‘Suchitra Sen threatened to leave, with the film only 80 per cent complete.’
IMAGE: Suchitra Sen and Dev Anand in Bombai Ka Babu.
Raj Khosla made several blockbusters like CID (1956), Woh Kaun Thi? (1964), Mera Saaya (1966), Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), Dostana (1980) and Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978).
On his birth centenary on May 31, his daughters Anita Khosla and Uma Khosla Kapur, along with writer Amborish Roychoudhury, released a book on the filmmaker, Raj Khosla: The Authorized Biography.
Presenting a fascinating excerpt from Raj Khosla: The Authorized Biography:
IMAGE: The initial poster of Bombai Ka Babu with Madhubala and Dev Anand. Photograph: Kind courtesy Film History Pics/X
The role of Maya, the lead heroine, was first offered to Madhubala. Raj had just worked with her on Kala Pani, and she seemed the perfect choice for the role.
Kala Pani was, after all, a grand success and there may have been that wish to replicate its success. Some early posters of Bombai Ka Babu still survive with Madhubala in them.
One of them announces the upcoming attraction: ‘Raj Khosla and Jal Mistry present Dev Anand, Madhubala… He lost a world but found a home…! Raj Khosla’s Bombai ka Babu‘
The poster shows a distressed Madhubala, with Dev Anand sprawled on a globe.
Another poster features a happier Madhubala with Dev looking all menacing, wielding a stick.
But Madhubala’s health was worsening every day. She had started turning down offers. One of the major projects that she had to decline was Bombai ka Babu.
‘I think she had a premonition of the illness that was to interrupt her shining career,’ Raj wrote.
‘I was about to sign her for Bombai Ka Babu when she said, friendly as ever, but with a touch of sadness in her voice, ‘I think you had better take someone else for your own good.’
IMAGE: Suchitra Sen and Dev Anand in Bombai Ka Babu. Photograph: Kind courtesy Film History Pics/X
In her place came Suchitra Sen, the reigning superstar of Bengali films. Bengali cinema at this time was going through a veritable golden era.
In the 1950s, Uttam Kumar and Sen were the king and queen ruling benevolently over their subjects, the Bengali-speaking audience.
The kind of popularity the Uttam-Suchitra duo was experiencing was unparalleled.
Even the big stars of the Hindi film industry didn’t enjoy that kind of euphoria in Bengal. Having said that, Suchitra Sen was building a career quite her own, distinct from the pair.
Her first Hindi outing had been Bimal Roy’s Devdas (1955), where her depiction of Paro met with acclaim from audiences, her co-stars and critics.
This was followed by a role in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s debut Musafir (1957) and Nandlal Jaswantlal’s Champakali (1957).
Bombai Ka Babu was Sen’s fourth film in Hindi. Jal Mistry was the cinematographer for Champakali, so he may have been instrumental in her selection for the role.
IMAGE: Suchitra Sen and Dev Anand in Bombai Ka Babu.
Raj Khosla, like everyone else, was only too familiar with her stardom in Bengal. Also, her success in Devdas could have been a deciding factor.
Suchitra Sen, one would argue, pulled off the role of Maya with aplomb.
One might consider the fact that in an era where impeccable diction in Hindustani and Urdu was not only expected but demanded, it is to her credit that she manages to seem convincing despite butchering entire words.
Besides, she dances with abandon and much verve — despite the fact that the Bengali film industry that she was part of didn’t have dance sequences at all.
In fact, dance was such anathema to Bengali pop culture that one would struggle to find instances of any classic Bengali actor indulging in a dance sequence (with the rare exception when they were playing courtesans or breaking into a twist to underscore ‘modernity’).
Sen had never had to dance in a Bengali film till then, but as she swung to the beats of the Punjabi dholak in Dekhne Mein Bhola Hai, she didn’t seem like she had two left feet.
Raj later said about her, ‘She is in total command of her art, a very emotional artiste. Possibly, the secret of her success is her meticulous attention to detail.’
IMAGE: Suchitra Sen and Dev Anand in Bombai Ka Babu.
In portraying a character she looks for the details that make a character come out as real. Yet, in this film, too, Raj locked horns on occasion with his leading lady.
According to him, most of the crowd at Kullu — where they were shooting — gravitated towards Dev Anand, and that would unnerve Sen, who was used to being the cynosure of all eyes wherever she shot in Bengal.
What further intensified her annoyance was that Raj and his crew got into a celebratory mood when Dev Anand was to leave.
The actor had finished his portion of the shoot and planned to leave for Bombay.
The team decided to throw a party. The revelries went on till the dead of night, with local dholaks and musicians adding to celebrations.
This disturbed the sleep of the Bengali superstar and her husband, who was also with her during the shoot. Her husband asked them to stop the noise.
This snowballed into a big fight, and Suchitra Sen threatened to leave, with the film only 80 per cent complete.
Not one to give in, Raj Khosla said that she was free to go, but the party would continue. Sen left.
The wedding portions were left to be done, so Raj Khosla decided to use a body double.
Halfway through the shoot, Sen was back on the sets, and quipped, ‘You think she can act better than me?’
She eventually completed the shoot.
IMAGE: Suchitra Sen and Dev Anand in Bombai Ka Babu.
But another version of this incident exists. Actor Sanjeev Kumar had once recounted the incident differently: ‘The crew of Bombai Ka Babu had gathered at a hotel to celebrate a colleague’s birthday. Coincidentally, they chose the same hotel where Sen was putting up with her husband.’
The couple couldn’t sleep and Suchitra Sen went straight to the manager, expecting intervention.
The manager was non-committal, too scared to ruffle feathers, and the lady decided to confront the revellers herself.
Raj was there and became the target of her consternation. She may have been a little harsh in her demeanour. Offended, Raj asked her to leave.
Many did their best to patch things up between the actress and the director, but neither would budge.
Things took a turn for the worse when Sen filed a case against Khosla for not clearing her pending fee and Khosla retaliated by filing a counter-complaint at the Producers’ Association against Sen for leaving the project incomplete.
The judgement passed was in Khosla’s favour and Sen was asked to complete the movie before claiming her due amount. Sen complied and the movie was completed.
Excerpted from Raj Khosla: The Authorized Biography written by Amborish Roychoudhury, Anita Khosla and Uma Khosla Kapur, with the kind permission of the publishers, Hachette India.
