“The present generation also prefers listening to songs from the golden era of the 1970s and 1980s because they had a soul,” said renowned actress and Padma Shri awardee Asha Parekh during an interaction with city-based celebrity chef Vishnu Manohar on Thursday. The interaction, titled ‘Kuch Yaden Kuch Nagme’, was organised as part of the ‘Deepsandhya’ programme by the Shivaji Maharaj Kruti Samiti at Shivaji Nagar Garden. Held on the first day of Diwali, the evening combined conversations with live performances of popular songs from Parekh’s films. Hundreds of citizens gathered to catch a glimpse of the legendary actress and listen to her experiences. The conversation traced Parekh’s journey from childhood to her celebrated career in Hindi cinema. She also recalled her childhood connection with Nagpur, saying that two of her aunts were married in the city.

 

“Although the city has changed over the years, I remember it as a beautiful and peaceful place with very little traffic,” she said. She also appreciated Nagpur’s audience for continuing to nurture classical music and preserve it for future generations. Recounting an amusing incident from the shooting of ‘Ziddi’, Parekh said she had befriended an elephant belonging to the Gemini Circus. “I became so friendly with the elephant that he would refuse to share even the food I offered him with his mahout,” she recalled. The actress, popularly known as Bollywood’s ‘Jubilee Queen’, also spoke about the hardships faced by actors during the early years of the film industry.

 

Her account of working without vanity vans and basic facilities left the audience surprised. She said actors often had to wait for hours, sometimes an entire day, to use washroom facilities. Recalling her early days, Parekh said she was once suspected of using intoxicating substances because her eyes frequently appeared red during shoots. She explained that powerful reflectors used on film sets strained her eyes and made it difficult to look straight. The evening was interspersed with popular numbers from her films, including ‘Parde Mein Rehne Do’, ‘Jaiye Aap Kahan Jayenge’ and ‘Yeh Shaam Mastani’, transporting the audience to the golden era of Hindi cinema.