In the mid 90s, Waheeda Rehman was negotiating a cusp in her life. After spending a few blissful decades in Bengaluru with husband Kanwaljit (with whom she had starred in the 1964 film Shagoon) in a sprawling hacienda called ‘Gharonda,’ raising two children, initiating an organic cereal brand with friend and neighbour Asharfa Sattar, she was thinking of the next phase of her life with equanimity, aware as always that the only real constant was change. Looking lovingly at the flowering serenity in the farmhouse, she had spoken about the possibility of moving to Mumbai. Post her husband’s death and with her children settled in their independent lives, she did move to Mumbai though she would return occasionally for events, noticing with dismay the changes in the city she once called home. She was back again in Bengaluru for Rendezvous, a unique conversational musical show at Chowdiah Memorial Hall where the golden phase of Hindi film music was replayed.
In a chat, she relived the nostalgia of another time when life and cinema were simple and full of innocence.
You have a strong emotional connection with Bengaluru..
Yes, even though I don’t have a farm here anymore and villas are coming up where it once was..I still feel very close to Bangalore. The traffic jams have worsened, the growth is haphazard and thoughtless, the tree cover is sparse but even then, in summer, when the whole country is burning and you come here, the weather is still so much cooler. I have always felt though that the city’s growth should have been managed and planned better. You need to understand just what kind of trees should be grown along busy streets that we know are going to be dug up again and again. Why are so many unaesthetic structures coming up everywhere and who is to be blamed for it? The builders or the government? I would blame the government because it hands out indiscriminate permits to builders. Yes, growth is a part of life but when it compromises the beauty of a city, we must introspect.
About Rendezvous..do you agree that the music in your time was far more melodious and memorable?
That music was created for a cinema that no longer exists. Where is the space for those kind of films? And when content has changed, there is no opportunity to make the kind of music that was a part of our films. So many love stories were made in our times and there was space to write beautiful lyrics, create atmospheric melodies. Today, violence drives most of our cinema and we see today ki car explode ho gayi..aasmaan pe chali gayi (Today cars are blown up right upto the sky) so the music has to fit in the context.
The violence be it in life..and in cinema..what do you attribute to it to?
There is so much ferociousness today.. and an unrelenting rat race everywhere that parents buy into when they pressure their kids to get top ranks. So a mere 60 per cent is not good enough. Kids must score above 90 per cent and so many teenagers kill themselves because they can’t cope with the pressure. Young people are driven to choose high-pressure careers. There is no acceptance for the way things are. No shaanti. No patience.
How do you look at today’s cinema?
What I notice is that actors are much more open today to doing all kinds of roles which was not the case in our times and a leading lady always had to be a leading lady. Abhi woh bandish nikal gayi hai (such constraints are not there anymore). Experimental trends are also seeping into commercial arena with films like Kahaani, Barfi, Paan Singh Tomar etc. Among the actors today, I like Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor, Vidya Balan. I have heard very good things about Alia Bhatt too, bahut tareef hai uski. These are very natural performers and very hard working.
Last year in March, you lost a dear friend Nanda..
Yes, she was very close to me. What can I tell you about her..there are so many memories. We had lunch on Saturday and Tuesday, she was gone. It was all so sudden and shocking. This year too on March 25, I was constantly thinking of her. Itni baatein hai that keep her memory fresh.
You have been working sporadically in films..
Yes, Delhi 6 came in 2009 and now am in Aparna Sen’s Bengali film Arshinagar (a contemporary take on Romeo and Juliet) where I play a grandmother.
You have lived your life with a lot of grace and dignity..what is the one thing you have always believed in?
Everyone’s life is full of ups and downs. My credo is that no matter what happens..especially the things that are not in your control, do not struggle trying to change what cannot be changed. Wait it out. If a certain phase is bad, try to focus on the positives and don’t feel sorry for yourself. I have never said to myself, ‘hai mai bechari..mere saath aisa kyon hua‘ (oh, poor me..why did this happen to me?) but made the best of what was. I am happy because I have always known I can be.
with The New Indian Express Reema Moudgil works for The New Indian Express, Bangalore, is the author of Perfect Eight, the editor of Chicken Soup for the Soul-Indian Women, an artist, a former RJ and a mother. She dreams of a cottage of her own that opens to a garden and where she can write more books, paint, listen to music and just be silent with her cats