That Morning When Sharmila Tagore And Tanuja Cried At The Rk Studios

Ali Peter John

In all my years, I may have attended hundreds of events and functions at the now dying out RK Studios. But I can certainly not forget that one morning which was destined to change the lives of so many....

It was the launch of a film called“Bekhudi"which was to mark the debut of two star-kids, Saif Ali Khan, the son of the Nawab of Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore and Kajol, the daughter of Tanuja and producer Somu Mukherjee.

As expected, every corner of RK Studios was packed with celebrities from various fields of life. It was while the crowd was jostling around that I saw two similar scene but with two different personalities. Sharmila was standing in one corner and letting her tears of happiness flow and Tanuja was standing in another corner and the woman who was known as the fiery and tough woman couldn't control her tears. The two women who were still stars in their own right could not keep away the crowd from seeing them“perform"an emotional scene in public. After all, it was the greatest day in their lives. The scene reminded me of how Sunil Dutt and Nargis cried till the last guest left when Sanjay Dutt was launched with the blessings of Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and the entire industry.....

Rahul Rawail who had directed other star-kids was the director of“Bekhudi''. Kajol was not keen on taking up acting as a career, but she was inspired by the well-known glamour photographer Gautam Rajdhyaksha who had photographed almost every big star. He was so confident about Kajol making it as a star that he even wrote the script of“Bekhudi". The film which had music by the duo of Nadeem-Shravan, who had made a sensation after“Aashiqui"went on the floor with immediate effect as there were no date hassles for newcomers.

Most of the initial shooting was done on location and within no time Rahul had completed six reels of the film, but all was not well between him and the Chote Nawab and matters reached such a point that Rahul did not hesitate to drop the Chote Nawab even at this stage and he convinced his producers about why he was taking such a drastic step. The producers did not ask any questions and the Chote Nawab was replaced by Kamal Sadanah who was the son of a renowned filmmaker called Brij, who had made great entertaining films like“Victoria 203",“Yakeen",“Bombay 405 Miles"and other films and had finally killed his entire family and himself in an alcoholic frenzy. Kamal was the only one who managed to escape.

“Bekhudi"was a flop, but it made a very big difference to Kajol who was flooded with offers from some of the biggest filmmakers and became a superstar who later married her co-star of many films, Ajay Devgn and has two children Nysa and Yug, but is still interested in playing roles that suit her age and experience.

Saif Ali Khan however didn't have to run away as there were B-grade and C-grade filmmakers who were willing to sign him, but he still didn't show any signs of improvement. Providence however played one of its games and brought Saif Ali Khan and Kajol together again in G.P Sippy's“Hamesha"which was directed by Sanjay Gupta. The two actors were very professional and did not show any bitterness or regret about what had happened, but they have never worked together again after“Hamesha".

Today, Saif Ali Khan is not only one of the recognised actor, but is also the head of a leading production house and Kajol is still playing major roles and is a very active partner of her husband, Ajay Devgn, who is one of the leading actor and producer of the industry.

How life plays tricks and games with us ordinary human beings who sometimes are tempted to think the world about themselves!

And today after almost twenty-five years Sharmila Tagore and Tanuja who jab both lost their famous husbands, have all the reasons to smile and be very happy about what their kids who now have kids of their own are doing, and doing so well.

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Tanuja Mukherjee, Sharmila Tagore, Sharmila Tagore Biography, Tanuja Mukherjee Biography