Parveen Babi The Diva Who Was Shorn Off Her Own Identity When Death Snatched Her Away From Us

Jyothi Venkatesh

She would have turned 69 this year, had the cruel hands of death not snatched her away from us mere mortals on 20^th January, 2005. She was the Diva who had enchanted millions of viewers, but had absolutely no one by her side when she truly needed some support and a shoulder to support her. Her actions were labeled as crazy when all she needed was some empathy and help.

To commemorate her 69^th birth anniversary on April 4 this year, belatedly JYOTHI VENKATESH delves into his good old memories and remembers how he met the icon for the first time way back 46 years ago in November, 1973, when she was only 24 years old for an interview for Femina. Her image was diametrically opposite from the typical and traditional sari clad bhartiya-nari who was usually the Hindi film heroine but that was what exactly worked in her favour. Not Zeenat Aman, but Parveen was the first Indian to appear on the cover of TIME magazine and that was a rare feat in those days.

I remember Parveen Babi was a slim, sassy and seductively hot and sultry lass who was gifted with a splendid figure, a sensitive and expressive face and a pair of talking eyes. She was a multi-talented actress. Parveen told me that she ahd to juggle with more than 15 assignments on her hands. When asked whether she was nervous of facing the cameras, with an air of confidence, I remember she had exulted, “I had modeled for almost all the top advertising agencies when I was a college student in Ahmedabad and hence there is no reason for me to be shy at all in front of the camera.”

When I asked her how did she bag the prize assignment in B.R. Ishara’s movie Charitra with India’s ace cricketer Salim Durrani and whether she nurtured since childhood a desire to carve for herself a career in the uncertain world of glamour, she emphatically denied it. “No. I never felt I would become a film star. I was only interested in acting on the stage. I have many stage plays to my credit. My plays at Ahmedabad were very popular. At that time I was doing my M.A in literature when I had a chance encounter with Mr B.R. Ishara who had come to see one of my plays.” That did it. Parveen,who was  quite dazzled at the prospect of a career in films, promptly entered into a brief contract with him.

Parveen was born on April 4, 1949 at Junagadh in Gujarat. That she has persevered steadfastly to reach her goal is amply evident from the fact that she has as her leading men stars like Shatrughan Sinha, Vijay Arora, Sunil Dutt, Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Danny Denzongpa and Sanjay Khan.

I remember Parveen telling me that if she had not joined films, she would have joined the rank of literati or become a top free-lance journalist. “I have a deep interest in literature and had taken a post-graduate course in literature. However when the opportunity struck me in the form of Ishara, I skipped my course after the first year in order to involve myself with films.”

Other than modeling, literature, journalism and the stage, her wide range of interests included Bharat Natyam, Kuchipudi, dress designing and embroidery. I was however dazed to find the sexy siren off the screen sans see through garments, jewellery or gaudy make- up. “I like to be informal and simple at least off the screen. You can’t equate my character in films with my individual personality.”

Parveen was well conversant with Urdu, English, Hindi, Gujarati and a li’l bit of Poona Marathi. She was also fond of singing a few English pop songs and Hindi hit songs in between the takes to keep her busy, but feels she shouldn’t take the risk of singing in her films, “at least not in the initial stages.” Her flair and passion for singing perhaps explains what brought her near to Danny, who was her first boy friend in filmdom before she was enamored by the He Man Kabir Bedi, followed by Mahesh Bhatt.

Parveen Babi was often labeled by the media then as the poor producer’s Zeenat Aman. Did she relish being hailed as a duplicate Zeenat Aman? “I have my own individuality, my own style and above all a particular personality quite different from that of Zeenat Aman. I admire her for her talent but it is not quite complimentary to hear film folks comparing me to her just because I look sexy.”

Though Parveen liked to continue to model and act on the stage notwithstanding the tremendous progress she made in films, she could not because as she herself put it to me, the greatest handicap was time. “Right now I’m more interested in acting in films. It has become my sole career now. But I’d love to stage plays and act in them occasionally because the stage is the mother of the screen. You can gauge the reaction of the audience immediately and manage to rectify the defects you unwittingly make, because you are in direct contact with the audiences unlike in films. But as far as modeling is concerned, I have decided to call it quits.”

I remember Parveen who was always greatly indebted to Mr B.R.Ishara for whatever she achieved in her life, confessing candidly to me. “I consider myself very lucky to have started my career in films as his protégé. What I like most about him is his strict adherence to schedules and perseverance. It was he who heralded the era of new wave films with the advent of Chetna.  He has taught me what acting really is. As a director, he left it to me to improvise and readily agreed to what other people in the unit suggested occasionally to improve the scenes, instead of standing on false prestige. I am what I am today only because of him. It was a great pleasure to work with him. He has taught me what acting really is. Undoubtedly, he’s an example of a genius. However it is absurd to link us together romantically thanks to my wild image because we are good friends.”

It is sad that Parveen Babi, who dealt with various mental health issues, was treated like a disillusioned actress suffering from depression and even failed to recognize me on the rare occasions when I used to bump into her, exactly like Shashi Kapoor who used to ail from a bout of Alzheimer. During her last days of survival, she had accused various Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan of plotting to kill her and that sounded bizarre to many but many failed to recognize the warning signs.

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