We have seen her in Guide, Saheb Biwi Aur Ghulam, Kaagaz Ke Phool and many more glorious movies like that. We all loved her. Her charm is still the same if you see her in Delhi 6.
But did you know that Amitabh Bachhan is a HUGE fan of Waheeda ji? Today he has updated his blog with an endless praise about Waheeda Rahman, whom he met in New Delhi a day before on a casual dinner with family and close friends.
He speaks about Waheeda Rahman:
“Dinner followed thereafter among a small group of common friends, a surprise being the presence of my favorite Waheeda Rehman. Now aged and well within her years, she to me described what the conventional Indian woman ought to be in look and behaviour. Those early films ‘Pyassa’ and ‘Kaagaz ke Phool’ and ‘Chaudhavi ka Chand’ and ‘Sahib biwi aur Ghulam’ are unforgettable for the charm and grace and childlike softness of an ethereal looking Waheeda ji, alluring and dynamic by the intensity of her simple and endearing looks and performance.
I was and still am her great admirer and fan. She signified to me the epitome of Indian grace and culture. She possessed in her the mischievous streak of that precocious village belle and the spirited movement of a Shiv Tandav. She looked vulnerable and lost, searching for protection in one moment, yet knowledged and mature in another. You felt like protecting and guarding her from all the evil of the world and to gently wipe away any frayed eyebrows that may have accumulated on her face. Her performances were pure and clean, without effort and deliberate design. They were just a part of her - simple and soft.
And you cannot imagine the excitement when I came to be cast with her in Sunil Dutt’s ‘Reshma aur Shera’. It was like an unbelievable dream. The Rajasthan location of Jaisalmer and the hot deserts beyond that in the village of Pochina merely a few meters away from the Pakistan border. The arduous drive for hours into the interiors without any navigation and roads. Miles and miles of barren dessert and dunes with a scarcity of every possible material good, required for survival.”
In Reshma and Shera he was thrilled when he was told to carry the chappals of Waheeda Rahman:
“My moment of glory being the day when I was asked to carry her ‘chappals’ to her in the hot sands that were scorching her bare feet. I could have kept doing that for the rest of my life. Such was the passion of my devotion. Schedule after schedule in Pochina followed. Every festival was celebrated there, until finally the film was ready for release and the premiere marked by the presence of the great Meena Kumari, who after my somewhat insignificant performance in the film ended, came up and complimented me. I think I hit the ceiling !!”
He continues..
“Then one day Waheeda ji was with me as my leading lady in ‘Adaalat’ and more as my wife in ‘Kabhi Kabhi’ and my Mother in ‘Namakhalal’. But no matter in what form she came along with me she always remained that gentle and soft spoken warm and endearing person. She has been with Abhishek in two films and I was happy to see that he too shared similar feelings towards her.
‘Reshma aur Shera’ had many interesting episodes during its making and some day, if urged, shall be written about, but for the moment it shall be just this and no more.”
More can be read here: http://bigb.bigadda.com/?p=3870
