Rekha, in a throwback interview, shared fond memories of filming ‘Saare Niyam Tod Do’ song for Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Khubsoorat.
Late filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee was one of the few storytellers whose movies steered away from masala clichéd troupes and violence, and yet managed to tick all the boxes when speaking about entertaining the audience. No wonder, many directors in today’s age often seek inspiration from his works when they make a slice-of-life film.
Among the many gems that Hrishi da directed, who can forget his 1980 comedy drama, Khubsoorat, starring Rekha, Rakesh Roshan, Ashok Kumar and Dina Pathak? Rekha’s rock-solid performance as the rebellious Manju is still remembered as one of her most enjoyable acts.
In one of her interviews with Filmfare, the ‘Umrao Jaan’ star walked down the memory lane, and shared some of her memories associated with this film. The actress revealed that Hrishi da narrated her Khubsoorat when she was going for an outdoor shoot for Amitabh Bachchan‘s Mr Natwarlal.
She recalled how he told her, “Chinnaponnu, hear the story first. The way I see you so full of love and innocence without a single mean bone in her being. This is the only chance the world will get to see the Rekha I see, who has the power to heal, spread the joy and positivity with compassion, patience and kindness.”
Rekha also reminisced how he asked her to bring everything that she had in her house when she quizzed him about her character Manju’s clothes in the film. Finally, he settled for a T-shirt and skirt, jeans, a shirt and waist coat.
The ‘Silsila’ actress shared that he made her wear her hair in two plaits throughout the film except for the last sequence after Manju’s marriage. There were times when he would even braid the hair for her. Rekha was also asked to wear only kajal and lip gloss for her character as the actress had unblemished skin.
Further, the veteran actress also recalled how the filmmaker asked her to dress up like a boy for ‘Saare Niyam Tod Do’ song.
“The brief to me was, “Tum shaayar hai Gulzar ki tarah.” So, I wore a khadi kurta with a sadri (jacket) and came on the sets. He said, “Arre tum toh Amitabh Bachchan lag raha hai.” So, then he took out his own glasses, which was very similar to those that Gulzar bhai wore. When I put them on Hrishida was happy and he exclaimed, “Haan ab tum Gulzar hai,” she told the magazine.
Rekha said that the entire team bonded like a tight-knit family during those 20 days of shoot at Mohan Studios, Satish Bhalla’s bungalow and Film City.
Recalling her last shot, she continued, “We were all so emotional and overwhelmed. In the sequence, just after his heart attack, I tell Dadamoni in the scene if he didn’t take his medicine, I would go away and Dinaji curtly says then go away and I burst out crying. After that, during the last shot, the entire cast and crew burst out crying. We all just hugged one another and cried. I remember I was leaving after that for the Pardesiya song for Mr Natwarlal.”
Khubsoorat follows the story of an authoritative matriarch, Nirmala (Dina Pathak) who finds her family’s disciplined life in chaos after the entry of her daughter-in-law’s sister, Manju, played by Rekha.
