Waheeda Rehman recalled how she was warned against taking up the role of Rosy in Guide.
Vijay Anand’s Guide starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman is considered to be one of the most iconic works in Indian cinema. A screen adaptation of R K Narayan’s popular novel The Guide, the evergreen film is still remembered for the lead pair’s touching performances and SD Burman’s melodious songs.
While filming Guide, Waheeda Rehman was also shooting for another film- Raaj Kumar starrer Neel Kamal. According to Indian Express, in a recent interview, the veteran actress revealed that Neel Kamal director Ram Maheshwari was quite upset when she took up Guide and even told her that she was “destroying” him by playing a role of a woman who leaves her husband.
In a chat with Doordarshan, Waheeda Rehman recalled, “I was shooting for both Guide and Neel Kamal around the same time. When the director got to know that I was doing Guide, he said ‘Waheeda ji you are killing me, you have destroyed me’. I said ‘I don’t get it’. He said ‘in my film, you are called Sita, who is fully in love with her husband and in Guide you are playing Rosy, who is dancer who leaves her husband. So I am destroyed’.”
The actress said that Maheshwari even told her that if she wanted to take up such roles, she should not work in the Hindi film industry but leave for Hollywood.
Rehman shared, “He said ‘you should not do these kind of films because these films don’t work in India. This works in Hollywood. If you are fond of these kind of movies, then go work in Hollywood.'”
The ‘Pyaasa’ star then shared that she gave the director the option of firing her from Neel Kamal because she was not interested in leaving Guide.
She told the channel, “I said I will work in both movies. If you don’t like it, then fire me. I am not going to leave Guide. He was very upset. When Guide released, he sent me a telegram. He wrote ‘excellent performance but for a vamp’s role’. I laughed a lot. Even though he was an educated man, his thinking was small.”
Guide revolves around an ex-tourist guide, who when mistaken as a sage by some villagers, reflects on his past and lost love to search for spiritual wisdom to guide them.
