I
remember
meeting
Neetu
ma'm
(yes,
that's
the
way
I
call
her;
she
is
way
too
senior
after
all)
a
year
ago
on
the
sets
of
Do
Dooni
Chaar.
I
was
least
expecting
that
though
since
I
had
actually
gone
there
to
meet
Mr.
Rishi
Kapoor.
Waiting
in
his
vanity
van,
I
was
a
little
taken
aback
when
a
middle
aged
woman
in
a
plain
night
gown
stepped
in.
It
took
me
about
10
seconds
to
actually
realise
that
it
was
Mrs.
Kapoor.
She
was
into
the
character
of
a
middle
class
woman
that
she
plays
in
Do
Dooni
Chaar
and
it
was
only
after
about
five
minutes
that
I
managed
to
ease
up.
She
was
at
her
natural
best
though
it
took
me
a
while
to
adjust
to
the
situation
that
I
was
sitting
in
front
of
one
of
the
popular
actresses
of
the
1970s
and
1980s
who
had
featured
in
a
string
of
hits
like
Khel
Khel
Mein,
Priyatama,
Deewar,
Kala
Patthar,
Doosra
Aadmi
and
Kabhi
Kabhie.
Her
last
major
film
was
Yaarana
(1981)
with
Amitabh
Bachchan
and
though
she
last
made
a
blink-and-you-would-miss
appearance
in
Imtiaz
Ali's
Love
Aaj
Kal
(2009),
it
is
Do
Dooni
Chaar
which
marks
her
proper
comeback
into
the
world
of
films.
Today
when
I
interact
with
her
again,
it
is
an
air
of
familiarity
that
sets
in
which
makes
this
a
free
wheeling
conversation.
You
have
been
away
from
the
big
screen
for
more
than
a
quarter
of
a
century.
What
was
the
kind
of
push
you
were
looking
for
that
eventually
made
you
say
yes
to
Do
Dooni
Chaar?
There
was
no
push
as
such.
It
was
Rishi
who
wanted
me
to
be
in
the
movie
because
he
had
heard
the
script
and
was
mighty
excited
about
it.
He
said
that
ek
baar
sun
lo
(just
listen
to
the
script
once)
and
I
too
just
heard
it
while
thinking
all
the
while
that
I
would
be
saying
no
to
it.
I
was
just
curious
to
know
what
was
so
fascinating
about
(writer
and
director)
Habib's
(Faisal)
story
that
my
hubby
was
getting
so
excited
about
it.
I
am
sure
it
indeed
turned
out
to
be
exciting
enough
for
you
to
eventually
say
yes.
(Smiles)
Of
course
yes.
20
mins
narration
changed
to
3
hours
and
soon
I
could
see
myself
in
the
character
of
Kusum
Duggal.
I
immediately
told
Habib
that
I
was
doing
his
film.
Poor
guy,
he
couldn't
believe
it.
He
was
like
'Oh
my
God,
are
you
really
sure?'
When
I
told
him
that
I
was
indeed
serious,
he
disclosed
that
I
was
always
on
his
wish
list
to
play
this
role
opposite
Rishi.
Even
though
Rishi
had
earlier
told
him
that
I
won't
do
the
film,
he
was
relentless.
But
really,
it
was
such
a
long
wait
after
all.
In
fact
you
were
one
of
the
few
leading
ladies
who
left
when
on
peak.
When
others
from
your
generation
continued
to
work
for
decades,
you
aborted
your
journey.
Didn't
you
ever
miss
all
the
glamour
and
attention
that
showbiz
brought
with
it?
Honestly,
showbiz
was
there
in
my
house
as
well
since
I
had
married
an
actor.
I
was
going
to
the
same
parties
and
meeting
the
same
people.
It
wasn't
as
if
I
was
married
in
London
to
some
NRI
who
wasn't
related
to
movies.
Here
in
Mumbai,
I
was
amidst
the
same
talks
so
there
was
nothing
which
was
new.
In
fact
folk
fare
for
people
belonging
to
my
generation
is
that
you
couldn't
continue
with
movies
since
Kapoor
women
were
forbidden
to
work
in
the
glamour
world.
There
isn't
anything
like
Kapoors
set
out
a
diktat
forbidding
women
from
working.
On
the
contrary
it
was
me
who
wanted
a
relaxed
life.
I
had
been
working
for
around
15
years
and
had
already
played
a
double
role
at
an
age
of
eight.
You
have
no
idea
how
I
did
my
school.
In
fact
after
class
eight,
I
couldn't
study
at
all
since
I
was
already
playing
a
leading
lady.
I
could
have
gone
a
little
slow
then
but
since
Rishi's
leading
lady
Dimple(Kapadia)
got
married,
there
was
no
other
young
girl
to
be
paired
opposite
my
husband.
I
was
the
only
young
one
who
was
around
and
eventually
I
continued
to
be
busy
all
over
again.
After
marriage,
I
just
wanted
to
rest
and
hence
a
long
break.
Nevertheless,
when
you
eventually
stepped
into
movies
again
with
Do
Dooni
Chaar,
didn't
you
ever
wonder
that
you
could
have
made
a
glamorous
comeback
with
a
Yash
Raj
or
a
Karan
Johar
setup?
See,
I
am
not
looking
at
a
career
per
se.
Also,
I
am
not
in
look
out
for
money.
At
this
age
you
don't
want
to
come
across
as
someone
who
is
overtly
glamorous.
Things
should
fit
in
well
with
age
and
personality.
In
case
of
Do
Dooni
Chaar,
the
story
and
character
were
nice
so
I
didn't
think
much
about
the
setup.
You
seemed
to
be
conscious
though
of
making
a
comeback
only
with
your
hubby,
right?
Yes,
this
did
play
in
my
mind.
Eventually
there
is
always
a
comfort
level
involved
when
you
work
with
your
husband.
Also
since
I
hadn't
worked
for
so
many
years,
it
would
have
been
tough
to
be
in
an
entirely
new
setup.
With
Rishi
around,
I
had
some
support.
In
any
case,
your
'jodi'
with
Mr.
Kapoor
is
still
remembered
for
years
since
you
had
worked
in
so
many
successful
films
together.
You
know,
I
have
always
found
it
a
little
ironical
that
people
feel
I
worked
only
with
Rishi.
The
fact
is
that
I
had
also
worked
with
Jeetendra
in
10
films
and
with
Vinod
(Khanna)
also
in
7-8
films.
Still,
people
remember
my
'jodi'
with
Rishi
most.
And
which
are
those
films
featuring
your
hubby
that
you
remember
most?
He
has
been
very
good
in
dozens
of
films
over
the
last
40-odd
years.
However,
from
the
recent
lot
of
his
films,
Chandni
and
Damini
are
closest
to
my
heart.
These
were
difficult
roles,
especially
Damini
where
he
had
such
a
huge
predicament
to
face.
And
he
played
this
role
to
perfection.
Well,
meanwhile
your
son
definitely
seems
to
be
doing
a
lot
of
things
in
a
near-perfect
manner.
With
his
Anjaana
Anjaani
turning
out
to
be
a
success
as
well,
is
it
the
Kapoor
genes
and
some
training
doing
the
trick
again?
As
I
stated
earlier,
all
that
we
have
discussed
at
home
is
movies.
As
a
kid
who
wanted
to
get
into
the
world
of
films,
he
learnt
a
lot
from
these
talks.
At
home
when
we
talked
about
films,
it
ranged
from
everything
to
looks,
dances,
dialogues
etc.
It
was
a
mix
of
everything.
Ranbir's
grooming
happened
subconsciously
through
these
talks
rather
than
any
training
or
explicit
advise
coming
from
us.