Mayapuri Issue 51, 1975 Life is a popular English magazine. This magazine was famous in the world. Many years ago a kissing picture of Vishwajeet and Rekha was published in it. In the history of Life magazine, no picture of any Indian actress was published before this. A new actress like Rekha (at that time) not only gave her statements in favor of kissing but also surprised everyone by starting kissing herself (in her very first film 'Anjana Safar'). Very few people know that Vishwajit discovered Rekha. Or rather it can be said that Vishwajit brought Rekha to Hindi films. During the shooting of 'Paisa Ya Pyar', he was surprised to see a slim but attractive girl named Rekha. That girl was shooting for the Telugu film 'Amma Ki Kasam'. Vishwajit liked Rekha very much. After returning to Mumbai, Vishwajit told producers Kuljit Pal and Shatrujit Pal about Rekha. They immediately signed her for their film 'Anjana Safar'. And the publicity that the 'kissing scenes' of this film gave to Rekha has remained the same even today. After this film, Rekha started getting films one after the other. On the other hand, Vishwajeet slowly started getting away from films. People started forgetting him and one day Vishwajeet did not have a single film. One day I came to know that Vishwajeet was making a film as producer and director, 'Kahte Hain Mujhko Raja'. I met him at the muhurat and then kept meeting him during the shooting. One day I suddenly met R.R. Pathak and he said, let's go to Vishwajit's house, you can interview him. So we got together. After about an hour, Pathak's car reached Vishwajit's bungalow. First, Pathak talked to him about his work. Then he asked me to take the interview. I told him, My first question during the interview today is what is the progress of "Kahte Hain Mujhko Raja"? Vishwajeet has his own special style of speaking. He has a charming style, the same style because of which he was a popular actor of his time. His films have been hits. Answering my question, he said, the film is complete. And I am releasing it very soon. Maybe by next month? Do you believe that "Kahte Hain Mujhko Raja" will achieve the success you desire? I mean will this movie be a hit at the box office? I didn't realize that my question would make him smile. I think that the film will be a hit. I have worked very hard on this film. I have made it with great honesty. I have kept the audience's interest in mind. And I have completed the film by keeping the audience's liking in mind. As far as I believe, the audience will appreciate my hard work with great love and will watch my film again and again. There is a different class of people who like me. I still get as much fan mail as I used to get earlier. This is the love of the audience. That is why I can say that I will be successful. As soon as Vishwajit became silent I asked, At this time almost all the actors of the old generation have entered the field of acting, for example, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, etc. These people have also got success, do you believe that you too will be successful in re-establishing your old credibility in the same way? Vishwajeet became a little serious after hearing the question. He paused for a moment and said, There is no doubt that the era of the old generation of actors has come. The audience also likes them. I am sure that after the film 'Kahte Hain Mujhko Raja', the audience will like me as much as they like these people. And then it is natural that I will also get films but now I have started taking more interest in direction. Would you like to tell me whether you enjoy acting more or directing? Your question is quite profound. If we talk about this topic, all the pages of your magazine will be filled... I immediately interrupted Vishwajeet and said, but I just wanted to know your heart's choice. What do you enjoy, acting or directing? Smiling, Vishwajeet said, Under direction. I asked in surprise, In direction? Why? Right now you have directed only one film, while you have acted in many films, why this difference? I have already said that this topic is very long. Well, I will tell you in brief that acting is such a thing with which a person is never satisfied, whereas in 'direction' all the responsibility falls on the director. He has to think a lot. There is a burden at every step. He has to get the desired work from all the actors. Along with this, their respect and 'mood' also have to be taken care of. Vishwajit probably wanted to say something more, but I thought it best to end this topic which was getting too long, because I still wanted to know some personal things from him. So I immediately asked, Vishwajeet ji, now I would like to know how you came into films. Where were you born? I want to know about you in detail? Vishwajeet said, The answer to this question will also be very long. I will have to tell the whole story. And... I interrupted him and said, No problem, this is what our readers want to know. Smiling, Vishwajeet began to say, Well, I will tell you the whole story from birth to youth. Listen, I was very young then. My father was a military doctor. It was his habit to roam from village to village, to serve the people. From childhood, I used to be made to perform 'Natak'. And films were also shown to me. I was crazy about films and my family was staunchly against films, but I would definitely watch 'Natak' and especially films on some pretext or the other. My father hated this hobby of mine. He wanted me to become a doctor like him when I grew up and serve the countrymen, but I wanted to become something else. In those days, I was crazy about Ashok Kumar, Sehgal, and Pankaj Malik. Not only me, everyone liked them. And this liking was not limited to just madness, but people even worshipped them. And I also decided in my mind that I will also become an artist. And my late mother and maternal uncle helped me a lot in making this decision of mine successful because both of them were supporters of art. Days kept passing... many years went by. We came to Calcutta from Cooch Behar. My maternal uncle was a popular artist in the world of drama, so he often kept me with him. Then gradually he started getting me small roles in plays and I established my place on the stage. Along with this, I also started singing songs. People started liking me, so the drama people of Ballygunge (where we lived) area started inviting me to their plays. My roles kept increasing. And a time came when I started playing the role of hero in plays. Usually everyone would give me romantic roles. And the same was the case with films. After doing small roles in the beginning, I became a hero of Bengali films, luck also supported me. Luck was with me. One day Hemant Kumar ji chose me for his Hindi film 'Bees Saal Baad'. The film was made and it was a big hit. With this I also got popular. And I acted in many Hindi and Bengali films. In Bengali, you also sang film and non-film songs. Did you not sing songs in any Hindi film? I have sung but it did not become as popular as my songs are in Bengali films? After saying this Vishwajit remained silent for a few moments, then he himself said, Yes, I forgot to tell you one thing my father wanted me to become a doctor and serve my countrymen to the best of my abilities. So after becoming successful, I spent a large part of my earnings in serving the poor. I am not arrogant about this, I am proud. I built a hospital in Calcutta in memory of my beloved mother, which is still running. Apart from this, I have also built some sheds at the bus stand in Calcutta, not because I am doing any favor, but because during the days of struggle, I waited for hours in the scorching sun at these bus stands for the bus. And now when the passengers get relief, I get inner happiness. And I am still trying to bring happiness to everyone follow my father's orders and fulfill his dream. Wow... it suddenly came out of my mouth. Vishwajeet asked, Anything else? I said, Just one more question, which do you consider to be the best film of your film career? Vishwajeet said without hesitation, 'Raahgir' was a very clean film. I have always played glamorous romantic roles, but for the first time when I played an out-of-the-box role in Vishwajeet and Rekha's film 'Kahte Hain Mujhko Raja' in 'Raahgir', I was praised everywhere. Gulzar had written the dialogues and songs of this film. The director was Tarun Majumdar. My own son Prasenjit also played a role in this film. That is, he played my childhood role in the film. At this time Vishwajeet has completed 'Kahte Hain Mujhko Raja' and is busy with the production of his new film 'Rocky'. Amitabh Bachchan is playing the lead role in this film. Biswajit Chatterjee Movies Read also: Why did Kareena want to leave Aamir Khan's Lal Singh Chaddha midway? Florian Hurel decks up Shraddha Kapoor for Red Sea Film Festival Diljit Dosanjh visited Baba Mahakal in Ujjain Bobby Deol shared the story of Animal's Jamal Kudu dance