{"id":185184,"date":"2023-09-28T05:26:25","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T05:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indiansapidnews.com\/?p=185184"},"modified":"2023-09-28T05:26:25","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T05:26:25","slug":"the-incomparable-waheeda-rehman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiansapidnews.com\/tv-movies\/the-incomparable-waheeda-rehman\/","title":{"rendered":"The Incomparable Waheeda Rehman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dinesh Raheja doffs his hat to the movie legend, who will be honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rati Agnihotri confides breathlessly, “I was overjoyed when I got a chance to work with my favourite Waheeda Rehman in Mashaal<\/em>. On the first day, I entered her makeup room and told her I was just going to sit there and gaze at her. That’s precisely what I did.”<\/p>\n

Waheeda is also on the favourite heroines’ list of both Amitabh Bachchan and son Abhishek Bachchan.<\/p>\n

Her simple beauty and refreshingly natural style of acting gave her an edge over the carefully-lacquered bouffant brigade of the 1960s.<\/p>\n

She did have a penchant for picking three melodramas (Palki, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Aadmi, Neel Kamal<\/em>) but even there, Waheeda consciously steered clear of glycerine overdoses and histrionics.<\/p>\n

Probably Waheeda’s early training under mentor-director Guru Dutt, a cinematic genius, stood her in good stead.<\/p>\n

Her emoting was understated but effective, her thrush-sweet voice subdued in the loudest of scenes.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it was also a reflection of her own quiet personality.<\/p>\n

In Pyaasa<\/em>, there was a scene where she hears of Guru Dutt’s death and has to scream.<\/p>\n

Waheeda opened her mouth. No sound came out.<\/p>\n

Guru Dutt started laughing, saying she was the first girl who couldn’t scream.<\/p>\n

He signed on Hyderabad-based Waheeda for a Hindi film. She had worked in Telugu films like Jayasimha<\/em> and Rojulu Marayi<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Dutt gave her a vampish role in his production, CID<\/em> (1956).<\/p>\n

The Bharata Natyam exponent stepped on the rungs on the ladder of stardom with her fleet-footed dancing to the Geeta Dutt hit, Kahin Pe Nigahein Kahin Pe Nishana<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Impressed, Guru Dutt promoted her to playing one of the leads in Pyaasa<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Dutt had the author-backed role of an emotionally spent, penniless poet in Pyaasa<\/em> (1957) but Waheeda left an indelible mark too as Gulab, the sweet-faced streetwalker who comforts the poet stung by societal barbs.<\/p>\n

After Pyaasa<\/em>, Waheeda’s thirst for work was amply slaked.<\/p>\n

She had a contract with Dutt but he magnanimously permitted her to work in outside films (Solva Saal, Twelve o’clock, Kaala Bazaar<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Dutt next cast his muse Waheeda as the solo heroine in his cinemascope epic, Kaagaz Ke Phool<\/em> (1959).<\/p>\n

A scathing comment on the transient nature of stardom, the film was rejected by the audience.<\/p>\n

Waheeda and Dutt’s next collaboration, a purely commercial Muslim social, Chaudhvin Ka Chand<\/em> (1960), fared better at the box office. The title song has endured over four decades.<\/p>\n

Fired by her critical successes, Waheeda was keen on playing the doomed and drunken Chhoti bahu<\/em> of Dutt’s Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam<\/em> (1962).<\/p>\n

But Dutt deemed her too young for the role and cast doyenne Meena Kumari.<\/p>\n

Waheeda was a breath of fresh air in the heavy film; Meena’s role was, of course, unforgettable.<\/p>\n

This was Waheeda and Dutt’s last film together. Ironically, their Kaagaz Ke Phool<\/em> had also talked of the distance that develops between a mentor and his discovery after her success.<\/p>\n

After breaking free from Dutt’s banner, Waheeda continued to flourish.<\/p>\n

She won critical acclaim for her role of a danseuse in love with a dacoit (Sunil Dutt) in Dutt’s home production, Mujhe Jeene Do<\/em>, and struck gold with the spooky Bees Saal Baad<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Waheeda teamed up with thespian Dilip Kumar in Dil Diya Dard Liya<\/em> (inspired by Wuthering Heights<\/em>), Aadmi<\/em> and Ram Aur Shyam<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But Dil Diya…<\/em> proved to be an expensive flop and Ram Aur Shyam<\/em> was a double treat of Dilip Kumar; her contribution to what was probably the biggest blockbuster of her career, was limited.<\/p>\n

Waheeda reached her acme in the Dev Anand-produced Guide<\/em> (1965), based on R K Narayan’s classic novel.<\/p>\n

The film over the years attained an exalted cult status.<\/p>\n

Waheeda’s producers were aghast when she accepted the role of an adulteress in Guide<\/em>: ‘Aap apne pairon pe kulhadi maar rahi hain<\/em>.’<\/p>\n

The English version of the bilingual Guide<\/em> (directed by Ted Danielski) didn’t create many ripples but the Hindi version (directed by Vijay Anand) is a cinematic milestone — S D Burman’s mood-enhancing musical score, Dev’s best ever performance and Waheeda.<\/p>\n

Hers was a soul-in-her-eyes performance as Rosy, a danseuse who walks out on her impotent and imperious husband for a career and a new life with an encouraging guide (Dev Anand).<\/p>\n

Rosy’s life is no bed of roses. The guide too exploits her emotionally and financially.<\/p>\n

Besides giving her a chance to break the taboo against grey-shaded roles, Guide<\/em> also showcased Waheeda’s dancing expertise — watch her on a precarious ledge to the strains of Shailendra’s life-affirming, Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Subsequent hits like Patthar Ke Sanam<\/em> (1967) and Neelkamal<\/em> (1968) enhanced Waheeda’s star status.<\/p>\n

But while Teesri Kasam<\/em> (a rustic love story between a nautankiwali<\/em> and a yokel) and Khamoshi<\/em> (a tragic romance between a nurse and her psychologically-affected patient), were artistically satisfying, their black-and-white format in an era of riotous colour curtailed their box office chances.<\/p>\n

Early 1970s saw Waheeda’s career unravelling. Big-budget ventures like Dev Anand’s Prem Pujari<\/em> and Sunil Dutt’s Reshma Aur Shera<\/em> bit the dust.<\/p>\n

In 1974, Waheeda tied the knot with former actor Kamaljeet, 10 years after they played romantic leads in Shagun<\/em>.<\/p>\n

She shifted to a sylvan farmhouse in Bangalore.<\/p>\n

Two children — son Sohail and daughter Kashvi — and a success story in the business of breakfast cereals completed the happily-ever-after family picture.<\/p>\n

Waheeda has flown down to Mumbai since to work with big names like Amitabh (Kabhi Kabhie, Adalat, Namak Halal<\/em>) or Yash Chopra (Chandni, Lamhe<\/em>).<\/p>\n

After an extended break, Waheeda was set to star in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham<\/em> but the sudden demise of her husband Kamaljeet on November 20, 2000, had her opt out at the nth hour.<\/p>\n

Today, Waheeda lives with her children in her sea-facing bungalow at Bandra, north west Mumbai.<\/p>\n

She enjoys gardening and gabfests with good friends over seafood at Mahesh Lunch Home and is content to do an occasional film.<\/p>\n

This feature was first published on Rediff in March 2002.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dinesh Raheja doffs his hat to the movie legend, who will be honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award this year. Rati Agnihotri confides breathlessly, “I was overjoyed when I got a chance to work with my favourite Waheeda Rehman in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":185183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Incomparable Waheeda Rehman - Indiansapidnews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/indiansapidnews.com\/tv-movies\/the-incomparable-waheeda-rehman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Incomparable Waheeda Rehman - Indiansapidnews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dinesh Raheja doffs his hat to the movie legend, who will be honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award this year. 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