Amrita Rao recalls her first meeting with director Sooraj Barjatya

Actress Amrita Rao’s iconic role as Poonam in Sooraj Barjatya’s “Vivah” enjoys a special place in the hearts of movie buffs. During a media interaction, Amrita had recalled how she bagged the role. Remembering her first meeting with the celebrated director, she revealed that, unaware of the role she was being approached for, she went to meet Barjatya wearing jeans and t-shirt.

“When I met Suraj ji for the first time, I had no clue what his expectations were for me, what form he wanted to see me in. I had no idea. So I went dressed completely in western jeans and a t-shirt like a total contemporary Bombayite to find that the role he wants me to enact is a small town girl from Madhupur who is Poonam,” she shared. Amrita further remembered how she was left absolutely shocked that Barjatya thought of her for “Vivah,” after seeing her in “Legend of Bhagat Singh,” a movie where she barely had any screen time.

Sharing the first thing the director told her, Amrita continued, “But one thing I really, really will not forget is the first thing Suraj ji said to me was, ‘I really liked you in that film of yours’. And in that split second, you know, my mind went to all the big box office hit films that I’ve usually been associated with. But to my surprise, he said something like ‘Legend of Bhagat Singh’, you know, jaha pe kul mila kar I think screen pe I was just barely enough for seven minutes. So that was very touchy because that role had made an impact on someone like Sooraj Barjatya.”

“Vivah” turned out to be the biggest commercial success at that point for the lead pair of the drama, Amrita Rao and Shahid Kapoor.

Produced and distributed by Rajshri Productions, “Vivah” is the first Indian film to be simultaneously released in theatres and on the internet. Meanwhile, Amrita took a trip down memory lane as she celebrated the anniversary of her film “Deewar: Let’s Bring Our Heroes Home,” further recalling a special moment involving megastar Amitabh Bachchan and her work in “Vivah.”

Taking to her social media account, Amrita marked the anniversary of “Deewar: Let’s Bring Our Heroes Home” and also fondly remembered how Amitabh Bachchan had once praised her performance in “Vivah.” She recalled how he also went on to remind her that the two who had earlier been a part of “Deewar,” did not share a scene in the film.

Recalling the memory related to Big B, Amrita wrote, “A sweet memory — Mr Bachchan came out of the screening of ‘Vivah’ in the Rajshri office. As he praised my work he reminded me that we were a part of this film Deewar but we did not have any working scene together. Cut To – a few years later in “Satyagraha” I played his daughter in law and guess what ALL Our Scenes were together from the Start to endGlorious memories.”

Indo-Asian News Service