EXCLUSIVE | Reena Roy on why Sonakshi Sinha resembles her so much: 'These are the quirks of destiny'

In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, veteran actor Reena Roy recalls her journey as an actor and how her mother would get fed up and ask her to focus on her studies as she turns 66 today.

Reenaji, you arrived like a thunder, created a havoc at the box-office and then one fine day, you suddenly decided to quit. Why?

Abb kya karen, taqdeer ke aage toh koi kuch nahin kar sakta hai (what to do none can fight destiny). I must have been 13 or 14 when I saw your first film B R Ishaara’ s Zaroorat.

You made an instant impact…

It was actually not my first film. My debut was in Nayi Duniya Naye Log, and that was directed by Ishaara Saab. I don’t think it ever got released. Zaroorat I got because Rehana Sultanji (who was Ishaara’s resident heroine) got very busy after Ishaara Saab’s Chetna. She was doing all the big films. Also…

Yes?

For Zaroorat, they wanted a completely new girl with no acting experience so that she would look like an innocent character. There were bold scenes in Zaroorat and my mother was completely against them. But we somehow managed. It was very good subject, aur itna rona-dhona (so much crying). I knew nothing about how it felt for my husband to lose his legs. The film was hit. I was just a girl from an average Punjabi family and I fitted the bill. They asked for no photograph, no audition nothing. Ishaaraji met me once and said I am on. As simple as that. Me, a girl who attended no acting school…

Arrey, you are a natural-born?

Hah! Ask anyone from Ishaaraji’s team how ‘natural-born’ I was. I would forget my lines repeatedly. Once I started laughing , I wouldn’t stop. If someone was enacting a tragic scene I’d burst into laughter screaming, ‘Yeh aadmi kitni buri acting kar raha hai rone ka’ (this man is doing such a terrible job of playing sad). Looking back, I was obnoxious!

How did you decide to become an actress?

I was very fond of dancing and acting from childhood. I would be acting and dancing in front of the mirror. My mother would get fed up, scolding me to study and focus on my studies.

Thankfully you didn’t listen to her?

(Laughs) Forget about listening to her, I would run away to Gopi Krishanji’s dance classes in our neighbourhood. My mother agreed to let me learn dancing from Gopiji. She felt it’s better to invest my extra energy in a creative skill than to waste my energy running around. After school I would religiously go for my dance practice.

That’s how we got to see you dancing like a dream in songs like Ja re ja oh harjayee and Tere sangg pyar main nahin todna?

Haanji (giggles shyly). It was all God’s grace. Otherwise I just another girl with stars in my eyes.

You did a lot very dramatic roles in the films of J Om Prakash?

Yes, my mother eventually got alarmed. ‘Beta itni sacrifice wali roles mat karo, kahin haqeeqat mein bhi tumhari zindagi aisi na ho jaye (don’t do so many sacrificial roles, lest they reflect in your real life).’ But I would argue back that these are powerful roles which any heroine would give their her arm for. So why should I not do them? My roles in J Om Prakashji’s Asha, Arpan, Apnapan were very important to my career.

How did J Om Prakashji zero in on you for his strong heroine-centric films?

It happened because I was doing a film with his son-in-law Rakesh Roshan (Madhosh). Rakesh’s wife Pinky used to be on the sets. She recommended me to her father. He signed me for Apnapan in 1977 and when that worked I ended up doing a series of films with him, all very powerful roles.

For Apnapan you rightly refused Filmfare’s best supporting actress award?

That is true. There were two leading ladies, and just because the other one (Sulakshana Pandit) walked away with the hero at the end it didn’t mean her role was more important. But for me awards were not important. My hard work and the appreciation I got from my fans were my incentive to work even harder. In Apnapan, I played a woman who sacrifices marriage and motherhood for her career. To even think of such an idea way back in 1977 was unbelievable.

Your first big commercial hit Jaise Ko Taisa happened within a year of Zaroorat?

I remember there was a film with me and Subhash Ghai in the lead which never got released. There was a trial (preview) of that film and that’s where Jeetuji (Jeetendra) spotted me and recommended me for Jaise Ko Taisa. That was a hit and we did many films together thereafter. We are family friends. You wouldn’t believe this. But Jeetuji’s mother, my mother and I look very similar. When Jeetuji looked at me he felt very nice.

Why does Sonakshi Sinha look so much like you?

Wahin na, yeh zindagi ke ittefaq hote hain (these are the quirks of destiny). Jeetuji’s mother and my mother look like twins sisters.

Maybe they got separated at a mela a la Manmohan Desai?

(laughs heartily) Lost and found.

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based journalist. He has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.