Parveen Babi was original choice for ‘Silsila’, reveals Ranjeet

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India]: Veteran actor Ranjeet has revealed that Parveen Babi was first chosen to be cast alongside Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan in the 1981 film ‘Silsila’ but she was later replaced by Jaya Bachchan.

Ranjeet opened up about his bond with Parveen Babi and said she was upset after she was not cast in the famous film. Parveen Babi passed away in January 2005.

“She (Parveen Babi) was my dear friend… she was all alone. She was a beautiful lady. Always smiling and we used to call her ‘fawada’ because of her teeth….Once she was very upset and she was crying. I asked her ‘Kya hua Parveen’. We were in Kashmir and I don’t mind quoting because it’s a fact. A film was made, ‘Silsila’ and Parveen Babi was the original heroine but she was asked to leave. And because of a gimmick controversy, they cast Rekha and Jaya Bhaduri in the film otherwise it was Parveen and Rekha.”

The ‘Prem Pratigyaa’ actor also talked about his friendly bond with the late actor Sanjeev Kumar, and said that they used to meet every evening.

“He used to live in Pali Hill…every person has a spending threshold, I want this thing but can’t afford it, still, I would take it even if have to take the loan… he was not like that. He didn’t want to…his father died, his brother died, so many people died, you know. Wo to destiny hoti hai,” Ranjeet said.

He also said that the film industry has lost many iconic actors who shaped the Hindi cinema.

“Many actors have gone. Shashi Kapoor, I used to work with all these guys. Dutt sahib, Raaj Kumar, Rajesh Khanna. Every day we were together. Char-panch hero hote the, char-panch villain hote the (there were four-five heroes and four-five villians)”.

Gopal Bedi, popularly known by his screen name Ranjeet, carved a niche for himself in the film industry and became one of the most popular villains of all time.

Born in September 1941, Ranjeet has been part of several films and TV shows. His memorable movies include ‘Raampur Ka Lakshman’, ‘Victoria No. 203’, ‘Dharam-Veer’ and ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’.