Shekhar Suman recalled the time when he was working with the legendary actress, Rekha on his debut film, 'Utsav'. He heaped praise on her for her professionalism.
Shekhar Suman started his journey in the Hindi film industry with the 1984 erotic drama, Utsav, alongside the popular Bollywood actress, Rekha. Even though he has done only a handful of films in his career spanning over 40 years, he has still proved his versatility. Be it comic characters or intense roles, Shekhar has left an indelible mark in the industry. Moreover, he will be once again seen on the screen after a long time in the upcoming Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s debut web series, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. Ahead of its release, he sat for an interview and recalled shooting his first film with Rekha.
During his conversation with Siddharth Kanan on his YouTube channel, Shekhar reminisced about the time when he was shooting with the then-reigning queen of Bollywood, Rekha. He said that he will forever remain grateful to the legendary actress as she said yes to working with a newcomer when she could have easily said no. The actor further said he is thankful to Shashi Kapoor and Girish Karnad for giving him this big break in the industry. In his words:
“Rekha ji ka main ab tak aur apni zindagi ke aankhri saans tak shukrguzar rahunga ki unhone ek rank newcomer ke saath kaam karne ke liye haami bhari. She could have easily said I don’t want to work with a newcomer, it was such a big film, it had an international version. This was probably the most unprecedented break for any newcomer in the history of Indian cinema. Only 15 days jab main aaya, maine suitcase bhi nahi khole the aur mujhe Utsav gaya and two months later, I was actually shooting with Rekha ji. I will forever be obliged to Shashi Kapoor, Girish Karnad, Rekha, all of them.”
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Further heaping praise on Rekha, the actor also mentioned that he has never seen an actress as professional as her. He recalled that there was a massive income tax raid at her home on the first day of the shoot. Shekhar continued by saying that any actor would have packed their bags and would have gone away, but she stayed focused on her job. In his words:
“Itni professional actress uske baad mujhe zindagi mein bohot kam aise log mile jo itna professional apne kaam mein bilkul maahir. I remember that she had a massive income tax raid on the first day of the shoot. Any other actor would have packed their bags and gone away. She said, ‘Let them do their job, I’ll stay back and do mine.’”
In the same interaction, Shekhar Suman shared that they had to do a lot of intimate scenes in the film, and Rekha never threw any tantrums, saying that the actor could not touch her at certain places. He compared the legendary actress with other actresses and heaped praise on her professionalism. Shekhar added that he will forever remain indebted to Rekha.
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Meanwhile, the host asked about the actor’s career after his big debut and questioned why his career did not flourish as everyone expected it to. To this, Shekhar said that he had worked as a solo lead with big actresses like Dimple Kapadia, Madhuri Dixit, Padmini Kolhapuri and Juhi Chawla, but nothing worked out in his favour. Sharing more about the same, he said:
“Kiya maine uske baad, solo leads bohot kiye. Pati Parmeshwar kiya with Dimple, Madhuri thi, Juhi ke saath kiya, Padmini ke saath kiya, all top actresses, lekin maine kahan ye (qismat or luck) bohot badi cheez hai. And ye keh dena ki mujhe mauka nahi mila, jane kya ho gaya, you probably you would never get the right answer kyun aisa nahi hua jahan tak aapko jana chahiye tha. Itna hua usi ka main shukrguzar hun. My gratitude ki itna kuch hua ki Patna ki galiyon mein khelne wala ek ladka jisne poster dekh ke kabhi nahi socha tha ki main inn tamam logon ke saath kaam kar paunga, unse mil paunga.”
What are your thoughts on Shekhar Suman’s revelations?
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