Hema Malini has discussed how her mother played a significant part in influencing her decision to pass on films like Raj Kapoor’s Satyam Shivam Sundaram and choose scripts like Baghban.
Hema Malini said that she wasn’t convinced initially to play a ‘mother of four’ in Ravi Chopra’s 2003 family drama Baghban. The film featured her in a role opposite Amitabh Bachchan and Baghban went on to become a box office success.
Hema was in her early 50s when she was offered Baghban. She was on a sabbatical prior to that and acted only in one-offs like Kamal Haasan’s 2000 Tamil-Hindi bilingual Hey Ram. After Baghban, Hema starred opposite Amitabh again in Yash Chopra’s 2004 blockbuster Veer-Zaara.
How she eventually signed Baghban
In an interview with Lehren Retro, Hema said, “I remember when I was hearing the story from Ravi Chopra, my mother was sitting. After he left, I said, ‘Chaar itne bade bade ladka ka role karne ko bol raha hai (He’s asking me to play the mother of four grown-ups). How can I do this.’ But my mother said, ‘No no no, you must do it!’ I said, ‘Why?’ ‘No, the story is very good. You must do it.’ How she was after me. I said, ‘Okay, I’ll do it.’ But before that I felt… See, before that, I wasn’t doing films. After a long gap, I was working. So I thought, ‘Why should I do this?’ But she said, ‘No, you must do this. The role is very nice.’”
Hema was also offered Satyam Shivam Sundaram
“Raj Kapoor came to me and asked me to do Satyam Shivam Sundaram. But he only said, ‘This is such a film and I don’t feel you would do it. But I am very keen that you should do it. But I know you will not do it.’ So, my mother is also sitting and says, ‘No, she will not do all that’,” Hema said in the same interview.
Zeenat Aman was eventually cast in Satyam Shivam Sundaram, the 1978 romantic film directed by Raj Kapoor. It starred his younger brother Shashi Kapoor in the lead role opposite Zeenat. The film also starred Padmini Kolahpure and was produced by RK Studio.
Disclaimer: Except the headline and synopsis, this story has been taken from the HT News Service