Fascinating article about one of my all-time favorite films. And this anecdote about it that I never knew about! Sathyu recalled the interesting anecdote of the casting of Badar Begum in the role of the mother of Balraj Sahani (Salim Mirza in the movie, the hero). Badar Begum ran a brothel in Agra. She had desperately wanted to act in films, and would say that she had left her home to fulfil her acting ambition. Obviously, circumstances those days were not favourable, and she found herself in her business, termed bad work. She told me she ran away from her Peshawar home, now in Pakistan, to Mumbai, where she spent many months with no luck. She finally shifted to Agra, only to become a dancing girl. And she started a brothel. I wanted a middle-aged lady for the role. Begum Akhtar was offered the role, but she refused to come to Agra from Lucknow. Amma fit the role for me, and I knew the moment I met her, Sathyu said, speaking to this reporter on phone from Bangalore. She started crying when I offered her the role, Sathyu recalls. She said she had dreamed of acting, and could not hold back her tears as her dreams came true at the age of around 60, the director said.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 19:19:20 +0000
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