Life and times of yesteryear's golden girl Waheeda Rehman

We take a look through the lens

Very few know that Waheeda Rehman, who's supremely elegant at the age of 79, retains her passion for wildlife photography. This month, she's scheduled to travel with a group of avid clicksters to Namibia to pursue her hobby. The stalwart actress has never gone public with her still photographs, releasing only three or four nature studies photos to illustrate one of her interviews in a magazine, over two decades ago.
Among her peers, Waheeda Rehman is still enthusiastic about facing the camera, often berating her best friends Helen and Asha Parekh for taking it easy at home.
"You must do something to keep yourself occupied," she has told them time and again. Jestfully, she has suggested, "Maybe the three of us can act in a play some day, a play about ourselves, in which we just talk and banter."
Excellent idea. After all, the trio is now canonised as living legends and ooze nostalgia whenever they go out for the movies, or lunch at their favourite restaurants. Even if yesteryear's Golden Girls were to participate in a television chat show, I suspect, high TRPs would be guaranteed. If they haven't ventured to do a joint project, it's because they're not sure whether they would remember their lines of dialogue on stage and are perhaps wary that they would fumble while answering questions on television.
Rehman continues to be fairly active in films. She will be seen next in Vishwaroopam 2, the sequel of Kamal Haasan's spy thriller. According to reports, she portrays a classical dancer who is mother to Kamal Haasan. Thanks to special effects, her face from those halcyon Guide days will be morphed on the body of a Bharatanatyam dancer. Sounds a bit gimmicky, but for sure my curiosity is whetted.
Plus, there's an international film titled The Song of Scorpions, in which the actress plays mother-in-law to a camel trader enacted by Irrfan Khan. Shot extensively in the Rajasthan deserts by gifted Pune Film Institute graduate Anup Singh, the story is imbued with a mystical charm, and is currently in the final stages of post-production.
Doubtlessly, Rehman, who is revered for her collabarations with master actor-director Guru Dutt (especially the black-and white classics Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Chaudhvin Ka Chand and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam), craves to follow her metier. Snag is that roles for senior artistes are either hackneyed or
subsidiary, with them being reduced to clichéd caricatures.
Of the new-age directors, only Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra assigned her significant roles in Rang De Basanti and Delhi 6. Meanwhile, some acting offers have fallen through the cracks simply because she doesn't have an official secretary to deal with filmmakers. A pity.
Not that Waheeda Rehman is inaccessible. Ever since her husband Shashi Rekhi passed away in 2000, she moved from their Bangalore farmhouse back to a sea-facing ground floor of a Bandra bungalow, right opposite the residence of Salim Khan and Salman Khan. Since decades, she's maintained a steadfast bond with the best-known Khans of showtown.
Unbeknownst to many, the actress has become a grandmother for the first time. Last year, in June, her son, Sohail, married Dechhen Pelden in Bhutan, an event which was kept very low-key. Sohail and Dechhen are now parents.
As for Waheeda Rehman's daughter Kashvi, who has inherited her parents' striking looks, she has elected to keep away from the range of the camera. More drawn towards writing, a book by Kashvi is expected to be released shortly.
The Waheeda Rehman I have known through the years is grace personified. When she cut her hair short and refused to colour it, that became a style statement. Her home is aesthetically designed, with a large artwork from Sri Lanka occupying pride of place on the walls.
When it comes to interviews, the legend is stubbornly reticent. For instance, she is hesitant to respond to any questions about Guru Dutt - which is her prerogative. Never the sort to open up about her personal life, she is also guarded about her professional ups and downs. Her mantra is that she, a girl from Andhra Pradesh, lucked out when Guru Dutt saw her at a celebration in Hyderabad for the hit status of the Telugu film Rojulu Marayi (1955), and cast her in his home production CID (1956), directed by Raj Khosla.
According to film lore, Khosla wasn't impressed by his producer's discovery, but wasn't given an option. As it happened, when the noir thriller released, the newcomer to Hindi language cinema - showcased in a vampish role - stole the scenes away from leading lady Shakila.
Ah, but then super success stories are made of such reversal of fortunes, aren't they?
wknd@khaleejtimes.com