New Delhi: ‘Baghban’, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini, is a fan favourite for obvious reasons. The movie was a huge financial success in 2003. But legendary actress Hema Malini has revealed some fascinating stories about her experiences with the movie. In a recent interview, Hema spoke openly about her reluctance to play a mother of four in Ravi Chopra’s 2003 family drama ‘Baghban’. Hema’s mother told her that she should take the chance because she knew how good the story was.
In a recent interview with Lehren, Hema Malini said that the offer for ‘Baghban’ came to her while she was in her early 50s. Her film ‘Baghban’ was followed by another film starring her and Big B, 2004’s ‘Veer-Zaara’.
Hema recalled about how she was hesitant at first to play a mother of four in Ravi Chopra’s movie ‘Baghban’. She said, “I remember when I was hearing the story from Ravi Chopra, my mother was sitting. After he left, I said, ‘Chaar itne bade bade ladka ka role karne ko bol raha hai (He’s asking me to play the mother of four grown-ups). How can I do this.’ But my mother said, ‘No no no, you must do it!’ I said, ‘Why?’ ‘No, the story is very good. You must do it.’ How she was after me. I said, ‘Okay, I’ll do it.’ But before that I felt… See, before that, I wasn’t doing films. After a long gap, I was working. So I thought, ‘Why should I do this?’ But she said, ‘No, you must do this. The role is very nice.’”
Hema also said that Raj Kapoor had previously contacted her about appearing in the film ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’. Raj Kapoor, however, had his doubts regarding whether or not she would really take the role. Zeenat Aman was eventually picked to star alongside Shashi Kapoor in the film.
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