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She was not to know then how poignant those innocuous words would seem in
retrospect during the shooting of Baharein Phir Bhi Aayegi. Almost always
bursting with good cheer, the articulate Tanuja was as animated as a wood
sprite.
She scored each time she extended her off-screen effervescence to her screen
image (Jeene Ki Raah, Jewel Thief, Haathi Mere Saathi). Like Geeta Bali, the
spitfire of the 1950s Tanuja possessed a sunshine smile and saucy attitude. To
sadly corroborate the popular adage that history repeats itself, she too had
only a handful of roles befitting her immense talent. When 1940s star Shobhana
Samarth decided to launch her daughter Nutan with Hamari Beti (1950), she also
gave her younger daughter Tanuja a break as a child actor. The film did not do
much for either of Shobhana's betis.
Soon, Tanuja was packed off abroad where she fine-tuned her etiquette and
familiarised herself with English, French and German. She returned with only a
working knowledge of Hindi but willingly shared screen space with her now famous
sister Nutan for their home production Chhabili (1960). This film too failed to
provide the wind below Tanuja's wings. Tanuja's true transformation into an
adult heroine came with Hamari Yaad Aayegi (1961), helmed by director Kidar
Sharma who had discovered Raj Kapoor, Madhubala and Geeta Bali. Ever up to
monkey tricks, young Tanuja was even slapped by the veteran director for
giggling during a dramatic scene.
Fortunately, the film also proved to be a slap on the face of her detractors.
Playing a street waif, she got her first recognition as a spontaneous actress.
But the film did not register on the box-office radar and is remembered only for
chanteuse Mubarak Begum's curse-in-verse, Kabhi tanhaiyon mein yun, hamari yaad
aayegi ... phir na jee sakoge tum, na tujhko maut aayegi.
The early 1960s saw Tanuja's career stuck in development hell. Her roles were a
curious clutch of supporting roles in major films like Aaj Aur Kal (her
vivacious character provided a striking personality contrast to a morose Nanda),
and Benazir (with Meena Kumari and Ashok Kumar); a role with comedian Mehmood
(Bhoot Bangla) and lead parts opposite medium impact newcomers like Dharmendra
in Chand Aur Suraj.
When Guru Dutt died, leaving Tanuja's big hope Baharein Phir Bhi Aayegi
incomplete, Dharmendra replaced him. Mala Sinha may have had the more dramatic
role, but it was Tanuja whom Dharmendra loved and serenaded. But the big solo
hit eluded her. Tanuja's progress was as arduous as any pilgrim's. Her late
1960s roles ranged from good (she sizzled in Jewel Thief), to bad (a go-nowhere
role in Hema Malini's debut Sapnon Ka Saudagar), to indifferent (Nai Roshni,
Wahan Ke Log, Juari). Creatively, the bright spark was Do Dooni Char co-starring
Kishore Kumar. In this adaptation of Shakespeare's Comedy Of Errors, Tanuja
displayed formidable comic timing.
It was her unusual pairing with Jeetendra in Jeene Ki Raah (1969) that
catapulted Tanuja into stardom. She played a wheelchair-bound rich girl who is
spurred to walk after she is smitten by Jeetendra. But, unknown to her, he is
already married. Tanuja stayed true to her zingy personality and dried off any
excessive melodrama. In the same year, Tanuja won the Best Supporting Actress
Filmfare Award for Paisa Ya Pyar. Tanuja was flooded with films, and some like
Pavitra Papi (1970) showcased a more sedate side of the actress.
In Haathi Mere Saathi (1971), she shared space with elephants, big cats and
Rajesh Khanna, the catnip of the 1970s. Her romantic role had negative shades
towards the second half -- she thinks her husband's favourite elephant tried to
kill her child and demands the tusker be banished -- but Tanuja won the
audiences by bringing depth to her character.Rajesh Khanna and Tanuja did two
more films together, Mere Jeevan Saathi and Humshakal, but they proved to be
also-rans. Tanuja then refused the role eventually played by Zeenat Aman in the
ground-breaking Hare Rama Hare Krishna as she did not want to play Dev Anand's
sister.
Tanuja was eminently interesting when she tried something different, like Basu
Bhattacharya's Anubhav (1971). She let Bhattacharya shoot the film in her
apartment and was rewarded with a memorable role of a wife caught between an
unfulfilling marriage (to Sanjeev Kumar) and an ex-lover (Dinesh Thakur). In a
vastly underrated performance, Tanuja made evident with the subtlest of gestures
the many shifts in her character's psyche. A whirlwind romance with Mukherjee
scion Shomu, her Ek Baar Muskara Do (1972) director, resulted in Tanuja getting
married in 1973 and taking it easy after daughter Kajol's birth on August 5,
1974.
Tanuja was wheelchair-bound once again (a la Jeene Ki Raah) in one of her last
films as a heroine, Imtihaan (1974). She was cast more to type in Humrahi, a
rollicking comedy which had Tanuja exchanging barbs and jokes with Randhir
Kapoor. Thereafter, she grittily pulled herself out of a stagnant marriage but
was swamped by character roles in films often starring former heroes. Her Pyar
Ki Kahani hero Amitabh Bachchan had to call her bhabhi in Khuddar (1982). But
the occasional powerful character like in Raj Kapoor's Prem Rog (1982) kept her
creative muse alive and reminded us of her talent and the famous sparkle in her
eye.
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