‘Nobody has given me that much importance ever’: Smita Jaykar praises SLB

Bollywood blockbuster movie ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ has completed 25 years of success this month. The movie stars Aishwarya Rai, Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Actress Smita Jaykar who played Aishwarya Rai’s mother in the movie recalled how she begged the role. She said, “Back then, I was doing a TV serial called Ghutan. Sanjay Ji’s mother used to watch that serial. They were casting for Aishwarya’s mom then, which I was not even aware of. She told Sanjay Bhansali to cast me. That’s how they contacted me. His film Khamoshi was released and flopped. I questioned myself, Who am I to judge this director because his first film was a flop? Because I had only done Sarfarosh back then. It was not fair on my part. Also, I was not in a position where I could choose to do a film or not. So, I met Sanjay ji and that’s how the film came to me.”

Smita Jaykar also shared her first day in the set she was given 20-30 sarees and SLB asked her to choose as much as she want. She shared saying, “Nobody has given me that much importance ever. I didn’t have any specifications about colours but I still selected some sarees which I liked.”

By Banashree