AAP AUR HUM HF
SANGEET KA SAFAR HAVE TODAY THIS NEWS.
Comeback after 50 yrs!
Begum Para will play a role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya after a gap of more than 50 years
Fifty years after she quit movies following her marriage to Dilip Kumar's lesser-know brother Nasir Khan, Begum Para will return to play a part in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya.
Grand old lady: Begum Para
Begum Para, who did films like Shama, Mehdi, Pedro and Dada in the 1940s and is 80 years now, says, "I'm back in 2006 working in Saawariya. This has got to be the longest lay-off in the history of show business. You know, in our film industry there's this old habit of typecasting actors. I was typecast as the so-called liberated woman. The roles were not interesting enough for me. They stamped me as the smoking libertine who ends up insulting her father," she laughs. "I didn't much enjoy that image. I was doing roles like Saira Banu did in Manoj Kumar's Purab Aur Paschim. I just lost interest. Then I married Nasir Khan."
Saawariya is her comeback film after 50 years! "The privilege and pleasure of working with Sanjay Bhansali egged me on to take this role. He never ties me down with his ideas. I'm allowed to say my dialogues the way I want. He gives me so much space. Saawariya is an astonishing experience."
After been away from films for so long, has her acting skills got rusted? "I don't think skills ever get rusted. I just need to practice my acting again. Initially, I was nervous for a couple of days. But once I settled down before the camera I had a whale of a time. Bahut mazaa aaya. It's like coming home. I'm open to more offers provided they make me comfortable."
She warms up on the topic of Salman Khan who co-stars with her in Saawriya. I"ve known him since he was a child. I'm friendly with his father Salim Saab(Akhtar). I was apprehensive about how today's generation behaves. When I expressed my misgivings to Sanjay Bhansali he assured me, 'Just come and see how we work.' And he was right. They all gave me so much love and respect. Of course technically cinema has advanced. But people are still the same. Jab insaan door rehta hai to pataa nahin kya-kya sochta hai. But after my return in front of the camera I felt I had never gone away."
About her mythic war with her brother-in-law Dilip Kumar, Begum Para laughs, "That's gone and done with. Now we're cordial with each other and do meet occasionally
VERY GOOD COME BACK
DHALL
Grand old lady: Begum Para