Bhagyashree, with son Abhimanyu Dassani and co-star Sanya Malhotra, was on Bigg Boss 15 over the weekend where she reunited with Salman Khan after three decades
Bhagyashree/PR image
Actress Bhagyashree, who was seen on Bigg Boss 15 last weekend, where she reunited with Maine Pyar Kiya co-star Salman Khan after three decades, speaks to mid-day. com about son Abhimanyu Dassani’s latest release Meenakshi Sundareshwar, giving up films for marriage and more.
It was lovely watching Salman Khan and you reunite on Bigg Boss after three decades of Maine Pyaar Kiya…
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Like everyone else even our memories of Maine Pyar Kiya were revived on Bigg Boss. They had to edit a lot of moments because it’s an hour long episode. We were on stage together after 30 years and both of us were recalling ‘us waqt kya hua tha.’ Salman was a prankster on set and I was Miss serious so I would get very irritated. It was exactly what you saw on Bigg Boss, I would go hit him. It was a very school girl reaction at that point of time. I watched the episode and went, ‘Sh** I used the same reaction that I used to have on set.’
You gave up films for marriage despite your debut being a super hit, today considering there are so many opportunities for married actresses do you think things would have been different?
I wish we had such opportunities at that time but back then, the society wouldn’t accept such things and there were other reasons as well. It’s like trying to rewind something where changes have happened now. The world progresses, thought processes change, society changes. Even If I had decided to continue working maybe the acceptability wouldn’t have been there at that time. I’m not even looking back. I led a different kind of life, I’m really looking forward to working now. There are no regrets because ifs and buts are a continuous process of life. I have my lovely children who are taking off on their careers which is great fun to see them bloom and grow. I can be the wind beneath their wings and probably help them do everything I wanted to do that that time. It’s like ‘Jao jee lo apni zindagi’ which they are telling me to do right now.
What was your reaction to Abhimanyu’s latest release Meenakshi Sundareshwar?
As every mother would ‘apne bachche ko dekhte hai,’ so I had to see the film twice to watch it as a whole. First I had to watch my son. There have been so many shows and films on OTT during the pandemic but most of them have been dark. When you look at Meenakshi Sundareshwar, it’s a sweet family film that everyone can sit together and watch. A popcorn love story that young couples can watch. I told Abhimanyu that such a sweet film has come out after a long time and people will appreciate it as a whole. When I told him he has done a wonderful job he said, “Mom you watched the film with a mother’s eyes, I’m not even going to listen to your reaction because you won’t say anything negative.” In all honestly that isn’t the case. At one point Himalayaji had a factory in Chennai and he stayed there most of the time so I understand what a long distance relationship takes. Now you have mobiles and video calls but we didn’t have these things back then. We had to book a call and when you get those two minutes to speak you cant do it properly. So the whole idea of being in a long distance relationship or marriage and trying to make it work is very relatable to a lot of young people.
How did you react when he told you he wants to act?
He still holds it against me. When he first told me he wanted to act I told him, the finance world is waiting for you, why don’t you study at Boston university when you are getting admission? He’s a wiz at Maths. His cousins studied at Boston university and are doing extremely well with seven figure salaries. He replied “Mom do you hear what I’m saying?” So my first reaction was to protect him from what the film world involves. The film world is not a factory when you give inputs and your product is ready. No matter how hard you work, here it’s all about teamwork, the film releasing at the right time, the audience being receptive, luck, so there are too many things involved in finally getting success. You can spend a lifetime working and still not have success. We have brilliant actors who haven’t managed to reach stardom or be noticed in the earlier years of their life. At 40-50 they are getting noticed thanks to OTT. As a mother, my advice was think about it because you don’t know how things will turn out. That’s not what children like to hear!
Does he ask for your advice on scripts?
Not at all! They have their own life. When he decides on a script he gives it to me and says read it, you will find it interesting. Reading scripts is not a very happy moment, it’s a time consuming process. So I tell him give me the script only if you are doing the film. If you are not doing it mujhe nahi pandi. (laughs.) It’s too much of an effort for me.
Also read: Bhagyashree: I had initially refused Maine Pyar Kiya despite liking the script
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