Boney Kapoor recalls how he convinced Lata Mangeshkar to make rare on-screen appearance in Pukar: ‘It was either her or Mother Teresa’

Boney Kapoor recalled how he pulled off a major coup by convincing legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar to appear on screen in one of his films. Often regarded as India’s foremost playback singer, Lata Mangeshkar had never appeared in a movie before.

In an interview with O2 India, the producer said that director Rajkumar Santoshi presented him with a challenge, that he must either get Lata Mangeshkar or Mother Teresa to appear in the film Pukar. But since Mother Teresa was dead by then, he devoted all his energy in convincing the Nightingale of India to come on board.

He said, “God was kind. I pleaded, requested, and somehow, she saw my madness and passion. I showed her the film, whatever we had shot till then, and I said, ‘Only you can do justice to this’. In fact, when the situation was thought of, Rajkumar Santoshi told me, ‘Boney, I want either Mother Teresa or Lata Mangeshkar. I need a very pious personality to sing this song’. Mother Teresa had passed away, and the only choice left with me was to get Lata Mangeshkar.”