Many said Hema’s role had first been offered to Vyjayanthimala who hadn’t shown much interest. To make her debut in cinema opposite Raj Kapoor – it was as if the cosmos was making an announcement. I think he was very conscious of what his office colleagues would say.’ Accent training One thing I was certain about was that my father wasn’t against my classical dances at sabhas and festival functions … but my acting in films somehow made him uncomfortable. He agreed to eat his meal and for the time being at least there was a truce! I still don’t know how they resolved the problem but I was given the green signal. On the fourth day, finally, my father gave up. ‘In short, we continued to feel frightened and uneasy. ‘My brothers and I were not included in the details, for we were trained not to ask questions,’ Hema remembers. He stopped eating at home and his arguments with Jaya only worsened. The news of Hema this time going as far as signing a film as the female lead left her father fuming. When Ananthaswami offered to cast Hema as the lead, the sixteen-year-old promptly sat up and said, ‘Yes, I am ready.’ Jaya was still recovering from the rejection by C.V. They were now very keen on casting a fresh south Indian face who could also dance well and match up to the status of Vyjayanthimala,’ Hema recollects. The film was being produced by a south Indian producer who had blocked bulk dates for Raj saab, right after Sangam. ‘Ananthaswami had made it very clear to us right from the start that all the decisions for the film would be taken by Raj Kapoor. If Hema was in need of a godfather, here he was, with an offer of a lifetime. The schedule was ready, but they were waiting for a fresh new face to cast opposite the showman. Ananthaswami, a Tamil producer who was making a Hindi film with none other than Raj Kapoor. One of those impressed by this young, beautiful dancer was B. The focus was now back on dance recitals, but they also quietly bided their time, waiting for the next good film offer to come their way. Sridhar episode left both Jaya and Hema more resolute in their decision to make Hema an actress.
This was the first movie to refer to Hema Malini as ‘Dream Girl’ – an appellation that stuck and went on to define her life in front of and away from the camera.Īfter the initial setback, the C.V. Hema Malini was to have made her debut in a Tamil film directed by CV Sridhar, but was dropped at the last minute, only to be signed on for Sapno Ka Saudagar, starring Raj Kapoor, in 1968. In the authorised biography Hema Malini Beyond the Dream Girl, the 1970s and ’80s star looks back on her career highs and lows, her relationship with co-star Dharmendra, and her love for classical dance. ‘It’s my job’: Actor Sandra Bullock on her difficult conversations on race with her black children.‘We are all unemployable today’: Actor Swara Bhasker tells Mamata Banerjee at meeting in Mumbai.
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