"JP saab was my destiny"

The Hindi heroine of the ’70s was unique. Neither prudish like her predecessor nor bohemian enough to disown her. She was shy like your neighbourhood lass, yet flirty like your crush in the campus. Conventional enough to be taken home to mother, yet glamorous enough to flaunt as arm candy. And Bindiya Goswami with her quiet but compelling beauty fit in that mould. In fact, she seemed sort of customised for Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s (Gol Maal) and Basu Chatterjee’s (Khatta Meetha) brand of cinema loved for its bittersweet take on life. But a teenaged Bindiya, who suddenly found herself celebrated on reel, couldn’t rein in her fascination for romance in the real. After a whirlwind marriage and divorce with Vinod Mehra at 18, she finally quit films to make a home with the ‘dark and brooding’ filmmaker JP Dutta in her early ‘20s.
She’s happy dreaming her husband’s dreams and now her daughters’ as Nidhi and Siddhi plan to plunge into films with JP Gene Productions. That doesn’t take away the pride in her own innings. “I was blessed to work with the likes of Anil Ganguly (Khandan), Hrishida and Basuda. They proved that one doesn’t have to expose to be successful. You could play a girl-next-door, you could express with your eyes, you didn’t have to show cleavage and yet the film makes it to the 100 best,” she says referring to Gol Maal and Khatta Meetha, which featured in Filmfare’s list of iconic films.

(clockwise) With Vikram and Shashi Kapoor in Mukti, With Vinod Mehra in Sansani and With Utpal Dutt in Gol Maal


RELUCTANT ACTRESS
The doe-eyed teen with velvety tresses, cavorting at the birthday party of composer Pyarelal’s (of Laxmikant-Pyarelal fame) son, grabbed guest Jaya Chakravarthy’s attention. She was startled by the girl’s resemblance to her superstar daughter Hema Malini. “My mother had recreated Zeenat Aman’s white outfit in Chura liya hai (Yaadon Ki Baarat, 1973) for me for the party,” recalls Bindiya who was Pyarelal’s neighbour. “Few days later, Jayaji sent across a message whether I’d be interested in doing her film. My sister Pearl was an airhostess. I too wanted to be one. Also, I was still studying and was just 14,” says Bindiya daughter of a South Indian father and Catholic mother. “Jayaji was known to be protective about Hemaji. My mother felt I too would be in safe hands. Jayaji was dynamic. Her kajal bhari eyes and quiet presence was compelling.” Soon, Bindiya was signed for Jaya Chakravorthy’s production Jeevan Jyoti (1976) opposite Vijay Arora. This was followed by three more films. “Jeevan Jyoti was my debut though Mukti (1977) released first. I began my career by playing Shashiji’s (Kapoor) daughter in Mukti and played his beloved in Shaan (1980) towards the end,” she smiles. “I was young and walked through my films. I don’t think I ever acted. I was my natural self.”

SOME KHATTA, SOME MEETHA…
It was Bindiya’s stint with Basu Chatterjee that brought gravitas to her career. Khatta Meetha (1977), where she was paired with Rakesh Roshan, remains memorable. “I played a Parsi girl, Zarine. We were shooting in Juhu for the song Tumse mila tha pyaar. But Basuda thought my long hair didn’t suit my character. So we reshot the scene with a wig. He was not happy with that either. Finally, my hair was upturned to give it a shorter effect.” She later did Prem Vivaah (1979) and Hamari Bahu Alka (1982) with the director. “Basuda began his shoot at 7 am. He gave us a free hand and held no rehearsals. But he himself would be nervous. He had this habit of chewing his handkerchief while taking the shots By the time he finished he’d have swallowed half his handkerchief,” she laughs.

SAB GOL MAAL HAI…
She insists that Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Gol Maal (1979) threw open doors. “Salim saab (Khan, writer) knew me as I had bought my first car, a Mercedes, from him. One day, we were shooting at Hrishida’s bungalow at Carter Road, when Salim saab dropped in and took me to Ramesh Sippy’s office. Rameshji said he was considering me for two films. I was elated. The films were Shakti and Shaan (1980). Of course, Shakti didn’t happen. Smita Patil did it. I never asked why. I knew Smita and didn’t want controversy,” she shares.“Later, I did a guest appearance with Amitji (Bachchan) in Ahsaas (1979).”

SHAAN SE…
What she also remembers about the multi-starrer Shaan is the delayed schedule when co-star Parveen Babi fell sick. “We were told she was suffering from jaundice (Parveen Babi’s mental illness reportedly began at this time) and not what had actually happened to her. For two months the set where Jeete hain shaan se was to be shot stood idle. Eventually, Parveen returned and shot it quickly. She had put on some weight but looked lovely! From no angle could one say she was unwell,” says she. “Parveen was my sister Pearl’s friend. She treated me like a kid sister, a bachcha. Pearl didi would bring make-up from abroad - Mary Quant, Rimmel products. Parveen picked up what she liked from them. We shared make-up on the set too. We shared a comfort level.”

With husband JP Dutta and daughters Nidhi and Siddhi

DUTTS & ME
Another fond memory is her association with the Dutts. “I was friends with Namrata Dutt, we being Bandra girls. We’d have Christmas parties at Ajanta Arts’ terrace. So when I was cast a couple of times opposite Sunil Dutt saab it used to be a laugh. I was his daughter’s age! Dutt saab would chuckle when we had to do smouldering scenes in Muqabla (1979). We were even paired together in Jaani Dushman (1979). While doing the song sequence I had blisters on my feet. Kamalji (dance master) was such a tyrant!” But Bindiya largely stayed away from the compulsions of commercial cinema. “Except for the shower sequence in Mukti, which still embarrasses me, I didn’t do any bold scenes. I wish I had the courage to refuse it then. I did one thumka number in K Bapiah’s Takkar (1980. I looked the odd one out.”

STARDOM KE SIDE EFFECTS
With stardom come fans and some unruly ones as well. She recounts a scary experience in Kolkata during the premiere of Takkar (1980). “I had worn a gorgeous lacy-velvet gown. There was a crowd milling around us. Just then a guy pulled my gown from behind. The sheer fabric tore. It ripped opened right down exposing my back. Pearl didi was quick to hold it up.” Closer home too, she had a crazy fan to deal with. “Every evening somebody would drop a letter in my letter box.  ‘I want to marry you’ and ‘I will kill myself at your door step if you refuse’, such threats would be scribbled. My brother Rajiv, finally caught the guy. It turned out he was a neighbour down the road.”

CO-STAR COMFORT
With so much adulation from fans, there must have been attention from co-stars too. She emphatically denies that. “Will you believe me when I say there was no male attention at work? Except from one quarter whom I finally went and married (Bindiya was married to co-star Vinod Mehra for a brief period)” She also followed her mother’s stringent instructions. “Mom told me, ‘Beta, set pe kitaab padhte raho. Upar nahin dekha!’ So either I used to be reading a scene or a book. When my heroes came I’d say, ‘Hi!’ and go back to my book,” she laughs. “I shared a buddy buddy relationship with most of them. “Mithun (Chakraborty) taught me how to drape a Bengali saree for a Bengali film. While we were shooting for Shaan, Shashiji ragged me. He’d joke that finally I’d end up rolling rotis. I was the baby of the unit.”

LOVE INTERRUPTED
At 18, Bindiya was a coveted actress. But a self-confessed romantic she got involved with her co-star of many films (Dada, Chor Police, Lalach, Khoon Kharaba etc) Vinod Mehra. Her impetuous marriage to Vinod in 1980 hit the headlines as he was already married. Their marriage lasted for four years. At 22 she divorced him. “I am still in touch with Vinod’s sister Sharda didi. She’s fond of me. She blesses my children,” she says. When asked to comment on the late Vinod (he passed away in 1990) she says graciously, “He was one of the nicest human beings I’ve met. A great soul!” She pauses to add, “But my mukaam (destination), my destiny was JP (Dutta) saab and my two daughters Nidhi and Siddhi.”

OPPOSITES AT PLAY
Bindiya first met director JP Dutta on the set of Sarhad (1976). The two began courting each other during Ghulami (1985) and finally got married in the same year. What made a successful actress opt for marriage yet again? “I just wanted to have a perfect home. From breakfast on the table to the staff everything had to be perfect,” says the ‘regular girl with a romantic heart’. “Mills & Boon was my Bible. Karva Chauth fascinated me since I was a young girl. I’d romaticise that one day I’d also see the moon with the sieve. That was the dream sequence of my life. The ‘dark and brooding’ was my type – jisko patana padhe (someone who had to be wooed) – a la JP.” She continues, “What drew me towards him was the way he is. Silent and philosophical. He never felt embarrassed of not being rich. He lived in a one bedroom in Mahim even though he was a director. Above all he was family oriented.” Her decision of course was not well-received. “There was chaos when I got married to him. It was not wanted by people around me,” she says. “But I have grown up with him. Maine unki aankhon se zindagi dekhi hai, it’s about staying together in sukh and dukh,” says Bindiya his junior by 12 years. She doesn’t deny that there were adjustments to be made. “We are total opposites. He hardly talks and I need to talk all the time. He’s not at all romantic. I’m the ‘I love you’ kind. I would want to go out. He’d want to sit at home. He believed you didn’t have to attend a New Year party to have fun! Today I don’t like going out.”

She takes up for her husband who’s known to be temperamental. “He’s only hot headed where his work is concerned, because he’s perfectionist. He wants to give 200 per cent to his work. He gives leverage and then it reaches a point where he can’t take it.” She denies ever being tempted to make a comeback. “I never missed the arc lights. JP saab involved me in his work. I’ve done the costumes of all his films like Border (1997), Refugee (2000) and LOC Kargil (2003). If JP was winning accolades it was a triumph for me. I got TV offers. But it meant being away from the children. My bachchas cling to me,” she says of her daughters Nidhi and Siddhi. “Nidhi is a gift from Khwaja Garib Nawaz in Ajmer and Siddhi from Siddhivinayak.”

DAUGHTERS & DREAMS
But now the time has come for her bachchas to develop wings. Nidhi, who was actively involved in the production of Umrao Jaan (2006), is debuting as an actress in a love story with Ajit Sodi, Nafisa Ali’s son. The Binoy Gandhi directorial is produced by the youth wing of JP Productions called JP Gene. “Niddhi would dance to Jumma chumma with a diapered bum,” she laughs. “I have taught her the dos and don’ts in life. How she takes life forward, how she pursues her dreams is her own. But I have told her not to get disappointed if her films don’t work. Some of JP’s films may not have worked but they are part of syllabi in film universities,” she says adding, “As parents we don’t want her to be a sex bomb. That’s not in her DNA either!” Siddhi, who’s presently involved in production, Bindiya insists, is more like her. “Siddhi and I are the ‘gut feeling’ type whereas Nidhi is the analytical kind, wise beyond her years.”

Helming her home production, helping her daughters live their dreams, Bindiya’s hands are full. But it’s still love that makes her world go round. “The way he is, I am still madly in love with JP. If he says, ‘Please mujhse abhi baat mat karo’, I have the keeda to make him talk. He keeps me going.” She lets out a secret about her not-so-romantic husband, “JP cherishes the lines Hum un dinon amir the jab tum kareeb the from the song Tumse mila tha pyaar. He was not an established director while I was a successful heroine then...” she does a throwback in time, the blush returning to her face!