When stars hate to socialise

Ever wondered what happened to the divas of yesteryears? Sirens of the '60s

Have you wondered what happened to the lovely ladies of Hindi movies in the swinging 1960s? Grace- personified Waheeda Rehman, danseuse-actress par excellence Vyjayanthimala, subtle-and-sensuous Sadhana, naughty and sexy Helen, cutely tragic Nanda and of course glamorous go-go-gal Asha Parekh?

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To today's generations, who think hip means Ayesha Takia, Asha Parekh would just be a known name from the bygone eras who starred in such televised favourite feature films as Love In Tokyo, Teesri Manzil, Aan Milo Sajna and Caravan.

But Asha Parekh and all her colleagues are still around and rocking.

Nanda and Sadhana don't step out of their homes any more. Nanda, always a recluse, lost the will to socialise even nominally after her fiancé Manmohan Desai jumped to his death.

Asha Parekh in a still from Upkaar (1967). Parekh was the style icon of early 1960s. She is an active film personality today also. She is regularly spotted at social-dos and is also producing serials for some private TV channels.However, this is not the case with most actors of her era. A lot of stars of the by-gone era prefer to stay at home and shun socialising.

In contrast to Nanda, Sadhana was always gloriously gregarious. Her husband, filmmaker RK Nayyar, and she hosted and attended the swankiest parties in town. After Nayyar's death Sadhana stopped stepping out of her stonewalled citadel altogether.

"It was very, very frightening," says Asha Parekh, who turned 64 on Oct 2.

"All of us close actress-friends from the 1960s were living lives of self-imposed seclusion and solitude. One fine day, I decided we don't need to do that. Now we meet regularly at one or the other friend's place, chat, catch up with old times, have lunch, maybe watch a movie. Believe me, there is nothing more therapeutic in life than companionship. Half the illnesses that we think we have come from loneliness.

"We actress-friends, Sadhana, Nanda, Waheeda-ji, Shammi aunty and Vyjayanthimalaji (whenever she's in town) have decided to take stock of the situation. I suggest other retired actors try the same remedy for dissociation. Reach out to your colleagues before it is too late."

Like many of her contemporaries, Asha never contemplated marriage.

"It just didn't happen, not because I was too busy, or because no man was good enough for me. There was just no one that I wanted to marry. I couldn't have affairs with my heroes. All of them were my buddies. But, yes, I have been in love. Remember I am a nice maiden, not an ice maiden."

Are the 1990s' actresses heading for a sisterhood of spinsterhood?

The actresses from the 1970s - Hema Malini, Raakhee, Jaya Bachchan, Sharmila Tagore, Zeenat Aman - and 1980s - Padmini Kolhapure, Rati Agnihotri, Poonam Dhillon, Kimi Katkar and Anita Raj - have discovered the joys, perks and occasionally jerks of matrimony.

So have those from the 1990s - Kajol, Raveena Tandon, Twinkle Khanna, Sonali Bendre.

Manisha Koirala, Tabu and Shilpa Shetty need to take the plunge fast rather than preparing to cruise down Sunset Boulevard.