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I feel Krishna is my son: Hema Malini
The actress speaks to Kshama Rao about her belief in Lord Krishna and her much-awaited film Babul.
"I completely believe in Him and his ideologies. He is adorable and accessible,” says Hema Malini. She’s not referring to her actor husband Dharmendra, but to Lord Krishna.
The actress-MP-danseuse is paying a tribute to the ‘Jagadguru’ in a two-day festival on November 18 and 19 (Ravindra Natya Mandir). The beautiful dancer’s belief in Krishna is well known. She has not only performed dance ballets on His life but is also associated with ISKCON.
Ask her if she has ever experienced divine intervention in her personal life and she replies: “Yes, the fact that I am putting up this performance is His instruction. Otherwise, why should I have thought of this now? Whenever I have had problems in my life or faced any difficulties, I have turned to Him. Why just me, He is around you too and everybody. He’s one God who’s accessible to everybody .”
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| Hema Malini rehearsing for the dance ballets she is performing as a part of the Krishna Rasa, a two day dance event on the life of Lord Krishna. |
She’s found the time for this now that Ravi Chopra’s
Babul
is readying for release (December). The dance event is being planned on a big scale by Hema’s dance institution and she says it will not just showcase her ballets on the life and times of Krishna but go right through from his birth to the
vatsalya
phase with Yashoda, the
madhurya rasa
, his growing up years, as a romantic lover with Radha, his role as a
sakha
or a friend to Draupadi and the
bhakti rasa
with His devotee, Meerabai.
Does the actress have a
sakha
, a trusted friend and a confidante? “Why do you want to know that? You have seen me performing the
Vatsalya rasa
(referring to her role as a mother to her two daughters Esha and Ahana) and the
madhurya rasa
(may be she’s referring to her love and subsequent unconven tional marriage to Dharmendra), now you want to know who my
sakha
is…"
She further adds, "Yes, I do have friends who I can trust completely and some people who have been close to me. But these days in our Hindi film industry, you can’t have a
sakha
, because they label you at once if you are seen with somebody."
Speaking of Yashoda and Krishna , does she miss a son in her life? “Not really, my two girls have given me a lot of happiness. But when I am performing as Yashoda on stage, I feel Krishna is my son, who is doing a lot of mischief.”
The actor believes that Krishna’s teachings, the Gita, is relevant even in today’s fast paced times. “Yes, that’s right. Each and every
shloka,
all the principles he’s explained in the Gita, make sense even today. You can put all his principles into practice, in your day to day lives and situations, His teachings do make life easy to live.”
She says that she’s not “well read about all his teachings but I do whatever I can through my dance. As a child, and when you are growing up, you may not necessarily understand the significance of his lessons but at a later stage in your life, when you are more mature and experienced, everything that’s been said in the Gita makes sense and helps you understand better.”
Talk veers to
Babul
which has her teamed again with Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan. So is
Babul
another
Baghban
? “No, even if Ravi tried making another
Baghban,
I don’t think he will succeed. He shouldn’t even try to make another
Baghban.
The only similarity between
Baghban
and
Babul
is the team, and I had a good experience this time too.”
Recently she walked the ramp with Bachchan for the promotion of
Babul.
“That was a nice experience. I have walked alone on the ramp before but when you walk with the superstar of Hindi cinema it’s naturally very different.”
Finally what’s the status on her plans to direct Esha? “I am very keen to direct her but I also know I can’t do it without a good subject, so please let me know if you hear a good story,” she says before returning to her rehearsals.
