Jaya Bachchan was cast in Guddi because Moushumi Chatterjee hurt Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s ego: ‘I didn’t want to wear a short skirt’

Moushumi Chatterjee said that Hrishikesh Mukherjee tried to ruin her career even before it began because she refused to work in his film.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | May 30, 2025 10:02 AM IST

3 min read

Jaya Bachchan was offered the role in Guddi after Moushumi Chatterjee refused to wear a short skirt.

Moushumi Chatterjee was one of the rare female actors of her time who actually started working in Hindi movies as a leading lady after she got married. Moushumi shared in a recent interview that she got married at 15 to composer Hemant Kumar’s son Jayanta, and explained that she was never ambitious about her career. She shared that before she got married, she had received an offer from director Hrishikesh Mukherjee to work in Guddi (1971), which later starred Jaya Bachchan (then Bhaduri), but she refused the offer because the character was required to wear short skirts. Hrishikesh was so upset by her refusal that he vowed to destroy her career even before it began, but for Moushumi, he wasn’t even on her radar because she wasn’t thinking about a career in films.

In a chat with Filmfare, she recalled working with Hrishikesh Mukherjee in the 1990s television series Talaash. The series was being produced by Jayant, so Hrishikesh assumed that Moushumi would make an exception and work on a Sunday, even though she was very strict about spending time with her daughters on holidays. Moushumi refused to budge and that’s when Hrishikesh revealed to her that he “ruined” her career even before it began.

“I didn’t do Guddi because the heroine was supposed to wear a short skirt. My father said no because firstly, this was a Hindi film, and because we didn’t know who Hrihsikesh Mukherjee was. He said I did Talaash only because I wanted to make up for what happened on Guddi. He said I ruined your career,” she recalled. She remembered Hrishikesh’s words saying, “At that time, I was such an egoist. I thought, ‘You said no to Hrishikesh Mukherjee, we will se how you come make a career in Mumbai’. He said, ‘I did not want you to work on that movie. I don’t want this heroine, I want that heroine.” And that’s how he cast Jaya in the role that changed the trajectory of her career.

ALSO READ | Karan Johar, Ram Kapoor, Kusha Kapila face Ozempic barbs: Why this appetite for hate when it comes to celebs and their bodies?

Moushumi said that she started wearing saree at the age of 13 and wasn’t comfortable wearing sort clothes. She also recalled an incident where costume designer Mani J Rabadi gave her a backless blouse and a short ghagra for a film. She started crying and said, “I feel like I am naked.” Her husband had to tell her that her dress was okay and it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for films.

From the homepage