‘I Had Just Given My 10th Std. Exam’

‘I
was
super
shy
and
awkward
and
had
no
idea
what
huge
stars
I
was
working
with.’

As
Yash
Chopra’s

Trishul
clocks
47
years
on
May
5,

Poonam
Dhillon
gets
nostalgic
and
remembers
her
debut
film.

“Gapoochi
Gapoochi
was
the
most
difficult
song
for
me
as
I
had
to
dance.
I
had
never
done
that
before,”
she
tells

Subhash
K
Jha.

It’s
been
47
years
since
your
debut
film,

Trishul.

So
many
years
have
passed!

I
was
15
and
had
just
given
my
Standard
10
exams.

I
knew
nothing
about
acting
or
stars
at
that
time.
I
had
seen
probably
four-five
films
in
my
life.

Which
films
had
you
seen
before?

I
had
seen

Dosti
many
times,
at
the
Children’s
Day
celebrations
in
school.

Also,

Guddi,
Mera
Naam
Joker
and
a
few
more.

I
was
super
shy
and
awkward
and
had
no
idea
what
huge
stars
I
was
working
with.

Gapoochi
Gapoochi
Gam
Gam
was
a
big
hit.

Gapoochi
Gapoochi
was
the
most
difficult
song
for
me
as
I
had
to
dance.
I
had
never
done
that
before.

That
too,
in
front
of
huge
crowds
at
the
Lodhi
garden
in
Delhi.
They
had
gathered
to
see
the
shoot
as
well
as
sing
in
the
swimming
pool.

You
were
the
baby
of
the
family.

Everyone
was
very
kind
to
me
and
treated
me
like
the
child
I
was.

My
co-star
Sachin
was
very
helpful,
teaching
me
how
to
do
the
dance
steps.

Shashi
Kapoorji,
Amitji
(Amitabh
Bachchan)
and
Sanjeev
Kumarji
were
considerate
and
patient,
as
was
Gitaji
(Siddharth
Kak),
who
played
my
mother.

I
didn’t
have
much
work
with
Hemaji
(Malini)
or
Raakheeji.
But
these
two
ladies
were
stunning
and
I
would
go
to
their
shoot
and
watch
them,
awestruck.

A
debut
with
Yash
Chopra
was
no
small
thing.

I
am
grateful
that
I
got
to
start
my
career
with
this
legendary
film,
with
a
legendary
director
like
Yash
Chopraji,
legendary
writers
(Salim-Javed),
legendary
co-actors,
legendary
music
director
(Khayyam),
legendary
lyricist
(Sahir
Ludhianvi)
and,
of
course,
legendary
playback
singer
(Lata
Mangeshkar).