The reclusive actress Raakhee Gulzar, once known for her incandescent presence in films like Sharmilee, Kabhi Kabhie and Tapasya, is now happy leading an exilic existence.
“I am happy to be out of the rat race. I like my life of retirement. I gave up all that long ago. Main toh kabhi kisike saath competition mein thi hi nahi (I was never in competition with anyone). When I did Yash Chopra’s Daag there was an attempt to pitch me against Sharmila Tagore. It was all nonsense. We hardly had scenes together. I came in the story after interval. She had all the songs. I never cared for these things, ke mera role kitna bada hai, kitne gaane, costume changes kitne hain… I believed in doing what I had to in the given space in every film,” says Raakhee Gulzar as she looks back at her career.
She has fond memories of all her co-stars, “Specially Shashi Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar. Both were diehard foodies. Our equation was simple: I loved to cook, they loved to eat. Shashi’s wife Jennifer used to be very upset as I would break her husband’s diet whenever we shot together. I also shared a fabulous rapport with Amitabh. We did quite a few films together. He would insist on speaking to me in Bengali. I must say he speaks very good Bengali. We don’t meet very often. But when we do there is always that mutual respect and affection.”
I cajole her to name her favourite films. The Legend demurs. “Don’t make me do this, Subhash. You know I don’t like playing favourites. Okay, if you insist… I like some of what I did in Yash Chopra’s Kabhi Kabhie and Daag. I also like myself in Ramesh Talwar’s Doosra Aadmi. It is rare for a woman above 40 to feel an attraction, and that too towards a younger man. Plus I was a career woman in Doosra Aadmi. I also like myself in a film called Wafaa where I was cast opposite Sanjay Khan. Tapasya is one of my most popular roles. Lekin itna rona dhona… I was repeatedly offered weepie roles. But I was never fond of such parts. I like the more fun parts, like Aankh Micholi and Pugli. But they were rarely offered to me. Producers presumed I liked serious roles.”
She sees no opportunity to come back in the near future. “Where are the roles? I have done a couple of Bangla films recently. The makers were keen. And they cast me in author-backed roles. Even when I was cast as the mother in films like Ram Lakhan or Karan Arjun, I was the central character.”
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