Veteran actor Rekha shared recently at an event that she auditioned for the first time in her life for the Vidhu Vinod Chopra-backed period-drama, Parineeta. The film, also starring Vidya Balan, Saif Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt, completed 20 years recently and a special screening was organised in Mumbai by the makers.
Speaking at the event, Rekha thanked the audience for being present for the film’s screening after two decades. “This is something we never imagined, we prayed for it, and deep down I knew it, but I never knew that I’d be alive to see this day,” she said.
Sharing her experience of working in it, she said, “This was the first film in my life, I ever gave an audition for. I didn’t even know what it meant back then. Vidhu Vinod Chopra told me that if you don’t audition, you are out. Honestly, I am here because of Vidya. When I asked Vidhu who was in the film, he told me Saif, Sanjay, and Vidya, and I asked, ‘Who is this Vidya?’ Then he said he will send me some footage and I should see it, and only if I felt like doing the film, I should do it. He sent me the song, I saw it, and called up Farazanaji and told her we are doing this film.”
Rekha also praised Vidya, who was present at the event. “I couldn’t take my eyes of Vidya, I couldn’t believe she has gotten such an unconventional beauty and approach towards her craft. She was there already before she was born, she was Parineeta. I didn’t know the film was made earlier too, for me Parineeta is Vidya Balan. I gained a daughter in Vidya, throughout the making of ‘Kaisi Paheli’ she sat there without flinching her eyes. After the whole song was done, she came to my vanity van, held my hand and kissed it, saying she has learned so much. But seeing this film, I want to say today, I don’t think I have learned as much as I learned watching her.”
Adapted from Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's iconic 1914 Bengali novel, Parineeta is directed by Pradeep Sarkar and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It features music composed by Shantanu Moitra and lyrics by Swanand Kirkire. The film is set to be re-released in theatres on August 29.