Q: So, you turned a year older recently and you had a very full life. A more than mythical mother. Two lovely daughters. A husband who was absolutely devoted to you. How do you look back at that part of your journey as a woman?
A: I think it all happened very accidentally. I never wanted to join the films. So, I studied. I did my MA. I was going into my PhD and I got married and had two children. So, no art college, no PhD. And the offers kept coming for me to work in films.
Q: But since your hands were full with two daughters, you obviously couldn’t leave them behind and go …
A: I didn’t! I didn’t leave them behind. I took them everywhere I went and I had a nanny with me. And when I came to Kolkata from an outdoor shoot, they were sent by my husband in the studios to have lunch with me and then I’d come home in the evening.
Q: Bharat was a very hands-on father, wasn’t he?
A: He was. I couldn’t have done it without him. No woman can do it without a partner. Today you have young boys who say, we don’t want to get married. And the girls are also working, so they don’t want to spend their life with one man. The concept of marriage seems to have disappeared. It’s really companionship and both of you tipping in to make it work. Parenting is very expensive. I don’t know about before, but in today’s world, everything is very expensive. There’s schooling, there’s tuition, everything. Not everyone can afford nannies. My husband went to work and from there he’d connect with the house and the children and the maids and everything.
Q: Your husband was a model spouse?
A: He really was. He really was. And you know, Subhash, he was 83 when he went last year. And I try to console myself with the thought that he’s led a very good, glamorous, exciting life. He wanted a family, he got two girls, we travelled. And he once told me, when I’d come back from a shoot, he said, you know, we live vicariously through you.
Q: How?
A: Yes, the films brought a lot of excitement. People from Bombay would come as from South India. They were always welcome. It was always open house.
Q: So coming to that now, how do you look back on that stint that you had in Bollywood?
A: It was very brief. It was brief because I worked in Kolkata. I thought of myself as a Bengali actress. I only realised later on that films are Indian. And I worked in Chennai also. In South India, where I got my Nandi fashion ever. Right. Yeah. And Mumbai, you know, I didn’t want to carry on towards the end. I wasn’t very truthfully getting nice offers.
Q: You worked with Basu Chatterjee?
A: Yes, I worked with him. Worked with Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Worked with so many, and so many big ones that I didn’t work with.
Q: And you don’t want to know why?
A: I think I know why. You know it already. Really big ones, yeah.
Q: You had this, if I may use the term, bombshell image?
A: Yes. And that helped me get out of being my mother’s daughter. It was Basuda who brought me to Bombay.
I was already working in Kolkata. So it was nothing new to me. My first film was a hit. And I was getting offers and doing quite well, you know. Going up the ladder. Basuda came over and he said, I’m going to stay here in Calcutta until you agree to come and do Sheesha. So then I rang up my husband in the office and he said, okay. And I didn’t want to go to Mumbai, funnily enough. I said, no, I want to stay home, work in Kolkata. My husband said, go and see what it’s like. And then I rang him up, when I’d had a bad experience. He said, just come back, you have a home. You don’t have to struggle and put up with all this s#%t. So that was one of the reasons I came back.
Q: You know, Moon Moon, it’s very frightening that the industry has not changed at all. Even today, the girls aren’t safe?
A: It’s not just the entertainment industry of ours. It’s every industry. I remember once talking about it and my husband said, ‘Well, it happens in our offices with the secretaries. We have beautiful Anglo-Indian girls and beautiful Bengali girls working as typists and things. It’s everywhere. I wouldn’t call it natural, but we have all kind of accepted it, which is really frightening. I mean, look at Tarun Tejpal. Where is he today? He was a very intelligent journalist. You don’t know whether it’s real or false or just an annoyed female. During my time there was no accountability. And a lot of judging.
Q: You mean, if you dress a certain way, if you behave a certain way, you’re supposed to be available or whatever?
A: Yes. And the swimsuit. If you remember, Sharmila had worn one. And she had sent word to me to be careful because this will become my image. And yes, she did send word. And because my hairdresser was her hairdresser’s younger sister.
Q: Sharmila was always looked on with respect. You were also the great Suchitra Sen’s daughter?
A: Yes. And no one has said anything to my face. There was a lot of yellow journalism as you know. Which one just had to ignore. And today it’s almost as if they’ve turned into a political party. All the channels, all the newspapers. You know, they’re passing judgment all the time. They’re twisting facts. So, it’s still there. It’s very much there. It’s worse.
Q: You had a very different image from your mother. Did you work on it? Or was it a natural?
A: No, no. I just lived a very wonderful life. Met wonderful people. Travelled to lovely places.
Q: So, how did you manage to be so different from your mother who was an absolute introvert?
A: She wasn’t an introvert. She was very fussy and choosy about what films she would make and who she would be with. She had her relatives. She had her friends. And she lived a very simple life. So, she was very comfortable and gregarious with her friends. I remember parties at home when she was always dressed up. Again, when she was alone, she was very simple. There are still people who knew her very well. And they’re still around. I was also, people don’t understand, I was quite young when she was working. So, I don’t have any great memories.
Q: Your daughters Raima and Riya are beautiful girls?
A: You know them. Very mischievous. But it was something which we were able to control. Right. I can’t explain it. But they’re okay. They’re normal children when I see them. I tried to discipline them. My husband would start crying. He’d say, you’re so mean to my girls. They’re so young. But it’s not that. You do have to, you know, tell them what to do and tell them off. I wasn’t around so much. I was always away in South Indian films or Bombay or something like that. But they’re lovely. They’re lovely. They’ve grown up very well. And lots of people have told me they’re very well brought up,
Q: Do you wish to see them married? Or are you happy the way they are?
A: Well, the little one(Riya) is married, surprisingly. Yes, and she’s a bit of a hippie. And she’s married someone else who’s a bit of a hippie. And they travel the world. So they’re very happy. Now, my Raima doesn’t like to travel so much. And she’s becoming, you know, she’s a little bored of the whole entire setup in Kolkata. Would like to work more in films in other languages.
Q: Okay, you led your life your way. You never let anything stop you?
A: Well, look at the industry. Can have it any other way? You’re going for outdoor shoots. You’re going to different places, different states. So you’re dressing the way you want because your mother, your strict mother is not around anymore and your husband doesn’t mind how you dress. Plus, he came from a very westernized background which helped. His aunts, his sister, they were always interested in what I was doing and not at all judgmental because they’re all women who’ve done social work or, you know, been out in society.
Q: The more I feel you have been very fortunate with your marriage?
A: I have. I have. He’s been a companion and he’s always guided me right. And I never had to do anything. He wrote before he died. He wrote down, it’s incredible, he wrote down everything that had to be done knowing that I would have no clue. And then a friend stepped in and helped out and got us a secretary. The children and I miss my husband because we’re in the same house. Everything’s the same.
Q: One last question. You had a stint in politics. How do you look back on that?
A: I don’t know what politics is all about. I don’t know the meaning of the word. In Parliament for four, five years, I only heard one good speech. And that was from Madhavrao Scindia’s son. Otherwise, everyone was shouting and screaming.
Q: But did you enjoy that stint? Do you look back on it?
A: I enjoyed being on time, going into Parliament. Talking to friends from different parties. Because as my husband’s wife, I was, you know, very popular with everyone around. He’d always say, don’t worry about me. You still are very popular. But now it’s Raima’s turn. And she’s becoming very popular. She always was. But right now, my little one (Riya) she’s into too many things. She cooks, she sings, she paints. She now wants to be a DJ. She’s more Gen X than most. Life is exciting. My son-in-law is also nice. You’ll like him.
(The interviewer is a veteran journalist and film critic)