Moushumi Chatterjee discusses how she was initially slated for iconic roles in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Guddi and Gulzar's Koshish, only to be replaced by Jaya Bachchan.
Key Points
- Moushumi Chatterjee was initially cast in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Guddi before the role was given to Jaya Bachchan.
- She also began shooting for Gulzar's Koshish but was replaced by Jaya Bachchan.
- Years later, Gulzar signed Moushumi Chatterjee for Angoor with Sanjeev Kumar, which she sees as a form of 'justice'.
Did you know that Moushumi Chatterjee, who turned 78 on April 26, was the first choice for Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Guddi and Gulzar's Koshish?
Moushumi's career began with Tarun Majumdar's superhit Bengali film Balika Badhu. She was 19 at the time, but in this touching story based on Rabindranath Tagore's short work Samapti, she played a much younger child-bride.
Later, Jaya Bhaduri played the same role in Uphaar.
Moushumi's fate, it seems, is inextricably linked to Jaya's.
The Guddi Revelation
Not many know that Moushumi was first signed on for Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Guddi, the 1971 film with which Jaya became an immediate cine icon.
According to Moushumi, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, a family friend of her father-in-law singer-composer Hemant Mukherjee, saw her and immediately offered her Guddi. But Moushumi had no idea what happened next.
Without her knowledge, the project passed on to Jaya.
The Koshish Controversy
Guddi was not the only film Moushumi lost out to Jaya.
In 1972, Gulzar began shooting Koshish with Sanjeev Kumar and Moushumi. Then overnight, as it were, Moushumi was replaced by Jaya, no explanations provided.
"I would never compromise with my dignity for a role," Moushumi had once told Subhash K Jha.
"Koshish is a chapter best forgotten and buried. Many years later, Gulzar signed me for Angoor with the same co-star as Koshish: Haribhai (Sanjeev Kumar). There is something called justice in this world."
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
