Many female actresses today have often said that male stars do not wish to be a part of women-oriented movies. However, it’s not just now, but female-led movies where the actress had more screen time or meatier part was common even in the 70s. For example, ‘Seeta Aur Geeta’ which starred Hema Malini in a double role. In a recent interview, film-maker Ramesh Sippy has said that he was happy Dharmendra had the courage to say yes to a female-led script like that. Sippy was asked if he ever approached Rajesh Khanna for the part and he said during a chat with Radio Nasha, “We never approached Rajesh Khanna. He had become a huge star so it didn’t feel okay to offer him a role in Seeta Aur Geeta.” Seeta Aur Geeta was the story of identical twins who have completely opposite personalities.
Election Results 2025
Ramesh said that he approached Sanjeev as the actor was known for playing diverse roles, and in the case of Dharmendra, he said that the actor took some time to think about saying yes.”
The ‘Sholay’ director added further, “I had not worked with Dharmendra earlier but I went to meet him and I told him very frankly about his role. He took a little time to think about it, and then said okay. I was happy that he had the courage to work in a film which was basically a female oriented film.” The film had Sanjeev Kumar as the other hero. He further added, “What I didn’t know was that they both fancied Hema Malini.” For those not in the know, Sanjeev Kumar had proposed to Hema Malini but she rejected it due to his condition of not working after marriage. Hema’s mother did not agree to it as she was a big star that time and it would ruin her career if she got married and stopped working. Later, Dharmendra tied the knot to Hema Malini in 1980 and the actress had also confessed that their blooming love during the shoot of ‘Sholay’ in real life, added a lot to their chemistry on screen as Veeru and Basanti.
