Why The Pardesi Girl Quit The Movies

‘Mom
trusted
the
wrong
people,
and
let
the
wrong
kind
of
elements
get
into
our
life.’

One
may
not
remember

Pratibha
Sinha.
but
her
popular
song
in



Raja
Hindustani
—

Pardesi
Pardesi
Jana
Nahin
—
is
still
heard
on
radio
stations
and
at
dance
events.

As
the
film
starring
Aamir
Khan
and
Karisma
Kapoor
clocks
28
years,
Pratibha
tells

Subhash
K
Jha
just
why
she
quit
Bollywood:
“The
world
we
live
in
is
by
and
large
misogynistic.
We
are
simple,
rustic
Nepali
people.”

Are
you
proud
to
be
known
as
the

Pardesi
Girl?

Am
I
known
as
the

Pardesi
Girl?

Of
course.
The
song
became
your
calling
card
to
fame.

I
can’t
believe
28
years
have
gone
by!
It
feels
as
though
we
were
filming
the
song
yesterday.

I
recall
Dharmesh
(Darshan,
Director)
calling
me
up
and
telling
me
that
he
was
keen
on
me
performing
to
a
song
in

Raja
Hindustani.

Didn’t
you
fear
you
might
go
unnoticed
in
a
film
that
starred
Aamir
Khan
and
Karisma
Kapoor?

I
trusted
Dharmesh
Darshan
completely.

His
parents
and
he
had
been
our
family
friends
and
I
knew
him
from
the
time
I
was
a
toddler.

So
I
agreed
immediately.

I
was
aware
of
the
fact
that
he
was
a
very
gifted
and
dedicated
film-maker,
a
sensitive
and
evolved
human
being
who
thought
with
his
heart
and
felt
with
his
mind.

Did
you
ever
expect
the
song
to
become
so
popular?

When
one
is
in
the
thick
of
things,
one
does
not
expect
or
even
think
of
any
kind
of
reaction.

Dharmesh
had
narrated
the
story
to
me
and
it
was
obvious
that
the
song
was
propelling
the
story
forward.

Why
did
you
quit
the
industry?

To
be
honest,
I
was
‘phased
out’
by
the
film
industry.

I
guess
I
was
and
still
am
out
of
step
with
the
rest
of
the
world.

The
world
we
live
in
is
by
and
large
misogynistic.

We
are
simple,
rustic
Nepali
people.

Mom
(the
legendary


Mala
Sinha,
who
turned
88
on
Monday,
November
11,
2024)
trusted
the
wrong
people,
and
let
the
wrong
kind
of
elements
get
into
our
life.

She
is
naive
in
many
ways.