The incomparable grace of Waheeda Rehman

In an age where actors take to social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to document their lives, interact with their fans—or even have very public rows—one could perhaps turn to Waheeda Rehman as a reminder of a time when a private life meant something altogether different. The actress, who turned 80 today, is among the few film actresses who have succeeded in keeping their personal and professional life apart. The thespian, who has worked in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali films in a career spanning well over 60 years, always guarded her privacy.

A trained Bharatnatyam dancer, Waheeda Rehman had confessed in an interview to Raja Sen that she never faced any hassles in dancing or facing the camera. Even appropriate facial expressions were not a problem. But when it came to delivering dialogues, she would become extremely nervous. Years ago, in an interview, she revealed that whenever the sound recordist asked her to speak a little loudly during the shoot, she grew very anxious. She always felt that she had a very bad and weak voice.

There has been speculation both, within as well as outside the Hindi film industry about Rehman and Guru Dutt’s relationship. Whatever may have transpired, we’re told of how Rehman’s grace and gravitas often kept the impatient and restless Guru Dutt in check.

When she joined the Hindi film industry, Rehman and Geeta Dutt, Guru Dutt’s wife enjoyed a close relationship. In fact, it is believed that Geeta Dutt played an important role in smoothening out the rough edges of a teenage Waheeda. She groomed her to become the charming and elegant personality we know her to be.

In the same interview, Rehman narrated a story about the film Chaudhvin Ka Chaand (1960). Guru Dutt made this film shortly after the Kagaz Ke Phool (1959) box office disaster. He wanted to shoot the title song of this film in colour to make the film more attractive to the audience. Those days, colour had only just had just been introduced in cinema and people really were curious.

The title song already looked beautiful in black and white. When it reached the Censor Board after it was transformed into colour, the Censor Board called it ‘hot’. Guru Dutt was shocked. He argued that they had just put in colours in the same song. What had become so sensuous in the song? The Censor Board argued that Rehman’s eyes had become a little red, which made her look very sensual. Later, Guru Dutt had a hearty laugh about the entire issue.

Rehman admired Dev Anand as a co-actor. Anand had a reputation for making his co-actors very comfortable. But the pair of Rehman and Anand was a particularly successful one—it delivered many hits.

Guide (1965) was successful and is now considered a classic. Rehman also, by and large, remained a very successful and popular actor. But she, like her best friend Nanda, took acting merely as work and did not let it supersede her life. She was a heartthrob of millions but never made a display of her personal life in public. This is a big achievement. The way Nanda never spoke much about her relationship with Manmohan Desai, Waheeda too has maintained a stoic silence over her complex relationship with Guru Dutt. Such was the power of their working relationship that it resulted in some beautiful films and excellent performances. Rehman’s desire to guard her privacy is also indicative of her grace.