few
cast
changes
but
for
me,
it
was
a
dream
come
true
to
work
opposite
Rekha,
whom
I
had
admired
as
a
kid
from
school
days.

But
after
the
screen
test,
the
final
decision
(to
cast
me)
lay
in
the
hands
of
Rekha.
She
had
to
say
yes
because
I
was
a
newcomer
and
the
role
was
such
that
we
had
intimate
scenes
in
the
movie
and
she
had
to
be
comfortable.

She
could
have
easily
said
no.

Shashi
Kapoor
also
took
a
huge
risk
with
me.

I
first
met
her
at
the
Prithvi
Theatre
and
was
like
trembling
like
a
leaf
because
that
was
the
decisive
moment.
She
took
one
look
at
me,
and
left.

Later,
I
remember
teasing
her
and
asked,
so
what
did
you
think
of
me?

And
she
had
looked
at
me
and
said,
nice,
not
bad.
(Laughs)

When
I
first
read
the
script,
I
thought,
oh
my
God,
I
have
to
do
these
scenes
with
her.
Will
I
be
able
to
do
it?

I
was
in
jitters.

Girish
Karnad
saw
me
and
Girish
said,
“Don’t
worry,
things
will
go
alright.”

He
told
me
she’s
a
professional
actress,
so
don’t
hesitate
to
hold
her.
And
you
have
to
hold
her
tight,
you
have
to
be
close
to
her.

He
explained
that
I
was
Charu
Dutt,
not
Shekhar
Suman.
And
she
was
not
Rekha,
she
was
Vasantsena,
the
courtesan
who
falls
in
love
with
Charu
Dutt.

She
was
lying
there
and
I
mustered
up
enough
guts
to
lay
next
to
her
and
hold
her
tight.

And
she
said,
“Oh
my,
Girish,
isn’t
he
supposed
to
be
nervous?”

Making
light
of
the
situation,
Girish
said,
“No,
he’s
been
practicing
with
a
pillow
the
whole
day.”

That
was
the
first
day
of
the
shoot,
the
first
shot.

I
wonder
why
Girish
had
kept
an
intimate
scene
first!
Probably,
it
was
reverse
psychology…
He
may
have
thought
once
he’s
through
with
this,
he’ll
be
at
ease.

There
were
many
intimate
scenes,
including
a
bathing
sequence.

But
it
went
so
smoothly
because
I
was
working
with
such
a
professional
actress.

She
never
once
said,
‘Shekhar,
don’t
come
so
close
or
don’t
hold
me
here.’
I
have
seen
heroines
who
have
a
lot
of
problems,
you
know,
‘Don’t
touch
me
or
don’t
touch
me
there.’

But
never
Rekha.

She
was
so
cooperative,
professional
and
understanding.
It
was
unnerving
for
me
and
she
understood
that.
So
she
was
friendly.
She
would
get
into
a
conversation
and
talk
about
many
things
to
put
me
at
ease.

One
thing
I
really
admired
about
her
was
that
on
the
first
day
itself,
we
got
news
that
there
was
an
income
tax
rate
at
her
Bombay
house.
We
were
shooting
in
Kundapur,
near
Mangalore.

Any
other
person
would
have
left
the
set
and
gone.
I
thought
this
was
the
end
of
my
career
before
it
even
started.
But
she
was
a
thorough
professional
and
she
said,
let
them
do
their
job,
I
have
to
do
my
job
here.

We
had
such
wonderful
scenes
like
the
jewellery
scene.
It
was
an
intricate
scene
and
she
helped
me
in
every
step.

During
the
shoot,
I
never
felt
that
I
was
working
with
a
huge
superstar.
She
was
every
bit
the
character
that
she
was
playing.

And
she
was
so
loving
and
caring
towards
everyone
else
too,
like
Anuradha
Patel.
Kunal
Kapoor,
Neena
Gupta,
Shankar
Nag…

I
never
ever
saw
her
throwing
tantrums
or
having
special
demands.

I
never
saw
her
angry.

There
were
stories
about
her
metamorphosis
into
a
beautiful
woman.
Her
makeup
was
not
right
(earlier)
so
she
learned
all
of
that.

She
used
to
go
for
yoga
classes
with
Ramma
Bans.

In

Ghar,
she
came
across
as
a
very
beautiful
woman.
Every
magazine
worth
its
salt
wrote
about
her
tremendous
change.
That
was
the
first
time
an
actress’
makeup
was
talked
about.

I
remember
asking
her
once,
can
I
see
you
do
your
makeup?
And
she
said,
yeah,
why
not?

And
within
five
minutes,
she
was
through!

She
would
help
Anuradha
Patel
with
her
makeup.

I’m
a
huge
Madhubala
fan,
a
Meena
Kumari
fan,
a
Waheeda
Rahman
fan
but
Rekha
was
something
else.
She
was
the
first
femme
fatale.

The
way
she
danced,
the
way
she
spoke,
the
way
she
modulated
her
voice…

She
worked
very
hard
on
herself.
You
can
see
this
whole
journey
of
Rekha
right
from

Sawan
Bhadon
to

Khoon
Bari
Maang
and
beyond.

You
can
see
her
journey
that
from
an
uncomfortable,
not
so
pretty
looking,
little
awkward
kind
of
actress
to
this
confident
actress
in

Silsila,
where
she
was
opposite
two
of
the
best
actors
in
the
country,
Jaya
Bachchan
and
Amitabh
Bachchan
and
holding
on
to
her
own.
The
song

Rang
Barse
had
so
many
nuances!

I
learned
a
lot
from
her.

I
used
to
be
a
stage
actor.
I
learnt
how
to
have
controlled
emotions
in
front
of
the
camera,
how
to
modulate
your
voice,
from
her.

She’s
a
great
mimic.

Before
I
became
an
actor,
I
remember
going
for
the
shooting
of
a
film
called

Parmatma.

Since
I
was
from
Patna,
my
family
knew
Shatrughan
Sinha,
and
we
had
requested
him
(to
let
me
attend
the
shoot).
So
I
was
allowed
to
stand
in
the
crowd
and
watch
the
shooting
in
Hotel
Horizon
in
Bombay.

In
the
film,
Shatrughan
Sinha
was
imitating
Dev
Anand
and
Rekha
was
imitating
Zeenat
Aman.

So
on
the
sets
of

Utsav,
I
had
told
her
that
when
I
was
in
the
crowd
watching
you,
I
didn’t
know
that
three
years
later,
I
would
be
your
hero.

I
requested
her
to
do
a
Zeenat
for
me,
and
she
did.
She
did
Mumtaz
as
well.

She
would
keep
everybody
in
splits
with
her
great
sense
of
humour.

Once,
I
remember
she
told
me,
You
look
like
such
a
baby,
you’re
married?!

I
said,
yes,
I’m
a
father
as
well.

When
we
were
in
Film
City,
I
brought
my
firstborn
Ayush
on
the
set,
along
with
my
wife,
Alka.
We
were
very
young,
around
21-22.

Shashi
Kapoor
looked
at
Ayush
and
asked,
who’s
that?

I
said,
my
son.

He
said,
are
you
kidding
me?

He
stopped
the
shooting.

There
was
a
kind
of
stage
built.
He
went
on
top
and
asked
us
to
join
him.
Then
he
announced,
‘yeh
dekho,
yeh
bachcho
ne
milkar
bachcha
paida
kiya
hai!‘

I
remember
Rekha
playing
with
Ayush
and
he
puked
on
her
sari!
He
was
just
two-three
months
old.

I
apologised
profusely,
but
she
said,
never
mind,
never
mind,
and
didn’t
push
him
away.
She
kept
holding
on
to
him.

I
admired
Shashiji
and
would
mimic
him
as
a
kid.
I
used
to
have
a
hairstyle
like
Shashi
Kapoor.

He
had
a
movie
called

Haseena
Maan
Jaayegi,
and
I
used
to
enact
his
character
at
home
and
impress
my
cousins!
I
think
he’s
the
handsomest
guy
ever
in
the
film
industry.

Shashiji
was
also
playing
the
negative
role
in
the
film.
When
he
finds
out
that
my
character
Charu
Dutt
is
in
love
with
Rekha,
he
decides
to
get
me
arrested.

During
the
climax
scene
in
Bharatpur,
I
remember
there
were
some
production
hassles.

Shashiji
was
wearing
a
lot
of
ornaments,
and
in
a
fit
of
anger,
he
took
them
off
and
flung
them.

A
big
chunk
landed
on
my
forehead
and
I
blacked
out.

He
rushed
to
me,
he
said,
“Beta,
I
hope
you’re
not
hurt.”
He
told
everyone,
pack-up,
and
told
me
to
come
with
him.

He
was
so
embarrassed
and
apologetic.
He
took
me
to
a
doctor.

Then
he
drove
me
from
Bharatpur
to
Delhi
and
took
me
out
for
dinner.
He
kept
saying
sorry
a
million
times,
so
much
that
I
got
embarrassed!

There
were
no
vanity
vans
in
those
days,
no
bodyguards,
no
PR,
no
paraphernalia.

Since
it
was
an
outdoor
shoot
—
we
were
in
Mangalore
for
a
month-and-a-half
—
Rekha
could
not
get
food
from
home.

She
would
stand
in
line
for
food
and
sit
with
us.

We
were
staying
in
a
very,
very,
small
hotel,
which
was
close
to
Kundapur.
Even
Ashok
Mehta,
the
great
cinematographer,
was
staying
with
us.

But
that
place
would
not
have
been
befitting
of
Rekha,
so
she
was
staying
in
Manipal.

We
were
shooting
in
a
400-year-old
house.
Shashiji
had
renovated
it
a
little
bit,
making
new
bathrooms,
but
there
were
no
other
comforts,
no
ACs.

I
was
sharing
a
room
with
Harish
Patel.

In
the
evening,
Shashiji
would
come
knocking
at
everyone’s
door,
and
ask,
what
would
you
like
to
have?
Beer,
whiskey,
cognac,
tequila…

A
cook
would
follow
him,
and
ask
what
we
would
you
like
to
eat,
crabs,
prawns,
fish,
chicken…

I
have
not
experienced
anything
like
that
ever.
It
was
my
most
beautiful
experience
as
an
actor.