Conversations with Waheeda Rehman (13 page)

I don’t know how but Majrooh Saab heard about this incident, and when we met a few days later, he said: ‘Bibi, never do that again. Damn the shoot! Do you realize what a desolate
and lonely place Madh Island is? And you went there alone in a taxi? Don’t show so much dedication! Next time, phone me and I’ll send you my car.’

And of course I met Shailendra many times during the making of
Teesri Kasam
.

NMK:
I once interviewed Dev Anand about how he chose Shailendra for
Guide
rather than Sahir Ludhianvi, who was the Navketan favourite. Dev Saab said he happened to meet Shailendra on a flight and he expressed his desire to work on
Guide
. Dev Saab readily agreed because apparently Sahir and S.D. Burman were not getting on well at that time. Shailendra’s songs were indeed superb in
Guide
, this key film in your career.

Visiting Dev Anand on the sets of
Prem Pujari.
Circa 1969. Waheeda Rehman made the maximum number of films (seven) opposite Dev Anand.

Were you familiar with R.K. Narayan’s novel before starting the film?

WR:
It was Mr Ray who asked me to read the novel because he was considering adapting it. He told me if the film ever took off, he would cast me as Rosie. She had to be a good dancer and he knew south Indians were usually good dancers, and so he had thought of me.

I had forgotten all about it when a year or two later Dev told me he was producing the film. I asked: ‘You mean R.K. Narayan’s novel? But isn’t Mr Ray making it?’

Dev said: ‘No, no, I know about that. I have bought the rights of the book.’

Satyajit Ray would have conceived the film in a completely different way. But I believe I was fated to play Rosie, no matter who was going to direct the film. Many actresses were keen to play Rosie, including Padmini and Leela Naidu. They sent me letters saying I should let them know if for any reason I did not accept the part.

NMK:
I never knew Mr Ray wanted to make a film based on R.K. Narayan’s novel. That will be a surprise to many. Yet he clearly thought the role of Rosie was perfect for you, just as no one but Nargis could have played Radha in
Mother India
.

WR:
Or Meena Kumari as Chhoti Bahu in
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam
.

NMK:
Absolutely right.

You seemed to suggest there was a possibility that you might not have played Rosie. Is that right?

WR:
I almost didn’t, because Dev announced that Raj Khosla was going to direct. I said: ‘Dev, have you forgotten how we quarrelled during the making of
Solva Saal
?’

‘Forget it, my friend. Everyone fights in life. Come on now,
Guide
is a very big picture, Waheeda. It is going to be made in English and in Hindi. Don’t be like that. You are a mature person and Raj has changed.’

I don’t know what happened but in the end Dev decided against Raj Khosla as director.

NMK:
What was your disagreement with Raj Khosla? Was this during the making of
Solva Saal
?

WR:
That’s right. You see in the film I play a naive sixteen-year-old girl who is in love with a boy who promises to marry her. We elope and foolishly I take all my dead mother’s jewellery with me. We catch a train and, halfway through the journey, the boy steals the jewellery and disappears. I am distraught and decide to commit suicide. I get off the train and head towards the sea. Dev, a co-passenger, has been watching me all the while and has understood the whole situation. He follows me and saves me from drowning.

Our clothes are wet, and so we go to a nearby dhobi ghat
and the dhobi lends us some clothes till our clothes have dried. What do I see? The costume department gives me a chiffon sari and a strapless blouse. I looked at Raj Khosla and asked: ‘Rajji, am I going to wear this?’

He said: ‘I know you! Try it, but if you don’t feel comfortable, wear whatever you want.’

So I went to my make-up room where my mother was sitting. I put on the sari and the strapless blouse and looked at myself in the mirror. ‘I can’t wear this.’ I took the blouse off and put on another blouse with sleeves. When I returned to the set, Raj Khosla saw me and lost his cool. ‘You don’t listen to your director. Who do you think you are? Madhubala? Meena Kumari? Nargis? Only two of your pictures have been released, and you want to have your way.’

He reminded me how I had insisted on keeping my name when I first signed the contract with Guru Dutt Films, and the fuss I made about the costumes in
C.I.D.
But I said: ‘Rajji, you told me if I didn’t feel comfortable, I didn’t have to wear this blouse. It didn’t feel right.’ Dev then turned to me and asked:
‘Waheeda, what’s the problem? What difference does it make?’

I explained to Dev: ‘In this scene the hero asks me my name and I say it is Laajwanti [bashful/shy]. And he says:
“Tabhi toh itni laaj aati hai.”
’ [That’s why you’re so shy.]

If this is the dialogue in the scene, I asked Raj Khosla, would this shy sixteen-year-old wear revealing clothes in front of a man who is an utter stranger at that point of the story? He said: ‘Oh, now you are talking about logic. Is this your counterargument?’

‘I think it would be amusing if we were given baggy, ill-fitting clothes and looked like clowns. That would create a moment of comedy.’

‘
Lo ji
, now she’s telling me how to direct.’

Raj Khosla decided to wrap for the day. The next day we returned to the set. Everyone had calmed down. I wore a different blouse and we carried on shooting.

NMK:
You had a point. If the girl is called Laajwanti, her name assumes an innocent sort of character and revealing clothes would have been inappropriate.

I must say I really liked
Solva Saal
. It is a charming film and Raj Khosla directed it beautifully. Interestingly, there isn’t a hint of tension in your performance.

Did you ever work with him again?

WR:
After my two children were born, Amarjeet, Dev’s good friend who made
Hum Dono
, was producing a picture called
Sunny
. He was going to introduce Sunny Deol in it and offered me the role of the mother. I agreed and then Amarjeet quickly added: ‘Now you’re married and have children. Time has passed. I have to tell you—Raj Khosla is the director.’

When I told my husband, Shashi, about the offer, he said:
‘Come on, grow up now. It doesn’t matter if you argued in the past. Do it. It isn’t right to say no.’ I said yes to Amarjeet and played the mother’s role in
Sunny
.

Raj Khosla was a very good director. He filmed songs very
well. We had our arguments, but he was a very nice person to spend time with. He was a cheerful fellow. Guruduttji was quiet and Raj Khosla was the lively one. In later years, when we both became more mature, we put all our differences behind us.

NMK:
Coming back to
Guide
, what happened after Raj Khosla was dropped from the project?

WR:
Chetan Anand started work on the Hindi
Guide
, and the English version was the American director Tad Danielewski’s responsibility. At first neither of them wanted me as Rosie. By that time, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do the film either. But Guruduttji sent word through Murthy that I must do it.

When the shooting began there was a clash between Tad and Chetan Saab almost immediately. They both wanted different camera positions, and the lighting took hours.

NMK:
Do you mean to say you filmed a scene in Hindi and then shot the same scene in English?

WR:
That’s right. They needed to save money. Both language versions had the same sets and the same locations. That’s how we worked. But it wasn’t happening. Tad and Chetan Saab had their egos.

It wasn’t long before Dev came to my make-up room and said: ‘Waheeda, see how much time they’re taking. One says
put the camera here, the other says put it over there. Tad wants one action and Chetan Saab another. And their endless discussions! I think we should first finish the English version then think about the Hindi
Guide
.’

That’s what happened. We first completed the English
Guide
and when it came to the Hindi
Guide
, Dev asked Goldie [Vijay Anand] to take over. I knew Goldie from the
Kala Bazar
days. He wrote excellent dialogue.

NMK:
How did you like working with Tad Danielewski? He was the only American director you worked with.

WR:
Tad was very vague. Whenever I asked him anything, he would say: ‘Maybe, maybe.’

You can say that sometimes, but not all the time. You need the director to be clear. Should Rosie react warmly? Or should she react coldly?

NMK:
You mean the director has to be decisive and bring out shades of the character’s behaviour?

WR:
Yes. Saying ‘maybe’ doesn’t help. Goldie would explain precisely how the scene should be played. You can get angry or upset with a director, but he must be clear. Satyajit Ray was very clear—it was either yes or no.

With Kishore Sahu and Tad Danielewski, the American director of the English
Guide
, on location at the Elephanta Caves. Circa 1964.

Acting is an understanding between actor and director. Performance comes from that combination of minds. I may act
in a certain way, but the director might feel it is too much and will suggest lowering the pitch or what needs doing to enhance the performance. The director must be clear about the tone of the scene and Tad was vague.

NMK:
The Nobel Prize–winning novelist Pearl S. Buck wrote the English screenplay of
Guide
and I believe that was the only screenplay she wrote.

Was your English dialogue dubbed by any chance?

WR:
No. I spoke my own lines. I practised them with Pearl S. Buck. She was a very interesting woman. One day she told me:
‘Some people may want you to speak in an American accent; don’t do that. As long as your lines can be understood, that’s all we want. I’ll correct you if something isn’t right. Don’t be self-conscious. If you make a mistake, we can dub it later. Just talk naturally. The film is being shot in India, the story is Indian and, most importantly, the characters are Indian. They’re not Americans working in India, so why should Rosie speak in an American accent? It will sound odd.’

NMK:
Did you think Rosie was a bold character for the time? Did she break with social norms?

WR:
Many people told me I was making a mistake by accepting the role. ‘You’re shooting yourself in the foot. This will be your last film.’ There were many reasons for their concern. The first being that when the audience is introduced to Rosie they discover she is a married woman. And a heroine in a Hindi film must be unmarried so that the hero can fall in love with her. On top of that, Rosie leaves her husband and goes off to live with Raju the guide. But they do not marry. This was very bold. Unmarried couples did not live together at the time, and definitely not in Hindi cinema.