‘Manoj Kumar Was Upset With Me’

‘It
is
true
Manoj
Kumar
was
an
excellent
director
with
an
unbeatable
music
sense.’
‘But
I
had
a
bad
experience
regarding
the
song

Hai
Hai
Yeh
Majboori.’

While
the
world
mourns
Manoj
Kumar,
who
passed
away
on
April
4,
his
former
colleague

Moushumi
Chatterjee
relives
an
old
wound.

The
duo
worked
together
in
1974’s

Roti
Kapada
Aur
Makaan,
where
Manoj
Kumar
was
the
actor
as
well
as
director.

“Manoj
Kumar
was
an
excellent
director,
very
skilled…
He
was
a
perfectionist,”
Moushumi
tells

Subhash
K
Jha.

How
would
you
like
to
recall
your
co-star
and
director
of

Roti
Kapada
Aur
Makaan?

It
is
true
that
Manoj
Kumar
was
an
excellent
director
with
an
unbeatable
music
sense.
But
I
had
a
bad
experience
regarding
the
song

Hai
Hai
Yeh
Majboori.

You
mean
the
Lata
Mangeshkar
hit
song
that
was
filmed
on
Zeenat
Aman?
Was
that
meant
to
be
filmed
on
you?

Yes.
See,
you
have
to
use
your
common
sense.
The
language
(of
this
song)
could
not
go
with
Zeenat’s
character.

She
was
an
urban,
sophisticated,
character.

The
language
in
the
song

Teri
Do
Takiya
Di
Naukri…
it
suited
my
character
Tulsi,
who
was
rustic
and
Punjabi.

If
you
see
my
other
song
in
the
film

Mehngai
Mar
Gayi
with
Premnathji,
that
wouldn’t
be
suited
to
Zeenat,
no?

So
was

Hai
Hai
Yeh
Majboori
taken
away
from
you?

Yes.
During
that
time,
I
was
pregnant
with
my
first
daughter.

It
was
not
planned
but
I
didn’t
want
to
abort
the
baby.

Chandra
Barotji
(assistant
to
Manoj
Kumar)
thought
I
was
not
interested
in
the
film
since
I
was
married
to
Hemant
Kumar’s
son.

I
was
not
ambitious,
I
was
disinterested.
So
he
was
a
little
bit
upset
with…

Manoj
Kumarji?

Yes.

Shashi
Kapoor,
who
is
also
no
more,
told
me
at
the
jubilee
function
of

Roti
Kapada
Aur
Makaan
that
everyone
was
getting
a
trophy
except
me.

I
was
very
innocent.
Shashi
said
everybody
thought
you
are
not
interested
in
your
acting
career.

Was
that
true?

I
was
never
very
ambitious
but
I
worked
hard,
balancing
my
responsibilities
as
a
daughter-in-law,
wife,
mother
and
actress.

Family
comes
first,
as
it
should.

But
I
worked
hard
and
by
God’s
grace,
in
spite
of
the
rumours
spread
to
sabotage
my
career,
I
gave
hits
all
through
my
career.

I
was
told
you
didn’t
do

Hai
Hai
Yeh
Majboori
because
you
didn’t
want
to
shoot
in
the
rain
in
your
pregnant
state?

No,
they
said
this
to
cover
up
the
truth.

I
never
allowed
my
films
to
suffer
because
of
my
pregnancy.

During

Mehngayi
Mar
Gayi,
I
was
five
months
pregnant.

I
did
not
compromise
while
I
was
working.

When
producers
had
to
compromise
or
adjust
a
bit,
and
if
that
affected
the
films
during
my
pregnancy,
I
would
return
the
signing
amount.

How
was
Manoj
Kumar
as
a
director?

Manoj
Kumar
was
an
excellent
director,
very
skilled.
He
did
his
homework
very
nicely.

He
had
a
very
good
assistant
(Chandra
Barot).

His
camera
sense
was
excellent.

I
remember
he
shot
one
full
scene
in
one
take.

There
was
one
word
in
a
scene
that
had
a
heavy
Bengali
accent.
Chandraji
said
we
will
fix
it
in
the
dubbing
but
Manojji
was
adamant
that
I
get
it
right
during
the
shooting,
no
matter
how
much
time
it
took.

That
was
the
kind
of
director
he
was,
a
perfectionist.