Chhaayaageet #103 - "Acting is acting. I am here to do whatever you want me to do"
It has been almost 10 years since he first thought of this film. His wife had read the novel Daddy Long Legs and shared the story with him. He had made up his mind back then.
The story was a bit unorthodox. But there have been films made like that in the past. Unfortunately, nobody wanted to finance an experiment. He kept waiting for a major hit so he could self-finance. It took almost 10 years for that to happen. Now he has the money and an incredible drive to complete this film.
The protagonist of the film is a female that has a double role. She acts as the mother and then the daughter. There is only one person who can play that role. But will she agree?
She was in the filmmaker's last hit. Since then, she has become quite famous and busy. He decides to go and pay her a visit. “How do you like the script?” The filmmaker asks her after walking through the script. “Oh, this is the role of a lifetime. I definitely want this role.” Her excitement is hard to contain. “Ok, that’s good. But I am planning to shoot this in two big schedules. One in Rajasthan and the other near London. Can you spare dates for such big periods?” He knows she will say yes but wants to make sure she understands his expectations. “Yes, no problem. I will move other engagements around to make room for this.”
The entire crew makes its way to Rajasthan to shoot the first half of the film. The next stop is London.
London is where the second half of the movie will take place. Now the actress has to switch to the daughter’s role. She has to be extremely spontaneous, naughty, and full of energy. This is not a problem given her talent. She makes the switch very easily and the crew continues to make good progress on the film. Just a few more scenes left now.
“There is a call for you from India.” One of the filmmaker's assistants comes running toward him. “It sounds urgent.” The filmmaker takes the call. It’s the actress’s mother on the other side. “I have some bad news to share. My husband passed away. My daughter needs to come back for the final rites. But don’t tell her that. Just tell her that he is really ill. I will break the news once she reaches Madras.”
The filmmaker hurries to find the actress. “I just got the news that your father is very ill. You should plan to go back. We will shoot the rest of the film once you are back.” He is thinking that she might take a week to finish the rites and be back. That can definitely be managed. She leaves that very day.
“Sir, there is a call for you. It’s the actress this time on the line.” The filmmaker is dreading hearing what she has to say since he lied to her. “My father is no more. There are several ceremonies to be completed here.” She breaks down several times during the call. “It will take me 16 days to come back.” The filmmaker is taken aback when he hears that. There are still quite a few scenes to be completed including a parody song. If he lets everyone go back to India, how will he coordinate their return? That will push the release date. No, that cannot happen. Nobody can go back. They have to stay here in London until the actress is back.
“I have a request for all of you. Please find a place to stay with a friend or relative in London for the next 16 days. We all have to be here around London until the actress is back. There are still quite a few scenes to be completed.” He pleads with the entire crew. They all respect him and have worked with him through several other films. They agree to hang around in London.
16 days pass by. The crew is now back at the set. The actress has also returned from her trip to India. The filmmaker is all charged up and ready to complete the rest of the film.
“Some of the scenes planned for today involve you in a comedy role. Will that be a problem?” The actress looks at him and says, “Acting is acting. I am here to do whatever you want me to do.”
The remaining scenes along with the parody song are completed like nothing ever happened to the actress.
Sridevi gave a stellar performance in the Freak Out (Parody Song) in the film Lamhe along with Anupam Kher, Waheeda Rehman, and Anil Kapoor. Lamhe was produced/directed by Yash Chopra, the music composition by Shiv-Hari (Shivkumar Sharma & Hariprasad Chaurasia), and the lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi. The playback for the medley song was provided by Yash Chopra’s wife, Pamela Chopra and Sudesh Bhosle.
After the big box office hit of Chandni, Yashji decided to make Lamhe since he had the finances that he was unable to get earlier from outside. The story of Lamhe involved a young man falling in love with an older lady and later on, the lady’s daughter ends up falling in love with the same but now an older man. Yashji knew that this movie was a bit ahead of time but he saw how the audience reacted to some of his older movies such as Daag where the hero was accused of bigamy. Daag was a major hit that gave confidence to Yashji to make Lamhe. Unfortunately, Lamhe did not do well at the box office. The audience could not accept the scenario of love between individuals having a big age difference and was also interpreted as an incestuous relationship. Yashji was heartbroken after that and stayed within himself for about 6 months before he came out of the shock and resumed work.
Yashji was impressed with Sridevi’s performance in Chandni and always imagined Lamhe with her in the double role of a mother and a daughter. She provided much-needed depth in the characters of a mother and a daughter. The mother is a traditional Rajasthani woman who was always decked up in traditional costume and jewelry whereas the daughter is dressed in western attire, cracking jokes, always full of life, and ready to flirt with a guy much older than her.
When Yashji found out the news that Sridevi’s father had passed away, he wanted to make sure the crew stuck around in London so they could finish the rest of the movie including the parody song. He was not able to afford their residence for the next 16 days and hence asked them to stay with a friend or relative to reduce the overall cost. Waheeda Rehman had just a couple of scenes left but she still stayed back until Sridevi returned. As soon as she was back, Yashji wanted to shoot the scenes with Waheeda Rehman so that she could head back to India. Unfortunately, those were all comedy scenes and he had to check with Sridevi first to see if she was ok doing those. Sridevi was such a professional that she agreed and if you watch the movie, you cannot find any lapse in her performance.
For the young man’s role, Yashji was looking for someone very new and young. Preferably someone around 20 years old. Anil Kapoor was quite desperate to get the role after hearing the script but Yashji refused saying that he looks much older. Hearing this, Anil Kapoor shaved off his mustache. Once Yashji saw his new looks, he agreed to cast him.
The medley song ends with Waheeda Rehman swinging to the tune of her unforgettable Guide number, Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai. When Yashji had first broached the subject of the parody with Waheedaji, she was very reluctant, pointing out to him that after a quarter of a century, she was hardly in the form to match steps with Sridevi. However, her pleas went unheard. When Waheedaji discovered that her choreographer was going to be Saroj Khan who was actually the assistant dance director during Guide, she began to breathe again. Sarojji assured her that, unlike the previous occasion, she wasn’t going to require many rehearsals this time. The veteran actress wouldn’t believe her. But when it was time to can the shot, she sailed through it with such effortless ease.
At the 37th Filmfare awards, Sridevi bagged the Filmfare Best Actress award and Yashji won the Filmfare Best Film award.
*ing: Sridevi, Waheeda Rehman, Anupam Kher, Anil Kapoor
Singers: Pamela Chopra, Sudesh Bhosale
Music: Shiv-Hari
Director: Yash Chopra
Producer: Yash Chopra
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi
Film: Lamhe (1991)