Conversations with Waheeda Rehman by Nasreen Munni Kabir, Waheeda Rehman Page B

director would let it pass, but if it had dropped too low into the shot, we were obliged to redo the shot. Sometimes there were problems with unwanted shadows.
    If a performance really did not work because the dialogue delivery was not up to the mark, or the emotions were not coming through, the director would film a close-up and insert it into the scene to enhance the drama. We didn’t necessarily refilm the whole scene because the set might have been destroyed by then. A close-up is easy to insert. This process is what we called ‘patch work’.
    At the start of the multi-starrer era, the 1970s directors, including Yash Chopra, stopped showing us the rushes because many top stars would create a fuss: ‘Oh, my scene was cut? Why is that?’ Or they would say: ‘I think we should retake the shot.’ They thought they could improve on their performance, even if the director did not think it was necessary.
    As far as I was concerned, I told all my directors I wanted to see the final film and did not mind if any of my scenes were edited out.
    NMK: For some decades now, actors and directors have beenable to judge a performance on set thanks to the video assist
[a device which allows a viewing of a video version of the take immediately after it is filmed]. In your time there was no possibility of watching the take until you saw the rushes the next day.
    WR: I never liked the idea of looking at the video monitor. I trusted the director. Even when I thought I had given a good shot, I waited for his reaction.
    I remember Dilip Saab sometimes commenting on my performance when we were doing a scene together. He would say: ‘Waheeda, you speak too fast. Say your lines a little slower, take a pause.’
    NMK: But it sounds like you never feared the camera.
    WR: No, I didn’t really because I had made Telugu and Tamil films before working in Hindi cinema. Don’t forget I was used to dancing on the stage before joining films, so the fear and nervousness had long gone.
    NMK: In the early 1960s, soon after the release of
Kaagaz Ke Phool
, you were offered a part in
Abhijan
, which was released in 1962. The film was based on Tarashankar Bandopadhyay’s popular novel.
    How did Satyajit Ray approach you?
    WR: The editor of
Filmfare
, B.K. Karanjia, sent someone to my house with a letter from Mr Ray that said: ‘My leading man Soumitra Chatterjee and my unit believe that you are most suitable for the role of Gulaabi, the heroine of my next film. If you agree to play the part, we’ll be very pleased.’ I was very happy and could not believe Satyajit Ray had thought of me.
    A few days later I called Mr Ray in Calcutta and the first thing he said was: ‘Waheeda, you earn a lot of money in Hindi films. I make films on small budgets.’
    ‘Saab, why are you embarrassing me? It is an honour for me. You have shown me much respect by asking me to work withyou. There is no problem about the money. I prefer you don’t mention it.’

    (L to R) Sunil Dutt, Satyajit Ray and Nargis at the 1973 Berlin Film Festival where
Reshma Aur Shera
and
Ashani Sanket
were screened. Photograph: Waheeda Rehman.
    I explained to him that I didn’t speak Bengali, and he said the character he wanted me to play, Gulaabi, is from the Bihar–Bengal border and talks in a mix of Bhojpuri and Bengali. Therefore the language should not be a problem for me. He also added: ‘Remember you can’t come to shoot for four days and then go back to Bombay. We have to film in one stretch, from start to finish.’ I agreed and assured him I’d work out my dates with my Bombay producers.
    Soon after our call, I went to Calcutta and met Mr Ray. He gave me an audio tape of my dialogue to make it easier for me to memorize my lines.
    NMK: What was your first impression of him?
    WR: He had such a towering personality. He had a deep voice and a particular style of speaking.
    I was a little nervous at the beginning of the shoot because I was working in an unfamiliar language and, after