WHY ISN'T RAAKHEE GULZAR BEING GIVEN THE RIGHTFUL RESPECT SHE DESERVES ?

Ali Peter John

God (for those who believe ,and there are millions in India who believe in God )created her as a beautiful woman. Time gave her all the opportunities to make the best use of her beauty and her talent. She was blessed with the ability to be at the right places at the right time. She met all the best people who knew what a combination of beauty and talent in a woman could do and with her own will to win, she grew into one of the most recognized and successful actresses of Indian cinema.

She should have been an actress whose name should have been taken in the same breath as other great actresses like Meena Kumari, Nutan, Waheeda Rehman, Mala Sinha, Nanda and even Mumtaz, Hema Malini ,Jaya Bhaduri and Rekha, then what was that something that kept her away from getting the kind of recognition she deserved ? Wasn't she an actress who had played a wide variety of roles in her thirty-year long career ? Wasn't she an actress who the best of directors wanted to work with because of her ability to bring characters alive on screen ? Wasn't she an actress every big actor wanted to work with ?

Wasn't she an actress for whom roles were especially written ?Didn't she live upto the great expectations every section of the audience had of her ? Didn't she reach the highest pinnacle of success which she had on her own terms ? Didn't she succeed in the face of the tough competition from other actresses of an earlier generation and her own generation ? Didn't she win some of the most prestigious awards for her performances ? The questions about Raakhee Gulzar can go on and on ,but the bitter fact is that she has not been placed on the pedestal which some other actresses who have been far less talented than her have....

Raakhee was a name to reckon with even when she was an actress in Bengali films with which she began her career. But like I said,time had other plans for her and brought her to Bombay and to Hindi films and what started as a chance break in Rajshri's "Jeevan Mrityu "went on to be a successful stint for a new actress who signed other good films like "Sharmilee "in which she played her first and only double role,with Shashi Kapoor as her hero for the first time and with whom she was destined to play the leading lady in seven films till she played her last role as a leading ladt in a film called "Pighaltaa Aasmaan ".

She could have continued playing the roles of a leading lady ,but she fell in love with the well known poet, lyricist and director Gulzar (she was earlier married to a director called Ajoy Biswas in Calcutta, a marriage which ended in a divorce)and got married to Gulzar in what was considered to be and is still remembered as one of the most grand wedding ceremonies and a reception that was attended by the who's who of the industry. Gulzar had asked her to give up her flourishing career for marriage and she did because she wanted to settle down as Mrs.Raakhee Gulzar.
Gulzar kept going from success to more success as a writer, lyricist and a director and Raakhee had to spend time at home and had given birth to a daughter who the parents decided to call Meghna (Gulzar had given the baby girl the name Bosky after whom he later named his own bungalow on Pali Hill, "Boskyaana ").

There is a belief and a saying in the film industry which says, once an actress, always an actress and it seemed like Raakhee was out to prove this belief and saying right when she, without letting Gulzar know, signed her first film after being Mrs.Raakhee Gulzar. She was the romantic lead opposite Amitabh Bachchan in Yash Chopra's "Kabhi Kabhie "and the success of the film and her performance in the film led to the beginning of a new chapter in her career. But, on the other hand, another chapter in her life came to an end. Gulzar felt betrayed when she started working in films again and their differences ended in a separation. Raakhee continued with the name Raakhee Gulzar and even insisted that her name in the credits went as Raakhee Gulzar.

Raakhee started living in her own bungalow called, "Muktaangan"where she lived with her mother and brother and continued with her career. Meghna (Bosky)was sent to the J.B.Petit School for girls and later went to St.Xaviers College where she studied English Literature and was recognised as a talented young poetess and a writer. She spent the afternoons after college with Gulzar and the evenings and nights with Raakhee. It was an unusual arrangement, but it did not affect Meghna as she kept getting the love and care of both a father and a mother.

It was all very well for Raakhee till she was offered leading roles which she played with the excellence and finesse which came to her naturally. She was soon working with all the major heroes of the time and was at her best when she worked with Amitabh Bachchan as her leading man in films like "Muqaddar Ka Sikandar","Laawaris " and "Barsaat Ki Ek Raat ". A time came when she was working with Dev Anand, Rajendra Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Raakesh Roshan,Rishi Kapoor and Mithun Chakraborty and of course Shashi Kapoor.

There is an unwritten rule in the industry which says that an actress who plays leading roles can do them till she gets married or till she is thirty and then she has to either quit or take to playing the mother and other character roles. This rule has become a little lenient these days but Raakhee Gulzar had no other way but to follow the rule and had to accepted offers to play the mother and she being a consummate and complete actress took on the challenges to play the mother and justified the faith directors had in her and played some of the best, bold and even mild mothers in films like "Ram Lakhan", "Baazigar ", "Karan Arjun ", "Khalnayak ", "Dhuaan","Shakti "and 'Police Force" among others. She played the mother of big heroes like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar and even Amitabh Bachchan who had played the romantic hero with her once.

There was some kind of a "karmic connection" between her and Dilip Kumar. It was the veteran filmmaker B.R.Chopra who first thought of casting Dilip Kumar and Raakhee in Baaghbaan, but even after waiting for twelve years, Chopra couldn't start his film with them and the same Baaghbaan was later made by his son, Ravi Chopra with Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini. Dilip Kumar and Raakhee however came together as husband and wife in Ramesh Sippys "Shakti "in which she was the mother of Amitabh and the grandmother of the young actor Anil Kapoor. The two were also cast by Ramanand Sagar (now best known as the maker of "Ramayan "and "Shree Krishna")in a film called "Sanam"he wanted to make before he thought of television and making "Ramayan". The film however didn't go beyond the launching stage.There were other attempts made by filmmakers from the south to cast the thespian and Raakhee, but all the plans fell through.

There were many prestigious films planned with Raakhee in key roles, but the most ambitious and prestigious film was "Majnoon"which was to be produced by Rajesh Khanna, who was also the hero and the film was to be directed by Kamal Amrohi, the maker best known for "Pakeezah".It was one of the most talked about muhurats of a film held at the Mehboob Studios .The first shot had a beautiful Raakhee walking out of a mammoth set of a candle with a flame. The kind of gathering at the muhurat ceremony was the kind not seen before and not seen after. However, the film could not be made because of the differences between Kamal Amrohi and Rajesh Khanna. And if there was one person who lost a great opportunity because of the film being shelved, it was Raakhee Gulzar.

Did Raakhee's personal life affect her career which could have been a landmark career ?There are different views on this issue. The one thing however with most are unanimous about is her temperament. She could be at her best at one time and her mood could swing within no time. There are some who believe that it was her separation from Gulzar that affected the actress in her. But, I have been witness to scenes between the separated couple which are difficult to believe easily. They had regular meetings over dinner. Gulzar went to see her off at the airport and even received her. They sometimes shared the same driver, Sunder.

I had seen Raakhee visiting "Boskyaana" and on one occasion I saw her asking Gulzar, "aap kya kaam karte hai ? Jab bhi dekho chhat ko dekte rehte ho, nahi toh apni badi rumaal se naak pochte rehte ho ". There are friends who say that it is her taking Gulzar's work lightly that was one of the reasons for the thaw in their relationship. There is another view that Raakhee felt cheated that Gulzar could work with every big and small actress, but had never thought about casting her.There are other stories about her domestic and personal front which are not very flattering, like the stories about her being addicted for quite some time, but like they say a story is a story till it is not verified by the truth.

There are other stories about her growing into a recluse and spending most of her time on her farm house in Panvel. But, there are other stories about her living a very peaceful life watching the success of Meghna and the growing up of her grand son Samay.

Raakhee Gulzar, the actress has not been active for the last seventeen years and the industry is known for saluting only those who are seen, are active and of some worth and value. Does it mean that a fine and formidable actress can be neglected for some flimsy reasons ? Does it mean that all her contribution to Hindi cinema is worth nothing ? Does it mean that it is only if you are in the limelight that you matter ? Will history take into account the work an actress like Raakhee Gulzar has done in three decades ? Or will history be cruel to her by remembering her only as an also ran and whose struggle to reach the place she had doesn't matter to the present or the future?

History and time will have to find answers to these questions before passing their final judgment on an amazing but sometimes controversial actress , Raakhee Gulzar ?