Moushumi Chatterjee says she was replaced by Jaya Bachchan in Koshish, reveals why she got triggered by Gulzar

Koshish was a National Award-winning film which focused on the trials and tribulations of a deaf and mute couple, played by Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bachchan. It was helmed by Gulzar.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | April 26, 2023 07:38 PM IST

3 min read

Moushumi Chatterjee recalls how she once had a falling out with Gulzar. (Photo: Express Archive)

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Moushumi Chatterjee has been working in films for a long time, until she took a break in between, as she self-admittedly did not want to compromise. The actor, who was last seen in Shoojit Sircar’s Piku (2015), recently got chatty about her film journey.

Speaking to Lehren TV, the actor-politician recalled how because of her own boundaries regarding personal and professional life, she was replaced in multiple films.

Speaking specifically about the 1972 Gulzar directorial Koshish, Moushumi Chatterjee said she was replaced by Jaya Bachchan in the film after having shot for it for three days.

“I shot for three days, and I could see what manipulations were done in those three days. I could see Jaya Bachchan’s secretary; she was there from morning to night at the office. And all of a sudden Gulzar da, whom I had known since Geetanjali and who used to teach my mother-in-law Urdu, said, ‘You have got to shoot from tomorrow to little late in the night.’ I had just had a baby and I said, ‘I cannot, I have a child at home. I can only shoot in one shift.’ Then he said in front of everybody, ‘You know so many actresses are there in line to take that spot.’ I got triggered, and I said, ‘Then take them.’ From then on, his assistant Daddu Sippy used to call me ‘Ma,'” said Moushumi as she took a trip down memory lane.

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Moushumi Chatterjee then went on to add that Gulzar even approached her father-in-law Hemant Kumar, a known music director at that time, to instill some sense in her as she got ready to walk out of the sets: “When Gulzar da saw that I was really ready to leave, he called Hemant Da. And then he was like ‘Dada, she is going.’ And my father-in-law simply said, ‘Let her go.'”

Koshish was a National Award-winning film which focused on the trials and tribulations of a deaf and mute couple, played by Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bachchan.

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