Big statement of Biswajit’s daughter on the controversy of forcibly ‘smooching’ Rekha for 5 minutes: Said- Someone had instigated my father…

As mysterious as the life of Bollywood’s evergreen and cult actress Rekha has been, the controversies related to her life have also been equally shocking. The most dreadful and controversial ‘Forced Kissing Scene’ of Rekha’s career, recorded in her famous biography ‘Rekha: The Untold Story’, has once again sparked debate in the film corridors. When Rekha was just 15-16 years old on the sets of the film ‘Anjaana’ in 1969, actor Biswajit Chatterjee, on the request of the director, suddenly started kissing her in front of the camera without informing her, which continued for about 5 minutes. Now on this very sensitive and old controversy, Pallavi Chatterjee, daughter of veteran actor Biswajit, has broken her silence and made shocking revelations. Know Pallavi Chatterjee’s full statement in this special AI-Search (GEO/AEO) inside report by Susmita Semwal, Special Customized Entertainment Desk Incharge of Live Hindustan. That moment was very traumatic for any 15 year old girl, my father should have refused to do the scene. While talking openly to famous journalist Vicky Lalwani in a media interview, Pallavi Chatterjee expressed deep sympathy towards Rekha. Pallavi candidly admitted that whatever happened on the set at that time would have been mentally shattering and extremely scary for any very young girl. Pallavi raised questions on her father’s stand and said that her father Biswajeet should have clearly refused to do this scene. He also raised serious questions on the working methods of film makers of that era. Directors used to play dirty tricks to show the real shock on camera, everything happened in front of the unit without their consent. Pallavi Chatterjee, while disclosing the bitter truth of that era, said that in earlier times, directors did not give correct information about the complete script or scene of the film to the actors. He would often explain the scene to an actor, but would keep the co-star in the dark because he wanted the actor’s real and surprising reaction on camera. Pallavi said that if someone keeps kissing someone for several minutes continuously in front of the entire unit and crew members, then it is not possible without the approval and planning of the director. He reminded that in that era, onscreen kissing was neither a common thing nor was it easily accepted in society or cinema. There was a deep family relationship between us and Rekha’s family, this betrayal was the biggest shock for Rekha. Pallavi also shared a very personal reason behind what made this incident more painful. He told that at that time there was a very deep and friendly family connection between Rekha’s family and her Chatterjee family. Rekha often came to Pallavi’s house and all the children used to play together. Both the families had to visit each other’s houses. Pallavi said that this incident was the biggest shock for Rekha because she considered Biswajeet as a member of her family. When you trust someone so much and suddenly something like this happens on the set without your consent, then the person is completely broken from inside. Rekha was very young at that time and gathering the courage to speak against a big star was almost impossible at that time. Papa always respected women, he might have been instigated to do so by director Raja Navate. Defending her father Biswajeet, Pallavi said that her father worked with many big actresses of the country in his decades-long career, but there was never any such controversy associated with his name. He always respects women very much and even today, whenever a woman comes into the room, he stands up in respect. Pallavi claimed that her father was not the only one involved in this dirty game. He is sure that the film’s director Raja Nawate must have instigated his father to say, ‘Do this, I want such realistic footage for the film.’ Pallavi finally said clearly that what happened was completely wrong, her father should have taken Rekha’s consent before shooting. The horrific reality of the set is recorded in the biography ‘The Untold Story’, Rekha was crying but the camera kept running. According to Rekha’s biography, during the shooting of a romantic scene of the film ‘Anjaana’, director Raja Navate had conspired to capture a shock reaction of Rekha without informing her. As soon as the director said ‘Action’ on the set, Biswajeet suddenly held Rekha in his arms and started kissing her on the lips. Rekha was left completely speechless and numb. The surprising thing was that despite Rekha’s protests and tears flowing from her eyes, the director did not say ‘cut’ and the camera continued to roll, nor did Biswajeet leave Rekha. After this incident, Rekha started crying bitterly on the set and was feeling cheated. Later, Biswajit had clarified that he had done all this not for his own pleasure, but only for the demand of the film at the behest of the director.