New Delhi: Veteran actress Waheeda Rehman, whose legendary smile can still light up any room she enters, says romance - that is both heartbreaking and exalting - is missing from films today. Rehman, who will be honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the 14th Mumbai Film Festival, is also unhappy with the quality of the music and lyrics in current Hindi films.
"There was romance in films of our time. Where is the romance in films today? Maybe romantic films are still being made but not the kind that breaks your heart and brings tears to your eyes. Films are so fast paced these days that they don't give you time to pause and think," Rehman said during a telephonic interview from Mumbai.
Rehman's Bollywood debut was with the 1956 film 'C.I.D' but she started her career with successful Telugu and Tamil films such as 'Jayasimha', 'Rojulu Marayi' and 'Kaalam Maari Pochu'. Her expressive face caught the attention of legendary actor and director Guru Dutt who introduced her to Hindi cinema.
She shot to stardom with a string of films with Dutt - 'Pyaasa', '12 O'Clock', 'Kaagaz Ke Phool', 'Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam' and 'Chaudhvin Ka Chand' - before pairing with actor Dev Anand. 'Teesri Kasam' and 'Mujhe Jeene Do' were also massively successful. The songs in some of her films were classic hits of all time. So it's understandable that Rehman feels a little underwhelmed by today's film music.
"The music and lyrics have become very poor. You can't blame the lyricists, there has to be situations in today's films that will bring out their best, no? Great lyrics bring out your inner sadness. But those situations are missing from scripts today. In our times people would keep humming the songs when they left a theatre," she says.
In my time, we could afford to pack up if we were bored
But Rahman is all praises for heroines now. "They are much more hard working and more focussed that we ever used to be. Girls in films now are so intelligent. They know exactly what they want. We weren't this focussed. If the film worked, it worked. We did not put everything at stake for it," she says.
She gets nostalgic when she speaks of filming in the 50s and 60s.
"In my time the entire unit became a family. We'd make films with the same set of people over and over again and the cast and crew became a team. If you see my entry into cinema - it wasn't even planned," Rehman says.
But producers at her time did not invest crores in mega-budget films.
"True. It wasn't this expensive to make a film. In our time films were made in a relaxed way. Today no one has the time to hang around and chat. Films are so expensive these days. Time is money. Actors have to be on their toes all the time. We made films at a leisurely pace. If our mood was off a certain day, we'd tell the director that 'I'm bored today, let's pack up.'" In that way she feels bad for actors for their hectic promotion schedule after completing each film.
"They can't afford not to, there's so much at stake. Otherwise the producers will be on the street."
She has seen the industry changing over five decades.
"When I made C.I.D, there were no TV sets. Gradually came the electronic media and mobile phones. There were one or two big film magazines. There have been great changes in the industry. Change is always welcome," she says.
Rehman has steadfastly maintained friendship with some of her contemporaries believes it is possible to make friends with people inside the industry.
"Nanda is my good friend, there are many directors I am close to, Sunil Dutt and Nargis were my friends but they are no more. Both Nanda and I were leading ladies together. From then on we are friends because we both believed that whatever is destined for us will happen. We each one of us come to the Earth with our own destiny that no one can change," she says.
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