When Gulzar slapped Raakhee amidst shoot of “Aandhi” featuring Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen
Not many may be versed that Gulzar
had slapped Raakhee in the midst of the shoot for “Aandhi” featuring Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen.
This incident sparked Rakhee’s separation from Gulzar.
Gulzar is Lyricisit-turned-director and is acknowledged for his deep lyrics and movies that left an indelible mark and remembered till date.
Gulzar has made some good movies like ‘Angoor’, ‘Aandhi’, ‘Maachis’, ‘Ijaazat’, among others. Both Raakhee and Gulzar entered into marital bliss, but the couple separated since many years due to some differences.
Coming to the slapping incident, Gulzar was shooting for ‘Aandhi’ in Kashmir with Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen, in 1975. The crew partied till late night on one of the days and when Suchitra was walking towards her room, Sanjeev allegedly grabbed her and pulled her towards him. That’s the moment when Gulzar stepped in and saved Suchitra.
When Gulzar finally managed to free Suchitra from Sanjeev, she ran into her room and Gulzar followed her. The director and the actress had a long conversation inside the room for two hours but reportedly when he came out of the room, he was confronted by a fuming Rakhee who was waiting outside. An argument ensued amidst the twosome and Gulzar ended up slapping Rakhee out of anger.
Meanwhile, Rakhee had bid adieu to acting after she married Gulzar as he was old-school and felt it was not appropriate for married women to work in movies. She quit acting at the peak of her career when directors had lined up to cast her.
But post this slap incident, Rakhee went on to sign Yash Chopra’s ‘Kabhi Kabhie’ the next day, which turned out to be iconic. Yash Chopra was about to take Gulzar’s permission to cast her in the movie, but she agreed notwithstanding her husband being against it.
‘Kabhi Kabhie’ featured Rakhee, alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Neetu Singh, Rishi Kapoor.
Since then, Gulzar and Rakhee had their differences and they live separately. Though, they never got officially divorced as it would have impacted their daughter Meghna Gulzar who was growing up. Gulzar and Rakhee continue to spend time together with their daughter and they have immense love and respect towards each other.
Very recently, Meghna had shared a picture where the entire family spent quality time together over chai and samosa!
Meghna’s last directorial was Vicky Kaushal starrer ‘Sam Bahadur’.
News Edit KV Raman
