Actress Pallavi Chatterjee has spoken out about the controversial kissing scene involving her father, veteran actor Biswajeet, and Rekha during the shooting of ‘Anjana Safar’, saying the incident would have been extremely traumatic for a young girl and should not have happened without the actress’ consent.This episode, which has been a topic of discussion for a long time, is detailed in Yasir Othman’s autobiography entitled “Rika: The Untold Story.” The book claims that Rekha, who was around 15 at the time, was unaware that a kissing scene was being planned and was shocked and upset during the shoot.In a conversation with journalist Vicky Lalwani, Pallavi spoke about the incident and suggested that filmmakers of that era would sometimes hide details from actors to capture spontaneous reactions on camera.“There were directors who would tell an actor about a scene but not fully tell the other person because they wanted a certain reaction on camera. I feel that if an incident like this had happened, where someone was kissing another person for several minutes in front of the entire unit, it could not have happened without the director’s approval. The director might have said: ‘This is the shot I want.'” In those days, on-screen kissing was neither common nor widely accepted.
“Pallavi said Rekha’s young age would have made the experience particularly painful.“She was very young back then. If something like that happened to you without warning, what were you supposed to do? When you’re young and something inappropriate happens, you often feel embarrassed even to speak out loud. Those times were very different. If a much bigger star was doing something like that, what could you really do?”She also revealed that the two families have a close personal relationship, which in her view may have made the incident even more upsetting for Rika.“Rekha used to come to our house and we would play together as children. Our families were very close and we would visit each other’s homes. It was probably more shocking for her because there was a family connection. You think of someone as part of your extended family and then something like this happens.”While Pallavi defended her father’s reputation and behavior towards women, she stressed that responsibility for the incident does not lie solely with him.“My father worked with many women throughout his career and nothing like this was ever reported. He always had great respect for women. If a woman entered a room, he would stand up to greet her. I don’t think my father alone was involved in what happened.”She also speculated that the scene may have been performed on the director’s instructions.“Personally, I feel like someone said to him: ‘Do this, I need this kind of shot.’”
Other than that, there have been plenty of successful films in which nothing like this ever happened.Meanwhile, Pallavi made it clear that she is not condoning what happened.“It was definitely wrong. It wouldn’t have been right, whether my father or anyone else had done it. He should have either refused to do it or gotten Rekha’s consent first. She wasn’t ready for that, and it would obviously have been traumatic for a 15 or 16-year-old girl.”She also noted that Rekha and Biswajit worked together again later.“Rekha worked with my father again after that incident in Kahti Hain Mojko Raja,” she said.The incident is described in detail in the book “Rekha: The Untold Story”. Although ‘Anjana Safar’ was originally supposed to be Rekha’s debut film, ‘Sawan Bhadon’ released before it. According to the bio, Rekha was around 15 years old during the shoot, while Biswajeet was 32 years old.The book claims that a romantic sequence was shot at Mehboob Studio in Mumbai when director Raja Nawath planned to capture Rekha’s real reaction on camera. The actress was allegedly not aware of the kissing scene in advance.“As soon as the director said ‘action’, Biswajit took Rekha in his arms and pressed his lips to hers. Rekha was stunned. This kiss was never mentioned to her. The camera kept rolling; the director did not order ‘cut’ and Biswajit did not let go,” the book reads.According to the biography, the kiss lasted for about five minutes, during which members of the film unit reportedly whistled and cheered, leaving Rekha in tears afterwards.