Tarachand Barjatya made Zarina Wahab quit non-veg food to play Radha in Gopal Krishna: ‘It was difficult at first’

Tarachand Barjatya, the grandfather of critically acclaimed filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya, was the founder of Rajshree films and a true believer that movies don’t need obscenity or violence to be successful at the box office. To prove his point, he established the production house after working as a distributor for several years, and produced the film Aarti (1962), which was a massive hit. He went on to make several films based on family values.

In 1979, the producer made the film Gopal Krishna, starring Zarina Wahab and Sachin Pilgaonkar. He made a set of rules for his actors, which included quitting non-vegetarian food while shooting mythological films. Recently, Zarina, who played Radha in the film, recalled how she bagged the role and the conditions Tarachand put before her. Speaking to Lehren Retro, Zarina said, “One night, I received a call. The person asked me to come to a particular film set the next day if I was free. I went. As soon as I reached there, I was given a certain outfit and was asked to check if it fit.”

Zarina was summoned as a replacement for another actor, whose tantrums Tarachand Barjatya had refused to tolerate. She shared, “They were replacing a heroine in the film after having shot 11 reels of film. I don’t want to disclose who she was. My hairdresser at that time informed me about her.”

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She further shared, “After pack-up, Tarachand Barjatya, who we fondly addressed as Sethji, called me to his office. He told me, ‘Look, you are playing Radha in this film, Gopal Krishna, so please quit eating meat until we finish shooting the film.’ I agreed to it. I didn’t ever eat meat until the film released.”

For Zarina, it was difficult at first, but she got used to it. She said, “Now, I prefer vegetarian over non vegetarian food unless I am in Hyderabad. I love biryani there.”