Vyjanthimala recalls on her acting debut at 16 & refusal to share screen with ‘Big B’
Vyjanthimala recalls on her acting debut at 16 & refusal to share screen with ‘Big B’
Notedly, When at 16, Vyjanthimala made her acting debut and declined to work with Amitabh Bachchan. She had given several superhits, and never entered into conversation with her juniors.
Vyjanthimala has worked with several big names like Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and others. Her career spans in politics too.
In the early 80-90s, it was very common for actors to make their debut as young as teenagers. They would bag roles for lead and would climb the ladder of success with the rite of passage.
Vyjanthimala embarked on her acting career from south and rose to the mainstream silver screen of Bollywood very quickly. There’s never been a dull moment in her 65-year-long illustrious career.
Vyjayantimala is also the most renowned personalities who has a career in dancing and politics too. Vyjanthimala Bali was honoured with the second highest civilian award In India -Padma Vibhushan at 90 in 2024.
Born in 1936, as Vasundhata Devi, she received classical training in Bharatanatyam.
She made her screen debut in Tamil film ‘Vazhkai’ and her maiden movie in Bollywood was ‘Bahar’ featuring the famous actor Pran. One film at a time, she amassed love and fame and there was no turning back. Her notable works include- Devdas, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Amrapali, Nagin, Madhumati, Sangam, Ganga Jamuna -to name a few.
Vyjanthimala was always known to stand her ground. In an old interview she once revealed that she has no regrets refusing ‘Deewar’ featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Neetu Singh, Parveen Babi.
She was first offered to play the role of mother instead of Nirupa Roy.
It’s known to one and all she was offered Yash Chopra’s ‘Deewaar’ Manoj Kumar’s “Kranti’
Reportedly, much later Kamal approached her to play his mother in ‘Vishwaroopam. It was her cherished wish to and wanted an expert danseuse. So suggested Waheeda Rehman’s name.
While she confessed that she doesn’t regret rejecting the role in ‘Deewaar,'”
Once she made up her mind to quit and get married there was no turning back. Her last film was ‘Ganwaar’ in 1970. The veteran actress has witnessed stardom at its peak. One of her contemporaries Mumtaz, once hinted how she would not speak with her “juniors”. The ‘Sone Ki Chidiya’ actress in an old interview said, “Vo logg toh bohot bade the aur hum toh chote the, they didn’t like mingling with us. Vyjayanthimala also belonged to the same era as Waheeda Rehman but she didn’t talk to Vyjayantimala.
She served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, from 1984 to 1990 and actively participated in debates on various socio-political issues during her tenure.
Vyjayanthimala has made remarkable contributions to Indian cinema and dance repository. She is remembered as one of the most iconic and influential personalities in the history of Indian cinema.
News Edit KV Raman
