Actor Vidya Balan praises Pradeep Sarkar for casting her in ‘Parineeta’

Nearly two decades have passed since the release of the song “Kabhi aana tu meri gali” by pop band Euphoria, featuring Vidya Balan.  Vidya recently reminisced about how her first Bollywood film, “Parineeta,” directed by Pradeep Sarkar in 2005, came her way. Reflecting on her experiences while shooting the song alongside Palash Sen and under Sarkar’s direction, Vidya told IANS: “I remember when I shot ‘Kabhi aana tu meri gali’, it was over five nights. When I say nights, the shoot was supposed to be from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. But dada (Sarkar) would shoot beyond that.” The National-Award-winning actress used to reside two hours away in Chembur, Mumbai, from the shoot location in Boisar. “For five days, I did not come back home. I had a model friend living close by, and I would go to her house, bathe, come back, and sleep on location,” she recalled with laughter.

Vidya confessed that she still loves the song. “I love the song, and I loved the opportunity I was getting to do a music video and to work with Pradeep Sarkar and Euphoria. It was so much fun,” Vidya said. The actress then recounted another anecdote from the shoot, where she got giddy during a particular scene. “I remember on the last day in the morning we were supposed to finish at 6 a.m., but we were continuing to shoot. It was 10 a.m., and there was a shot of me pouring water into the Tulsi, and when I went there, suddenly the sun hit me,” she said. “I got giddy, and people started saying ‘shakkar lao, paani lao, and all, and dada is telling me, ‘I don’t have time for all this, come on, come on’.... And I was like, ‘what?’ Dada was so passionate, unhe kuch nahi dikhta tha.”

Vidya added: “At that time, I thought he was so rude, but later, once I got to know him, I realised that dada was different.” The actress then shared how Sarkar expressed his desire to make a film with her. They both ventured into the world of cinema with the 2005 film “Parineeta,” an adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s 1914 Bengali novella of the same name. “That was my first big work with dada. I had done an ad with dada, but that was my first big work with him. At the end of the shoot, he said, ‘Ae ladki tere saath film banaunga,’ and I was like, ‘haan haan’. Dada actually kept his word,” she shared.

Meanwhile, Vidya, who was left stunned by “Superstar Singer 3” contestant Atharav Bakshi’s rendition of the song “Humari Adhuri Kahani,” expressed her desire to advocate for him to her husband Siddharth Roy Kapur and other producers, urging them to give him a chance to sing. Vidya appeared on the stage of the kids’ singing reality show along with her “Do Aur Do Pyaar” co-star Pratik Gandhi . Atharav from Hazaribagh, Jharkhand won hearts with his magical version of the song “Humari Adhuri Kahani,” accompanied by his team captain Pawandeep Rajan on the piano.

Indo-Asian News Service