Amitabh did not want to do a film with Rakhi: Kabhi Kabhie is a film based on beauty; now she is living by keeping 9 dogs, 32 cows and a snake

“Mere Karan Arjun Aayenge…” On hearing this dialogue, Rakhi Gulzar’s face comes to mind. The beauty of the actress, who was counted among the most famous actresses of the 70s-80s, can be gauged from the fact that Yash Chopra wrote the 1976 blockbuster film Kabhie Kabhie after seeing her. The famous lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi took inspiration from Rakhi’s personality to write the song of the film ‘Kabhie Kabhie Mere Dil Mein Khayal Aata Hai…’. Sunil Dutt was such a fan of Rakhi’s acting that whenever he got the opportunity to see Rakhi’s performance, his eyes remained moist. In a film career spanning 4 decades, Rakhi worked in about 100 films, for which she has been awarded 2 National Awards, 3 Filmfares and Padma Shri. Rakhi’s life was full of many ups and downs, sometimes the grief of her marriage breaking at a young age; Sometimes she had to face the pain of her husband Gulzar’s infidelity in her second marriage, but Rakhi, who is firm on principles, never gave up. She says, ‘I am firm on my will and self-respect, even if there is financial crunch, but I will never do a film or work that I don’t like.’ Today Rakhi Gulzar is 77 years old. Even at this stage of age, she is living her life alone in the valleys, away from the city and glitz. She says, ‘Now I don’t need money, I do my work myself and am living a happy life with animals.’ There are many dogs, cows, snakes and birds in her farmhouse in Panvel, which she takes care of herself. Today, on the special occasion of Rakhi Gulzar’s birthday, know 6 selected stories related to her life – 15 August 1947, the whole of India was celebrating independence after fighting a long battle against the British. On the same day, early in the morning, Rakhi was born in a Bengali shoe business family in Ranaghat of Nadia district of Bengal. Her full name was Rakhi Majumdar. Her father had a well-established business in Ranaghat, however, after the partition, the situation worsened and the family settled in West Bengal. Rakhi was just 17 years old when in 1963, her father got her married to Bengali journalist and film director Ajay Biswas. Within a few years of marriage, it became difficult for Rakhi to adjust with her husband. This was the reason that at the age of just 18, she left her husband and decided to live life on her own. Rakhi, who was very beautiful, used to get offers for many films. In such a situation, when responsibilities came upon her after the divorce, she decided to come into films. At the age of 20, she signed her first Bengali film Bodhu Boron, which was released in the year 1967. Rakhee made a special identity in Bengali cinema with her first film, after which she got her next film Baghini. Rakhee’s acting was so attractive that even after doing a regional film, she caught the attention of Tarachand Barjatya, founder of Rajshri Productions. Tarachand Barjatya cast her in the Hindi film Jeevan Mrityu, in which her hero was Dharmendra. This film released in 1970 proved to be a milestone for Rakhee. She started getting many big films like Subodh Mukherjee’s film Sharmilee, Sunil Dutt’s Reshma Aur Shera. Rakhee got a place opposite Sunil Dutt in the film Reshma Aur Shera. In this film, she played the role of a widow. When Rakhee came on the set, Sunil Dutt did not show much interest in her, but as soon as the shooting started, everything changed. In the very first shot, the newly-wed Rakhee was going to be informed of her becoming a widow. As soon as the camera started, Rakhee broke her bangles and started wiping off the vermilion in an emotional manner. Rakhee’s acting was so real that everyone present on the set became emotional. Sunil Dutt has told in an interview that he felt that he was really watching a real accident. There were tears in his eyes. Let us tell you that when Rakhee played the role of a widow in the beginning of her career, many people told her that she should not do this. This will have a bad effect on her career. However, Rakhee had a principle that she would definitely do those films in which she got a chance to experiment, whether it was the role of a widow or the role of the mother of a hero older than her, Amitabh Bachchan. By giving hit after hit films, Rakhee established herself as an actress in the 70s. Meanwhile, the famous lyricist Gulzar sahab (Sampoorn Singh Kalra) was fascinated by Rakhee’s beauty. Despite being 11 years older than her, Gulzar sahab proposed marriage to Rakhee one day. Rakhee also agreed immediately without thinking. Rakhee was at the peak of her career, in such a situation many people suggested her not to get married, however she did not listen to anyone. It is said that Gulzar sahab had put a condition to marry Rakhee. The condition was that after marriage, Rakhee would leave the film world and take care of the family. Rakhee believed that Gulzar sahab’s heart would definitely change someday. Finally in 1973, Rakhee married Gulzar sahab and said goodbye to the film world. After marriage, the decision to stay away from films started bothering Rakhee. Surrounded by glitz and crowd of admirers, it became difficult for Rakhee to spend time in household chores. She asked Gulzar sahab many times to make a film with her, but her request was turned down every time. The famous filmmaker of that era Yash Chopra had written the film Kabhi Kabhie keeping Rakhee’s beauty in mind. However, by the time the script of the film was ready, Rakhee had got married and left the industry. Yash Chopra did not like to cast any other actress in her place. So he met Rakhee and offered the film to her. When Rakhee came to know that Sahir Ludhianvi had written the songs of the film after seeing her beauty, she agreed to work in the film, but Rakhee needed permission from her husband Gulzar to do the film. According to a BBC report, at that time Gulzar sahab was shooting his directorial and writer film Andhi in Kashmir. Rakhee was so excited about the film that she thought it better to go to Kashmir without wasting time. As soon as Rakhee reached Kashmir, she was overwhelmed with grief. She saw that Gulzar sahab and the lead actress of the film Suchitra Sen were very friendly on the sets of the film Andhi. Many things were brewing due to the closeness between the two. Rakhee expressed her displeasure on this issue and returned home. When Gulzar sahab returned after finishing the shooting, Rakhee had already made up her mind to leave him. Rakhee left her husband’s house with her daughter Meghna in 1974 and then accepted the offer of the film Kabhie Kabhie. Despite being separated from her husband, Rakhee never divorced him. Yash Chopra wanted to sign Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor along with Rakhee in the film Kabhie Kabhie. Rakhee somehow agreed, but when Amitabh came to know that he has to romance Rakhee on screen, he turned down the film. Actually, Amitabh Bachchan and Rakhee were close friends. Rakhee used to call him Lambu and Amitabh used to call her Didi. In such a situation, how could he romance Rakhee who considered him as Didi. When Rakhee came to know about this, she explained and said- we are artists, our real life is very different from our reel life. Amitabh Bachchan agreed after Rakhee explained. After the film Kabhie Kabhie became a blockbuster, the pair of Rakhee-Amitabh also became a hit. Both of them appeared together in many films like Kasme Vaade, Trishul and Kala Patthar. However, the episode of her film Kasme Vaade is very famous, in which Rakhi accidentally slapped Amitabh on the set. Actually, as per the requirement of the scene, Rakhi had to slap Amitabh in one take, in response to which he threatened her. As soon as the scene started and Amitabh came close to her, Rakhi unhesitantly slapped him for real. The slap was so strong that everyone present on the set was shocked. Amitabh could not say anything at that time as the shot was going on, but when he said the dialogue, everyone understood that he was actually threatening. After the shot was over, Rakhi explained to him that she was just giving the scene. Even on this, Amitabh jokingly threatened her and said that he would definitely take revenge for this. Let us tell you that after contributing to Hindi cinema for 4 decades, now Rakhi Gulzar likes to stay away from the glamour. She is claustrophobic, so she does not like to live in crowd or noise. In such a situation, she is living her life in her farmhouse located in Panvel, a few kilometers away from Mumbai. Rakhi does all her work in her farmhouse herself and does not like to meet people. According to the report of Quint, the name of Rakhi Gulzar’s farmhouse is Roots, where she has kept 9 dogs, 32 cows, many types of birds and snakes. When she was asked if she is not afraid of snakes, the actress replied – You people living in the city are afraid of snakes. If you do not harm it, it will not bite. Rakhi does farming in the farmhouse and takes up all the responsibilities herself, from bathing and washing all her pets to feeding them. Rakhi also does not like to depend on servants for work.
Credit: Dainik Bhaskar