The classic Bollywood film ‘Silsila,’ which brought together the iconic stars Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha, had initially cast Parveen Babi for the role eventually played by Jaya Bachchan. This revelation was brought to light by Bollywood’s veteran actor Ranjeet, who shared this intriguing piece of cinema history in a detailed interview.
The year was 1981, and the film industry was abuzz with the making of ‘Silsila’—a movie that, unbeknownst to many at the time, would become a legendary representation of complex relationships onscreen. While the sizzling chemistry between Amitabh and Rekha was the talk of the town, not many knew that the initial cast had included the vivacious Parveen Babi.
Ranjeet, who is popularly known by his screen name and played roles that etched him as one of the quintessential villains in Bollywood, was much more than a mere colleague to Parveen. They shared a friendship that allowed Ranjeet to become a confidant to the actress during her personal upheavals.
According to Ranjeet, Parveen Babi was all set to take on the role in ‘Silsila,’ with preparations well underway when an unexpected turn of events brought a halt to her involvement in the movie. It was during a stint in Kashmir when he noticed an inconsolable Parveen Babi shedding tears over her removal from the film.
“She was my dear friend… always smiling, and we used to affectionately call her ‘fawada’ because of her teeth,” recounted Ranjeet with a fondness tempered by the sorrow of the memory. The crux of this unfortunate twist, as Ranjeet shared, was a ‘gimmick controversy,’ which led the filmmakers to recast and thus brought Jaya Bachchan alongside Rekha for this monumental project.
This incident signified more than just another casting change in Bollywood; it was a major blow to Babi, who was already battling personal demons. At the peak of her career, Parveen Babi shocked the film fraternity by stepping away from the limelight. Her later years were marked by a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, an ailment that left her living a reclusive life, distant from the adoring public and the bustling world of cinema.
The sadness that surrounded Parveen’s life extended to her last days. She passed away alone in her Mumbai apartment, her death discovered a day later on January 20, 2005—an end befitting the sombre roles she had often portrayed but entirely undeserved for the real person behind those characters.
Addressing these memories, Ranjeet’s tone mixed wistful remembrance with an undertone of regret, marking the troubled waters navigated by too many in the film industry. He paralleled Parveen’s story with that of another late actor, Sanjeev Kumar, with whom he shared an equally strong camaraderie. Their evening meetings in Pali Hill painted a picture of a community within Bollywood that shared the everyday joys and sorrows beyond the camera’s gaze.
Reflecting on Sanjeev Kumar’s philosophies about life and destiny, Ranjeet elucidated on the unpredictable nature of the industry and, indeed, of existence itself—where personal thresholds for joy, pain, and ambition could be as varied as the roles these actors played.
Ranjeet himself, born Gopal Bedi in September 1941, offers a success story peppered with memorable characters in films like ‘Raampur Ka Lakshman’, ‘Victoria No. 203’, ‘Dharam-Veer’, and ‘Amar Akbar Anthony.’ Despite the fame and recognition, the account of Parveen Babi’s lost role in ‘Silsila’ and her subsequent departure from the industry serves as a poignant reminder of the ebbs and flows of stardom and the importance of the bonds formed off-screen.
As the film industry continues to evolve, stories like these remain ensconced in its history—a testament to the hearts and souls that have shaped it, sometimes in ways the audience never sees.
