Raj Khosla@100: Asha Parekh remembers director who helped her break 'glam girl' image with 'Do Badan'
Mumbai, Veteran actor Asha Parekh on Saturday credited the late writer-filmmaker, Raj Khosla, with recognising her potential beyond the "glam girl" image by offering her "Do Badan", a film that changed the trajectory of her career.
At a retrospective event to mark Khosla's 100th birth anniversary, Parekh said the filmmaker's decision to cast her in the 1966 drama came as a surprise to her as it went against the industry's perception of her.
"Everyone in the industry thought I was just a glam girl, a dancing girl and that I am not a good actress. I do not know what Raj ji had in mind when he came to me and offered me 'Do Badan'. The critics wrote good things about me and my work in the film. It gave me confidence to do more such films," Parekh said at a panel discussion.
"Do Badan" tells the story of two lovers Asha , a wealthy young woman, and Vikas , an orphan whose romance takes a tragic turn due to a series of unforeseen events. The film, which became a box-office hit on its release, also featured Simi Garewal and Pran in pivotal roles.
The Dadasaheb Phalke award winner revealed that initially, her contemporary, Rakhee, was supposed to star in the film.
"I remember, Raj ji called me and said, 'I want to talk to you'. I said, 'okay'. He came home and narrated the story. After the narration, I told him to promise me to make the film as it is. It was a beautifully-written film. It was poetic. I remember, women would cry watching the film," Parekh said.
The actor also shared that she had suggested a different climax to Khosla for "Do Badan", one where only her character would die. However, after further discussions, Kumar convinced the director to go with a more tragic ending in which both lovers meet their fate.
"He would say what he wanted but leave the artists to emote the way they want," Parekh said about their collaborative process. After "Do Badan", the two also collaborated in "Chirag" , "Mera Gaon Mera Desh" and "Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki" .
Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt was also part of the panel discussion along with Amborish Roychoudhury, the author of "Raj Khosla: The Authorised Biography", and Khosla's daughter, Anita.
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, director of the Film Heritage Foundation , moderated the panel discussion.
Khosla gave Hindi cinema some of its most memorable songs like "Lag Jaa Gale", "Mera Saaya", "Jhumka Gira Re", "Kahin Pe Nigaahen Kahin Pe Nishaana", "Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan", "Nazar Lagi Raja Tore Bangle Par", "Hai Apna Dil To Awara" and many more.
Parekh said she loved the way Khosla shot the song sequences in his movies.
"When you work in four films, the whole unit becomes like a family.... Raj ji came from the Guru Dutt school, there was a little bit of Guru Dutt ji that he had while doing ," she said.
The daylong retrospective, titled "Raj Khosla 100 Bambai Ka Babu", was curated by the FHF at the Regal Cinema in south Mumbai.
As part of the celebrations, three of Khosla's acclaimed films "CID" , "Bambai Ka Babu" and "Mera Gaon Mera Desh" were screened.
The first two films have been restored in 4K resolution by the National Film Development Corporation and National Film Archive of India under the National Film Heritage Mission, an initiative of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Parekh said re-watching "Mera Gaon Mera Desh" brought back fresh memories.
"It did bring back fresh memories. I had the most fun working with him. I wish I could see the entire film, but I had to leave," the veteran actor told PTI.
"It was a film that was different from the films I was doing. It had beautiful songs. Laxmi Chayya had a better role than I, but despite that, I stood my ground," she added.
Earlier in the day, actor Raima Sen introduced "Bambai Ka Babu", which featured her late grandmother, Suchitra Sen, opposite Dev Anand.
Sen said she is glad that these classic films are being reintroduced and thanked the FHF for taking the initiative to commemorate Khosla's work.
"I am excited to introduce this film, which is my favourite film. For her , to take up this subject was a very bold move because it was not conventional and she was a star.
"So to do an unusual film story of a brother and a sister, who till the end do not know that they are brother and sister, and the romance between the two, I think the film was way ahead of its time," Sen said.
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Indian Express
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Mahesh Bhatt pens a poem remembering Raj Khosla: ‘The Light That Lingers'
On Raj Khosla's birth centenary, Mahesh Bhatt pens a special poem for the filmmaker. Khosla helmed films such as C.I.D., Do Raaste, Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki, Bombai Ka Babu, Woh Kaun Thi and Mera Gaon Mera Desh. 2025. First quarter of the second century of cinema. They're screening his films again. Regal Cinema. An old hall. The velvet is dull. The walls are cracked. Dust floats in the light. The air smells of time. The screen waits. It doesn't shine like it used to. Streaming has taken over. Theatres are kings without kingdoms. And still—here we are. I'm the guest of honour. Asha Parekh will be here soon. Once, the face on every poster. Now, a medal on her chest. Reverence in every greeting. I sit and wait. We're here to honour the brilliance of one of the most underrated filmmakers India ever had. Thanks to the Film Heritage Foundation— founded by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, a man on a mission to rescue our fading cinematic memory. And as I wait, something inside me shifts. 1969. I was twenty. Rubber slippers. Tight pants. No money. A head full of storm. I wanted to make films. I didn't know how. At Mehboob Studio, the watchman stopped me. 'You don't belong here,' he said. I said a name — Raj Khosla. I hadn't met him, but I knew him. Something in the way I said it opened the gate. Inside, the air smelled of sweat and paint. Cables on the floor. Men shouting. Dreams being built— not dreamt. Built. His office was cold with air-conditioning. He'd just woken up. Looked at me like a face from a dream he couldn't place. 'Know anything about filmmaking?' he asked. 'No.' He smiled—small, sideways. 'Zero's a good place to start.' That was it. That's how I began. I stayed a short while. But I saw enough. How a film is made— Not wished into being. Wrestled in. Through heat and silence and rage. We made a film. Later, they called it the first Eastern Western. We called it madness. Sand. Heat. Guns that jammed. Stars who bled. Then I left. We all do. I failed first. Then, somehow, I didn't. Four hits in a row. The applause came. I smiled. But the sound never reached me. He, meanwhile, had begun to vanish. Even the brightest lights fade. One night—Sea Rock Hotel. Terrace. Stars above. Music below. He stood alone. Hands in his pockets. Looking out at the sea like it had stolen something from him. I walked up. 'Get me a drink,' he said. I did. Because some men stay taller than time. He looked at me. 'So—how does it feel? Being on top?' I said, 'I didn't ask for this.' He laughed. Not kindly. 'You? Four hits and still restless? Try being the man who once had it all and now begs for one last sip of relevance.' Then he looked beyond the lights— toward something only he could see. 'Fame is starlight,' he said. 'The glow of something already dead. You see the shine— but the star is gone.' I never forgot. I couldn't. Now the young come. They speak with fire in their throats. I listen. And when I speak— they don't just hear me. They hear him. The man who let me in. The man who said zero. They don't know his name. But they carry it—like I did. He is gone. But the light is still here. The hall stirs. She walks in. Applause cracks through the dust. We take the stage. A question comes: 'What did your master leave you that lasted?' I close my eyes. See his face. Hear his voice. 'Zero,' I say. 'That's where I began.' They nod. They think I'm wise. They think I know. But I don't. And that's the truth. To stay in this work— to stay in this life— you have to live with not knowing. The old sages knew it: Not this. Not that. Not even this. What remains isn't certainty. It's the light. The kind that flickers. The kind that stays. I don't direct anymore. Don't chase stories. I'm quiet now. Like a volcano that once burned. Now still. Still warm. I mentor the thirsty, the talented. The young come. They burn. I listen. I guide. I hand them the match. Let them strike it. That's enough. So I say it again— for the ones still outside the gate: Fame is starlight. Beautiful. Distant. Already gone. Let it guide you. Let it burn you. Then let it go. And when your time comes— Start from zero. Stand in the not-knowing. Speak only what's true. And pass it on.
