17 June,2026 11:10 AM IST | Mumbai | Mayank Shekhar
Bhagyashree as Suman from ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ (1989)
This is for the magical track, âMere rang mein rangne wali' in Maine Pyar Kiya (MPK, 1989), which progresses with the girlfriend, Suman, wearing multiple clothes her boyfriend, Prem, has gifted on her birthday. There's a sartorial countdown to the song, with a sensuous/risqué dress, saved for the finale.
While being narrated the script, Bhagyashree (Suman) said no to the last attire, altogether. Sooraj tried to persuade her, citing Hema Malini's short dress in the Kranti number, âZindagi ki na toote ladi'.
Bhagyashree argued, "The boy has to see the girl, right? Why does the audience?" And that's how the choreography ends, with Suman, turning her back to the camera, in a satin sheet - for a seductive reveal, that's for Prem's eyes alone. It's an iconic moment, alright.
Several actors have publicly claimed to have been considered for Prem's part - Prosenjit Chatterjee, Deepak Tijori, Sanjay Kapoor, Vindoo Dara Singh, even Piyush Mishra! Salman Khan bagged the role, eventually. But you never hear of a frontrunner for Suman, but Bhagyashree.
Jijabai in the recently released âRaja Shivaji'
Sooraj was that convinced. She wasn't. And he'd go over to Bhagyashree's home for multiple narrations, reworking the MPK script as she desired, including the said song picturisation.
Bhagyashree tells me, "I was in awe of my dad, who had three lines of educational degrees on his [business] card - law, engineering, CA, masters⦠I needed at least one line. Just BCom wasn't enough."
Bhagyashree belongs to the royal family of Sangli. Her dad, being Vijay Singh. Her own official name, as she puts it, "Her Highness Princess Bhagyashree Patwardhan Raje." Having composed music for a couple of films, Vijay, evidently, has an artistic side. Bhagyashree remembers, Lata Mangeshkar, "who was from the same region", and sang for Vijay, addressed him as "Raja Sahab".
Trivia nuts will know the movie Kabhi Ajnabi The (1985) for cricketer Sandeep Patil's debut. Who produced and directed the film? Bhagyashree's father, Vijay.
Royalty is also how I last watched Bhagyashree on the big screen, in the Marathi hit, Raja Shivaji (2026). She plays Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's mother, Jijabai, wherein the Maratha warrior grows from a little boy into Riteish Deshmukh.
But Bhagyashree looks ageless. "That's not true; we worked hard [on the look]," she smiles, but adds, "[Cinematographer] Santosh Sivan did say it takes a lot of effort [to make you look old]!"
Bhagyashree grew up in the "heart of South Mumbai, next to Eros cinema, off Churchgate." Because of certain "family issues," she relocated to the suburb, Juhu, where Amol Palekar was her neighbour.
And that's how we first saw her, onscreen, in the children's TV series, Kachchi Dhoop, that Amol was directing. His leading lady disappeared. The set was in place. Bhagyashree was brought onboard the night before shoot. Guess who played her love-interest in the 1987 Doordarshan show? Filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker.
Two years later, of course, Sooraj's MPK stormed into cinemas, with a fresh pair leading the young romance of the generation. Bhagyashree says, "First love, at that age, is the most innocent - unmindful of name, fame, money, status - the sorts you see in films like Sairaat, Saiyaaraâ¦"
Only, that she's talking about her own life, which mirrored MPK's script, which she was shooting, alongside - while deeply in love, with her boyfriend from school, Himalay Dassani; certain about marriage, despite resistance from her family.
The couple, still in their teens, went ahead. Her parents disassociated. And Bhagyashree was already pregnant, when MPK released. Her son Abhimanyu was born two months later.
Yet, that overnight stardom in the monoculture of 1989, when popular cinema was the only mainstream, must have been something else, I ask Bhagyashree. "I was scared, if the fame will overwhelm this home I've created," she sighs.
Every step leading to her first-floor apartment was loaded with fan mail, in sacks, left behind by postmen. Once, she went over to shop for her baby - "at Benzer or Amarsons," she can't recall. The employees whisked her away from the backdoor. Crowds had ransacked the store from the front-door, attempting a glimpse of her.
But she'd picked family over pictures, and quit the movie industry. Salman once reminisced at an event that, with this lead pair halved - he found no work for six months either.
To the point that his dad Salim posted a fake/speculative ad/announcement of his film, with GP Sippy, that materialised into a project, subsequently (Patthar Ke Phool).
Bhagyashree did briefly return to Hindi films with her husband as lead (Qaid Mein Hai Bulbul, Tyagi, Paayal). "They didn't fare well. I tried. You move on." That said, time hasn't touched her greatly. She looks the same from MPK. And Salman's still the superstar!
Mayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture. He tweets @mayankw14
Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.
