Juhi!
V S Srinivasan
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Juhi Chawla. Click for bigger pic!
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The slender, comely brown-eyed girl's eyes widened slowly in amazement. Yes, she was really being declared Miss India -- 1984. The dazed child-woman who went forward to pick the award was Juhi Chawla.
Much water has flowed under the bridge since then but the Miss India, a little thicker about the middle, has seen success, failure, comebacks ... Even an alleged marriage to businessman Jai Mehta that generated more glossy newsprint than the Canadian forests could replenish.
Yes, Juhi's come a long, long way from the time she played the QSQT cutie opposite Aamir Khan. And after a disastrous 1996, during which her films, bar Loafer, sank like a bunch of stones, she bounced back in 1997 with three hits and one also-ran, respectively Yes Boss, Ishq, Deewana Mastana and Mr and Mrs Khiladi. And if Saat Rang ke Sapne did not do too well, she can console herself: What else could you expect from a film released on Friday, the 13th?
But all work makes Juhi a dull girl. So when will she spend some time with swain/spouse Jai Mehta.
Juhi recoils, and her pretty pink dress sways in diminuendo to stillness. Very pretty if the face hadn't been so forbidding. Then she returns with her stock reply: "No personal questions. I will only talk about my career..." Like her upcoming Duplicate, Safari or Jhoot Bole Kauva Kaate.
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With Anil Kapoor in Deewana Mastana. Click for bigger pic!
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"I'm also doing a Malayalam film opposite Mammotty and Mohanlal. Priyanji (director Priyadarshan) asked me to the film. All these are pretty good films. I will love to talk about them."
She ties up her hair as she parries some questions from some very film types about why she wasn't present at the Filmfare award function. She didn't tell them it was because she didn't figure among the winners, though that would be an obvious guess. The only time she's figured among the awards was when she bagged the best actress award for Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke.
Saat Rang ke Sapne, a remake of the Malayalam superhit Thenmavin Kombathu, hasn't worked. But she is still enthusiastic about the film.
"I think it is one of the best films I have acted in so far. Priyanji has done a great job. He is a great director. He has vision, knows exactly what he wants. He's never in two minds about how to take a shot."
If she thinks so highly of Priyadarshan, why did she refuse a role in Virasat, the role that finally saw to it that Tabu attended the Filmfare function and that she didn't?
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Click for bigger pic!
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"I think I'm stupid," she says. "But then, when the role was offered to me, Virasat was not being directed by Priyanji. He came into the picture only after some time."
Another role she refused was the one in Mrityudand which earned Madhuri Dixit the Screen best actress award.
"I know I've been making mistake after mistake. But there's nothing new. Today's films are very male-dominated. Frankly, I did not know what to do when I got a woman-based role. Prakash Jha offered me the role Madhuri finally played...
"I thought that the character was too aggressive. I did not want to go into too much of blood and gore. So I asked Prakashji if he could make a commercial film with me. He did, and I acted in Bandish with Jackie Shroff but the film bit the dust -- badly. It did not even get a decent opening. And just look at what Mrityudand has done to Madhuri. People are raving about her all over again."
We insert the odd question about Jai. Had he -- whether he was her husband or not -- bought her shares in his company.
"What if he has? No personal questions! Next, you'll ask me if the van I'm using has been gifted by him. My god, shall we proceed with my career?
So we proceed with her career. She hasn't done too badly in 1997, has she?
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Click for bigger pic!
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"It's nice to know that your films are doing well and that your work's being appreciated. The problem is that failure is not accepted here. You have to give hits. I was very tense about 1997. I was signing few films and wanted to make the right choice."
So, just when the end of her career seemed nigh, came David Dhawan's Deewana Mastana, a love triangle with her as the prize. She'd acted before in David's hits Bol Radha Bol and Eena Meena Deeka opposite Rishi Kapoor. "Deewana Mastana was naturally a good film for me. In Ishq, I had those comic bits with Aamir. So it was fun."
How did she get along with Kajol during the making of Ishq? The lady is known to be temperamental.
"Why aren't you asking me about Aamir or Shah Rukh?"
Because she's already worked with them before.
"Oh, Kajol's a very straightforward person..." And she meanders a bit: "I already had a great rapport with Aamir and Ajay as we have worked together before. So it was a job well done. I am very happy about 1997. Let's keep our finger crossed for 1998."
The rise, fall and rise of Juhi Chawla
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