By Her kohl lined doe eyes and sugary voice were an integral part of my growing up years. In the 80s and 90s there was often an Asha Parekh starrer on the telly. She was the dancing girl in Caravan matching steps with Jeetendra, the sad widow with soulful eyes in Kati Patang and the enchanting Japanese girl dressed in a floral kimono singing Sayonara Sayonara in Love in Tokyo. A string of continuous successes at the box office had earned her the title Jubilee Girl. The year 2017 saw the release of her biography aptly titled Hit Girl written by noted film critic Khaled Mohammad.At the author’s meet of Sharjah International Book Fair 2017 I got a chance to listen to that familiar voice recalling anecdotes from movies about movie stars I had grown up admiring. So, it seems superstar Rajesh Khanna was an introvert and took some time to open up with his co stars on film sets. And that he had a sweet tooth and the first question he would ask on the sets was, ‘what’s the dessert for lunch today?’ That Raj Kapoor was a spontaneous actor who would be laughing on the sets one minute and could enact an emotional scene where he could break out in tears the next minute.Asha Parekh was introduced in Bollywood in 1959 at the age of 16 in Dil Deke Dekho opposite the legendary Shammi Kapoor. “During the shooting of Dil Deke Dekho Shammiji’s wife Geeta Bali took an instant liking to me. She would lift me on her shoulders and tell Shammiji, whom I used to call Chacha ‘let’s adopt her’,” she reminisced fondly.Seated at the centre of the stage, dressed in an aqua green saree with that infamous twinkle in her eyes she was a picture of grace and elegance at 75. The talk moderated by Manju Ramanan, editor, Filmfare ME and Ajay Mago, publisher of Om books touched upon some significant chapters of her life that also feature in the book — including her relationship with director Nasir Hussain, her tryst with depression and her role as Censor Board head.“I was not destined to get married.” Over the years she had become very close to director Nasir Hussain, with whom she delivered many superhits. But as Hussain was a married man, Asha did not want to be a homebreaker. The only child of her parents, their deaths brought immense loneliness into her life, which eventually manifested into depression. She took medication and is now over with that phase, Asha revealed. Today she spends time with her girl gang of yesteryear stars — Waheeda Rehman, Helen and Shammi. “We go out for lunches and dinners, and try to meet often. Live for today, don’t think about the past and be happy is my motto now.”
I went back with fond memories of having met the hit girl who like her reel life avatars was beautiful and honest.