Mumbai: Evergreen star Rekha has starred in multiple films without giving any audition or screen test.
On Monday, during a special screening to celebrate 20 years of Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘Parineeta’ in Mumbai, Rekha revealed that it was the first film for which she had to give an audition.
While speaking about her audition for the song ‘Kaisi Paheli Zindagaani’ in ‘Parineeta’, Rekha said, “This was the first film in my life I ever auditioned for. I didn’t even know what it meant back then. Vidhu Vinod Chopra told me that if I didn’t audition, I was out. Honestly, I am here because of Vidya. When I asked Vidhu who was in the film, he told me Saif, Sanjay, and Vidya, and I asked, ‘Who is this Vidya?’ Then he said he would send me some footage and told me to watch it, and only if I felt like doing the film should I agree. He sent me the song, I saw it, and I called up Farazanaji and told her we were doing this film.”
Rekha praised Vidya’s unconventional beauty and talent.
“She was there already before she was born; she was Parineeta. I didn’t know the film had been made earlier too, but for me Parineeta is Vidya Balan. I gained a daughter in Vidya. Throughout the making of Kaisi Paheli, she sat there without even blinking. After the whole song was done, she came to my vanity van, held my hand and kissed it, saying she had learnt so much. But watching this film today, I want to say, I don’t think I have learnt as much as I have learnt watching her,” she said.
Directed by Pradeep Sarkar, ‘Parineeta’ is an adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s 1914 Bengali novella of the same name.
The film starred Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan and Vidya in lead roles, along with Raima Sen, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty and Dia Mirza in supporting roles.
The film received positive reviews and minted ₹30.29 crore worldwide.
‘Parineeta’ is set to re-release on August 29 across select theatres in India for a week.
