Waheeda Rehman reveals Raj Khosla advised Guru Dutt not to cast her in Pyaasa, he was the reason why she refused Guide initially

“That film was called Rojolu Marayi, which meant days have changed and my days really changed,” recalled Waheeda. When Arbaaz asked about meeting Guru Dutt, she said, “He (Guru Dutt) was sitting in distributor’s office and cars passed from outside, so there was so much noise and crowds had come. Guru Dutt asked if there is some protest happening? The distributor said, ‘a new girl danced in that song. Guru you can’t imagine how popular she has become and her name is Waheeda Rehman.’ Then he asked for a meeting with me.”

She further said, “Guru Dutt ji was a very quiet person and he asked me 2-3 questions to know if I can really speak Urdu. After 30 minutes, we came back home. Cut to after 6 months, we were called to Mumbai.”

Waheeda made her Hindi acting debut with director Raj Khosla’s CID, which went on to become a blockbuster. But the path leading to her first Bollywood film was filled with obstacles. First one being, the request by the film’s producer Guru Dutt and Raj to change her name.

“Me and my mother were in shock!” recalls Waheeda after Arbaaz asked about the incident. She further said, “‘Change the name, for what?’ They said my name is too long. A lot of argument happened and then they said that you go, we will think and tell. When we came back, they said, ‘ok we will keep the name.'”

However, Waheeda requested a special clause in her contract, which took the makers by surprise. She told them, “I said. ‘I need a small clause that if I don’t like any costume, then I won’t wear it. Suppose a character demands, you have to convince me that the character demands a certain kind of costume.’ Eventually they agreed and added it.”

Even though CID is touted as one of the highest grossing films of that era, Waheeda faced some difficulty in performing effortlessly and director Raj could pick that up.

Waheeda shared on the show, “CID and Pyaasa were being shot simultaneously. CID was being directed by Raj Khosla and Pyaasa was being directed by Guru Dutt ji. During CID I could feel that my performance was not up to the mark but I didn’t know what to do. Raj ji was unable to handle a newcomer. He told Guru, that ‘you are making a big mistake with Pyaasa. This girl is not good. She is like a wooden doll’ but Guru ji said that ‘I am very happy. She can learn and pick up things well.”

Almost eight years later, Waheeda was offered Guide, a film co-starring Dev Anand, which is till date considered a classic. However, not many know that she had refused the film when it was offered to her initially.

“Dev (Anand) sent me the novel, The Guide by RK Narayan and I got to know that Raj Khosla was chosen to direct it. So I was like ‘oh oh’ and then Dev asked me what happened? I told him that on the sets of Solva Saal (1958), I had an argument with him and he was very angry. He had said that this is my last movie and all those things.’ Dev said, ‘Leave it, these are old things, he is a nice man’.”

However, the film was eventually directed by Vijay Anand, something that Waheeda had been secretly rooting for, for a long time. She said, “Main shuru se chaah rahi thi ki Hindi ke liye Vijay Anand direct kare because with him I had done Kaala Bazaar and CID ke zamaane se aata jaate the.”

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