'Manoj Kumar Was Upset With Me'

'It is true Manoj Kumar was an excellent director with an unbeatable music sense.'
'But I had a bad experience regarding the song Hai Hai Yeh Majboori.'

While the world mourns Manoj Kumar, who passed away on April 4, his former colleague Moushumi Chatterjee relives an old wound.

The duo worked together in 1974's Roti Kapada Aur Makaan, where Manoj Kumar was the actor as well as director.

"Manoj Kumar was an excellent director, very skilled... He was a perfectionist," Moushumi tells Subhash K Jha.

How would you like to recall your co-star and director of Roti Kapada Aur Makaan?

It is true that Manoj Kumar was an excellent director with an unbeatable music sense. But I had a bad experience regarding the song Hai Hai Yeh Majboori.

You mean the Lata Mangeshkar hit song that was filmed on Zeenat Aman? Was that meant to be filmed on you?

Yes. See, you have to use your common sense. The language (of this song) could not go with Zeenat's character.

She was an urban, sophisticated, character.

The language in the song Teri Do Takiya Di Naukri... it suited my character Tulsi, who was rustic and Punjabi.

If you see my other song in the film Mehngai Mar Gayi with Premnathji, that wouldn't be suited to Zeenat, no?

So was Hai Hai Yeh Majboori taken away from you?

Yes. During that time, I was pregnant with my first daughter.

It was not planned but I didn't want to abort the baby.

Chandra Barotji (assistant to Manoj Kumar) thought I was not interested in the film since I was married to Hemant Kumar's son.

I was not ambitious, I was disinterested. So he was a little bit upset with...

Manoj Kumarji?

Yes.

Shashi Kapoor, who is also no more, told me at the jubilee function of Roti Kapada Aur Makaan that everyone was getting a trophy except me.

I was very innocent. Shashi said everybody thought you are not interested in your acting career.

Was that true?

I was never very ambitious but I worked hard, balancing my responsibilities as a daughter-in-law, wife, mother and actress.

Family comes first, as it should.

But I worked hard and by God's grace, in spite of the rumours spread to sabotage my career, I gave hits all through my career.

I was told you didn't do Hai Hai Yeh Majboori because you didn't want to shoot in the rain in your pregnant state?

No, they said this to cover up the truth.

I never allowed my films to suffer because of my pregnancy.

During Mehngayi Mar Gayi, I was five months pregnant.

I did not compromise while I was working.

When producers had to compromise or adjust a bit, and if that affected the films during my pregnancy, I would return the signing amount.

How was Manoj Kumar as a director?

Manoj Kumar was an excellent director, very skilled. He did his homework very nicely.

He had a very good assistant (Chandra Barot).

His camera sense was excellent.

I remember he shot one full scene in one take.

There was one word in a scene that had a heavy Bengali accent. Chandraji said we will fix it in the dubbing but Manojji was adamant that I get it right during the shooting, no matter how much time it took.

That was the kind of director he was, a perfectionist.