Every generation has a phrase it swears by. For those who lived through the golden years of Indian cinema, it is often said with a smile and a sigh — “Hamare zamane ki toh baat hi kuch aur thi!” The world has changed, and so has our entertainment industry. Technology, facilities, and comforts have transformed the way films are made. Gone are the days when actors changed clothes behind trees, searched endlessly for a toilet, or sat for hours on a set waiting for their turn. Today, the industry looks nothing like it did even a few decades ago.Looking through the lensRohini Hattangadi, who recently completed 50 years in cinema, vividly remembers the thrill of something as simple as peeking through a director’s camera. “Back then, only the director, producer or lead actors were allowed to see through the lens,” she recalled. “If a side actor got the chance, it was such a big moment that everyone would clap and even demand a party. It was truly a celebration, because that was something forbidden to us (side actors, or second leads, supporting actors) unless the director was kind enough to let us in on the experience,” shared exclusive to Etimes.
Monitors, mics and milestones
Karisma Kapoor, took a nostalgic turn on one of her shows, recalling her first encounter with a monitor. It happened during the “Dance of Envy” sequence in ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’. “We were thrilled beyond words, just realising we could actually see what we had shot,” she said. She also remembered another milestone—working with sync-sound on Shyam Benegal’s ‘Zubeidaa’. Wearing lapel mics and capturing live sound was a novelty then, one that added an entirely new authenticity to performances.She chuckled as she compared then to now. “These days you see rows of vanity vans outside a set. In our time, we changed behind trees or even in loos. The industry has really come a long way.” She shared this on a reality show.
When bathrooms were a luxury- Suneil Shetty and Asha Parekh reflect
Veteran actress Asha Parekh, too, has often spoken of the hardships. She once told ANI that in her era, not only were there no vanity vans, but many studios lacked bathrooms altogether. “We had to sit the entire day without using one. Thankfully, I never developed kidney problems,” she quipped, recalling how changing behind bushes was a routine part of outdoor shoots.Suneil Shetty once shared a similar memory on The Great Indian Kapil Sharma Show. While shooting LOC, he and Sanjay Dutt often faced the absence of basic facilities, including bathrooms, but it hardly stopped them from giving their best on screen.
Rajinikanth’s kind genture on sets
Rohini Hattangadi also fondly recalled a gesture from Rajinikanth during the shoot of ‘Insaaf Kaun Karega’. With no air conditioners or vanity vans on set, the superstar carried a quirky square-shaped hand fan, half-fan and half like a video game gadget. “I only had a paper folding fan. He noticed and quietly handed me his, saying, ‘You use it, you need it.’ I kept that fan with me for many years,” she said, remembering him as a generous co-actor and a gem of a human being.
The other side of the story- Farah Khan reveals
If the earlier era was about resilience, today’s is about privileges. Farah Khan, in one of her YouTube vlogs with actors Dipika Kakkar and Shoaib Ibrahim, candidly revealed how much has changed. She said top stars today often insist on multiple vanity vans—sometimes four per actor. One for themselves, one for their staff, one as a gym, and yet another for other needs, with a food truck following behind. “Until the vans don’t come, they don’t act,” she remarked.Farah contrasted it with her own experiences of helping heroines change behind buses or with bedsheets in Switzerland. “We held towels for them. We managed. Today’s stars won’t budge until the vans arrive.”
From grit to glamour
The stories may sound amusing now, but they carry within them the grit of an era when actors endured everything—heat, discomfort, lack of facilities—for their passion to shine on screen. No vanity vans, no air-conditioners, no privileges. Just raw ambition and the fire to perform.And while times have changed for the better, with stars enjoying luxuries unimaginable back then, the memories of that simpler, harder era live on. For those who were there, one truth remains timeless: “Hamare zamane ki toh baat hi kuch aur thi!” Go to Source
