Moushumi Chatterjee, who last appeared in the 2015 movie Piku, shared some memories from her illustrious career and discussed how she was replaced in several films due to her adherence to personal and professional boundaries. In a recent interview with Lehren TV, she specifically mentioned the 1972 film Koshish, directed by Gulzar, in which she was replaced by Jaya Bachchan after filming for three days.
Elaborating on the same, Moushumi Chatterjee said that she witnessed all the manipulations done in those three days. She recalled, “I shot for three days, and I could see what manipulations were done in those three days. I could see Jaya Bachchan’s secretary; she was there from morning to night at the office.” She also mentioned that lyricist Gulzar, who used to teach Urdu to her mother-in-law, suddenly asked her to work until late at night. However, she refused the request, citing the reason that she had just given birth to a baby and could not work late shifts.
But what really “triggered” her was the moment when Gulzar in front of all said that there are many actresses standing in line to take her spot. Moushumi Chatterjee said, “He said, ‘You know so many actresses are there in line to take that spot.’ I got triggered, and I said, ‘Then take them.’ From then on, his assistant Daddu Sippy used to call me ‘Ma’.”
Moushumi Chatterjee further revealed that after she refused to work late, Gulzar even went to her father-in-law, renowned music director Hemant Kumar, to convince her to change her mind. However, when Gulzar informed him that Moushumi was planning to leave the sets, Hemant Kumar simply said, “Let her go."
Koshish, the movie starring Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bachchan, portrayed the struggles of a deaf and mute couple, and their performances were so impressive that the film won two National Awards: one for Best Screenplay for Gulzar and the other for Best Actor dedicated to Sanjeev Kumar.
Moushumi Chatterjee has worked in over 100 movies. Before Piku, Moushumi Chatterjee appeared in Aparna Sen’s Bengali film Goynar Baksho in 2013. The veteran actress shared the screen space with Konkona Sensharma.
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