Rati Agnihotri shares her memories of filming the lift song ‘Mere Jeevan Saathi’ with Kamal Haasan, recalling the tough shoot, quirky scenes, and the hard work that made Ek Duuje Ke Liye special.
Stepping into the spotlight alongside a powerhouse performer like Kamal Haasan is enough to rattle even the most confident newcomers. For a young Rati Agnihotri, the prospect was downright terrifying. In a recent chat, the actress admitted that she was ‘initially scared’ while sharing screen space with him in K Balachander’s hit film, Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981). Yet the legendary actor’s warmth and generosity on set quickly put her at ease.
She recalled how the famous lift sequence for the iconic ‘Mere Jeevan Saathi‘ song was both fun and demanding.
“The song in the lift, ‘Mere Jeevan Saathi’, was fun to shoot but tough at the same time. We had to wrap up in eight hours in a tiny lift inside the Taj in Chennai. While jumping around and moving, we had to be mindful of the camera angles so as to not get cut off,” the actress told The Hollywood Reporter.
Rati also remembered director K. Balachander guiding her through the process, especially since she wasn’t fluent in Tamil. She revealed that she would wait for his nod of approval after each shot.
Some moments were quirky and unforgettable — like Kamal spinning a top on her stomach while she squirmed with laughter, or the unusual scene where she had to drink ashes mixed in tea without being given an alternative. Balachander’s instructions were precise, and she followed them faithfully, even when she didn’t fully understand emotions like defiance or the intensity of young love.
Rati further shared that her first memory of Ek Duuje Ke Liye was the outdoor shoot in Visakhapatnam, where the team worked tirelessly under harsh conditions. The rocky beaches left blisters on their feet, and the scorching heat made footwear impossible. Despite the physical strain, the visuals turned out stunning on screen.
She credited the entire crew for enduring the exhausting schedule and delivering a film that, though initially hard to sell, became a timeless story of star-crossed lovers.
Ek Duuje Ke Liye tells the story of Vasu (Kamal Haasan) and Sapna (Rati Agnihotri), neighbors from different cultural backgrounds who fall in love but are forced apart by their families, ultimately meeting a tragic fate. It is the Hindi remake of K. Balachander’s Telugu hit Maro Charitra, with Kamal Haasan reprising his role.
