Superstar, parliamentarian, wife, mother… ‘Dream Girl’ Hema Malini is so many things to so many women (and men) in this country, it is impossible to slot her.
“Then don’t slot me,” she laughs her typical uninhibited laughter as she turned a year older on October 16. “I don’t know why it is so important for men to slot women. There are so many responsibilities that women carry on their shoulders, and so comfortably. Like me, million of women in our country are a wife, a mother, a housewife, a professional… I am one of those fortunate women who can apportion my responsibilities as per my choice. There are so many women who multi-task against time: they get their children ready for school, rush to work, return tired in the evening, and cook for the family, all without complain.”
It is largely believed in the Hindi film industry that Hema Malini was the first female superstar of Hindi cinema. She was paid a higher price than many leading men, film distributors would buy a film starring Hema Malini on announcement without bothering about the leading man, exiled superstars like Manoj Kumar and Rajesh Khanna requested her presence in their films (Manoj in Sanyasi and Dus Numbri, Rajesh in Premnagar) to make comeback.
Reacting to these commonly acknowledged achievements, the still-gorgeous-at-77-diva laughs, “I never thought of these things when I was working two and three shifts a day. It was just work work and work. Even my birthdays were celebrated on the sets. I had no time to stop and think about my achievements… maine aisa kiya waisa kiya… In fact, I never had the chance to watch my films properly until recently. I saw some of my more popular performances… I like myself in Lal Patthar, Raja Jani, Abhinetri, Seeta Aur Geeta, Raja Jani, Andaz, Rihaai, and a few others.”
The Diva’s advice to all career women? “Never allow yourself to be taken for granted. Throughout my career as an actor and a politician, I’ve never taken any nonsense from anyone. No one ever took me for granted or misbehaved. No would dare. So yes I am very happy and I don’t regret anything I’ve done in my life.”
