Veteran Actor Waheeda Rahman in conversation with
RSTV's anchor
Irfan in Guftagoo.
Waheeda Rehman, started her career in films in 1954 and her first successful films were the
Telugu films Jayasimha (
1955),
Rojulu Marayi (1955) and
Tamil film Kaalam Maari Pochu (
1956)
.
In the success party of Rojulu Maaraayi,
Guru Dutt noticed her and decided to groom her and have her act in
Hindi films. Waheeda considered Guru Dutt as her mentor. Dutt brought her to
Bombay (now
Mumbai) and cast as a vamp in his production
C.I.D. (1956), directed by
Raj Khosla. A few years after joining the
Hindi film industry, she lost her mother. After the success of C.I.D., Dutt gave her a leading role in
Pyaasa (
1957). Their next venture together,
Kaagaz Ke Phool (
1959), depicted the story of a successful director's decline after he falls for his leading lady. Dutt's existing marriage and her film successes with other directors caused them to drift apart personally and professionally, although they continued to work together into the
1960s (
Chaudhvin Ka Chand). She completed
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) under some strain. They broke away from each other after its indifferent reception at the
Berlin Film Festival in
1963.
Soon afterward, Guru Dutt died on
10 October 1964 in Mumbai reportedly from an overdose of sleeping pills and alcohol.
Waheeda Rehman established a great working relationship with
Dev Anand, and together as a pair had number of successful films to their credit. The box office hits of the pair include C.I.D. (1956),
Solva Saal (
1958),
Kala Bazar (1960),
Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962) and
Guide (
1965); box office duds were Roop Ki
Rani Choron Ka
Raja (
1961) and
Prem Pujari (
1970). She reached her peak with Guide (1965) and was much in demand.
Rehman was cast as "
Gulabi" in
Satyajit Ray's
Bengali film Abhijan in 1962. She worked in comedy film
Girl Freind in 1960 with
Kishore Kumar. She was offered lead actress's role in films even opposite actors junior to her by experience like
Dharmendra, but they flopped. But she continued to taste success in the late sixties when she was paired with well established stars. She delivered hits opposite
Dilip Kumar like
Ram Aur Shyam,
Aadmi and some box office duds but critically acclaimed films with
Rajendra Kumar -
Palki,
Dharti and
Shatranj ; this helped her continue to get lead roles in the early seventies. Her career's biggest hit
Khamoshi came in 1970, opposite
Rajesh Khanna.
Her career continued throughout the 1960s,
1970s, and
1980s. She won the
Filmfare Best Actress Award for her roles in Guide (1965), where she hit the peak of her career, and
Neel Kamal (
1968), but despite excellent offbeat roles in subsequent films, including a
National Award winning performance in
Reshma Aur Shera (
1971), some of the films failed at the box office.
Seeing her films being successful, Waheeda decided to experiment with roles at this stage of career. She accepted Reshma Aur Shera, opposite her old co-star
Sunil Dutt, with whom she had previously in the sixties had hits like
Ek Phool Char Kaante,
Mujhe Jeene Do,
Meri Bhabhi and
Darpan. Her performance was appreciated by critics, but the film failed at the box office. But Waheeda continued to experiment with roles and accepted the offer to play a mother to
Jaya Bhaduri in
Phagun(
1973). This she regards the mistake of her career as after this film flopped suddenly people started offering her motherly roles to heroes.
From the mid seventies, Waheeda's career as lead heroine ended and her career as character actor began. At around this time, Kamaljit, who starred opposite her in
Shagun (1964), proposed and they got married in
1974. After her appearance in
Lamhe (
1991), she retired from the film industry for 12 years.
In her new innings from seventies her successful films, where she played pivotal roles include,
Kabhi Kabhie (
1976),
Trishul (1978),
Jwalamukhi(
1980),
Namkeen and
Namak Halaal (
1982),
Mashaal (
1984),
Chandni(
1989),
Rang De Basanti(
2006).
Anchor: Irfan
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- published: 13 Sep 2012
- views: 207942