The Kiss Girl Hema Malini Took Panga With

‘Dharmendra
was
paying
a
little
extra
attention
to
me
and
she
didn’t
like
it.’

She
did
a
kissing
scene
in
the
1960s,
and
was
promptly
nicknamed
the
‘Kiss
Girl’.

But

Sonia
Sahni
achieved
fame
when
she
was
cast
as
Rishi
Kapoor’s
mother
in
Raj
Kapoor’s
blockbuster

Bobby.
She
was
only
26
then.

Glamorous,
elegant
and
able
to
speak
Hindi-Urdu
with
ease
because
she
was
born
and
raised
in
Kashmir,
Sonia
had
a
long
but
strikingly
unconventional
career
for
50
years.

“I
was
told
Rajji
had
gone
to
Sadhana
first
for

Bobby
He
wanted
to
change
the
image
of
the
typical
Hindi
screen
mother
and
present
a
younger
mother,”
Sonia
Sahni
tells


Rediff‘s

Dinesh
Raheja.

“Sadhana
refused
because
she
had
a
problem
with
her
eyes.
Meanwhile,
I
was
shooting
for
O
P
Ralhan’s
film
at
RK
studio
where
Rajji
saw
me
act
and
said
‘I
want
this
girl
for
the
role’.”

Did
you
know

Ankhiyon
Ka
Noor
Hai
Tu,
filmed
on
you
in
your
debut

Johar
Mehmood
in
Goa
(1965)
has
crossed
70
lakh
views
on
YouTube?

(Hums
the

mukhda).
All
the
films
I
made
with
Joharsaab
as
director
were
good.

Amazingly,
I
had
not
even
seen
Goa
while
acting
in
this
film.
They
recreated
Goa
in
Madh
island,
Bombay.

I
saw
Goa
for
the
first
time
in
1995!

What’s
ironical
is
that
I
have
now
settled
in
Goa
because
my
son
Ketan
has
opened
a
restaurant
there
called

Analogue.
Life
has
come
full
circle.

Your
debut
made
waves
because
you
did
a
kissing
scene,
quite
revolutionary
for
the
1960s.
You
were
called
the
Kiss
Girl.

I
was
playing
a
Portuguese
girl
so
naturally,
my
way
of
greeting
would
be
a
kiss.

I
was
supposed
to
be
in
love
with
the
leading
man
(I
S
Johar)
so
I
kissed
him
on
the
lips.

Were
you
a
bold
newcomer?

I
am
from
Kashmir
and
quite
conservative.

I
would
say:
‘I
won’t
wear
this’,
‘I
won’t
wear
that’,
so
Joharsaab
sent
me
to
a
Parsi
lady
who
made
me
understand
that
in
this
film,
I
was
playing
a
Portuguese
girl.

Since
I
was
totally
new,
I
got
lots
of
training
from
Mr
Johar
and
his
directorial
assistants.

I
was
only
17.
My
name
was
changed
too.

You
were
Usha,
right?

I
am
still
Usha
(laughs).
But
they
wanted
a
name
more
in
keeping
with
my
Portuguese
character.

So
my
co-star
Simi
Garewal
suggested
to
Mr
Johar
that
my
name
should
be
Sonia.

Did
you
get
along
with
Simi?
This
was
also
her
first
hit
film.

She
is
a
nice,
helpful
lady
who
would
tell
me,
‘Don’t
do
this’
or
‘Do
your
hair
like
that’.

I
got
along
with
Mehmood
too.
He
would
make
us
laugh
a
lot.

Despite
the
success
of

Johar
Mehmood
in
Goa,
why
did
you
work
only
with
actor-director
I
S
Johar
initially?

I
signed
a
five-year
contract
with
G
P
Sippy’s
company
in
which
Joharsaab
was
a
director.
I
was
paid
on
a
monthly
basis
and
was
given
a
flat,
a
car
and
a
driver
on
the
condition
that
I
could
only
work
in
I
S
Johar’s
movies.

I
received
several
offers
from
other
filmmakers
but
was
not
allowed
to
accept
them.

You
did
do
an
American
film

Maya
in
1966.
I
S
Johar
was
in
the
cast
too.

That
was
my
second
film.
It
was
big
news
because
at
that
time,
I
was
the
only
Indian
actress
who
had
worked
in
Hollywood.

The
film
starred
Clint
Walker
and
his
son
was
played
by
Jay
North
(famous
for
playing
Dennis
The
Menace).

I
played
Clint
Walker’s
housekeeper
and
some
scenes
suggested
that
I
was
opposite
him.

How
did
you
extract
yourself
from
the
contract?

I
pleaded
with
Joharsaab
to
let
me
work
in
other
films.
But
he
refused
saying,
‘Or
we
will
end
the
contract.’

I
agreed.

Was
it
tough
to
strike
out
on
your
own
in
the
film
industry?

The
first
year
was
hard
because
I
had
no
contacts,
but
God
helped
me
at
every
stage.

I
signed

Bandish
with
Dara
Singh’s
son
(Parduman
Randhawa)
as
my
leading
man.

I
told
its
producer
I
would
do
his
film
on
one
condition:
You
have
to
pay
me
all
the
money
now
because
I
want
to
buy
a
house.
With
the
money
from

Bandish,
I
bought
a
beautiful
two-bedroom
flat
at
Carter
Road,
Bandra
(north
west
Mumbai).

Why
did
you
start
accepting
second
leads
and
character
roles?

I
did
films
as
a
heroine
opposite
Dev
Kumar
and
Sailesh
Kumar.
Unfortunately,
I
was
not
getting
roles
opposite
the
leading
heroes
of
that
time.

I
was
friendly
with
actress
Zaheeda
and
grew
close
to
her
family
members,
like
Nargis
and
Sunil
Dutt.

When
I
asked
them
for
advice,
they
cited
Raaj
Kumar’s
example
and
said
that
he
may
not
be
a
hero
but
he
is
still
a
big
star.
So
I
started
accepting
non-heroine
roles
and
my
career
really
started
from
that
point.

Even
if
I
was
playing
the
second
lead,
my
role
would
be
better
than
the
heroine’s.
What
more
did
I
want?

I
got
big
movies
with
directors
like
Raj
Kapoor,
Manmohan
Desai
and
Hrishikesh
Mukherjee.

I
was
very
happy
because
as
an
actor,
I
could
show
my
mettle.

Arguably,
your
most
memorable
role
was
in
Raj
Kapoor’s

Bobby
(1973)
as
Rishi
Kapoor’s
mother.

I
was
told
Rajji
had
gone
to
Sadhana
first
for

Bobby.
He
wanted
to
change
the
image
of
the
typical
Hindi
screen
mother
and
present
a
younger
mother.
Sadhana
refused
because
she
had
a
problem
with
her
eyes.

Meanwhile,
I
was
shooting
for
O
P
Ralhan’s
film
at
RK
studio
where
Rajji
saw
me
act
and
said,
‘I
want
this
girl
for
the
role.’

If
it
had
been
offered
to
Sadhana,
I
knew
it
would
be
a
good
role.

I
said,
‘Main
yeh
role

karoongi‘
though
I
was
only
26.

You
had
an
impactful
scene
in
which
your
character
finally
explodes
at
her
husband
(Pran)
for
forcing
her
to
prioritise
social
obligations
over
her
son.
What
was
it
like
to
be
directed
by
Raj
Kapoor?

‘Na
uska
kuchh
bigda,
na
aapka.
Main
hi
baanj
jaisi
reh
gayee‘
(quotes
her
dialogue
verbatim).

On
every
morning
of
the
shoot,
Rajji
would
sit
in
my
makeup
room
and
explain
the
scene.

He
would
say,
‘Sonia,
I
have
defied
many
people
and
cast
you
because
I
know
you
will
do
it.’

And
I
would
reply
confidently,
‘I
will’.

Was
your
screen
son
Rishi
Kapoor
amiable?

He
was
a
cute
baby,
still
a
teenager
then.

Pran
and
you
also
teamed
up
in

Jungle
Mein
Mangal.

That
movie
was
inspired
from
Archie
comics.

I
played
a
teacher
who
is
romanced
by
a
professor
Pranji
during
the
song

Tum
Kitni
Khubsurat
Ho.

I
did
several
films
with
Pranji.

You
worked
a
lot
with
Hema
Malini
too
—

Sharafat,
Jugnu
and

Chacha
Bhatija.

Hema
Malini
would
take

panga
with
me.

She
didn’t
like
me
though
I
was
not
saying,
‘Talk
to
me’
or
‘Be
friends
with
me’.

I
think
Dharmendra
was
paying
a
little
extra
attention
to
me
and
she
didn’t
like
it.

Tell
us
how
you
fell
in
love
with
Shivendra
Sinh
of
Palitana.

Shiv
and
I
first
met
at
my

rakhi
brother’s
birthday
party.
He
said
I
would
like
to
meet
you
again
and
I
retorted,
‘Why?’

But
I
liked
him
because
there
was
something
very
nice
about
him.
He
was
a
real
gentleman
and
God’s
good
man.

Was
there
opposition
to
your
marriage,
considering
he
was
from
a
royal
family?

If
his
family
had
any
objections,
they
never
showed
it.

They
were
too
educated.

His
younger
sister
Gayatri
was
a
good
friend
of
mine.

All
of
them
were
very
warm.

I
am

mami
to
the
rajmata
of
Jaipur,
and
whenever
there
is
a
get-together,
they
go,
‘Mami
ko
zaroor
bulana‘.

Did
your
husband’s
death
propel
you
back
into
acting?

His
death
was
a
big
shock
to
me.

My
son
was
in
Class
7
in
a
boarding
school
at
Mayo
but
he
suggested
that
I
return
to
acting
rather
that
be
lonely
at
home.

I
did
many
television
shows
like

Kkusum.

Santoshi
Maa
was
the
last
serial
I
worked
in.

What
is
your
life
like
today?

I
am
busy
with
my
grandchildren,
Vir
Singh
and
Arjun
Singh.

My
daughter
Kiran
is
a
pilot
with
Indigo.

I
have
a
lovely
family
and
the
best
daughter-in-law.

I
have
retired
now.