I Was Enamoured By Nasir Saab

Asha Parekh demystifies her relationship with mentor Nasir Hussain and a lot more in her autobiography The Hit Girl, finds Farhana Farook

- Farhana Farook

She’s undeniably distinct from her peers. Because Asha Parekh has gone way beyond the paradigm of stardom and its engulfing halo. A noted dancer. Director and producer of hit TV shows like Kora Kagaz and Kangan. Ex-President of CINTAA (Cine and TV Artistes Association). The first female Chairperson of the Censor Board. Distributor of 21 hit films. Founder of the Asha Parekh Hospital in Santacruz... she’s a woman of many shades and much substance. Isn’t it then hard to believe that a woman so driven, an achiever succumbed to depression and had to surmount suicidal thoughts? Well, her autobiography Asha Parekh: The Hit Girl (An autobiography with Khalid Mohamed) reveals both the verve and the vulnerability of the screen goddess of the ’60s with never-before insights. “I’m an emotional person. I follow my heart, not my mind. I tend to brood when someone hurts me or when I believe I’ve hurt someone. I come across as a tough person. But I’m not all that strong,” asserts the 70-plus veteran. “People believe I’m just about glamour. But the highlight of my life is not just being a filmstar,” she explains why she eventually felt the need to tell her story. “I have spoken about the highs and the lows in my life. Particularly, the period between the loss of my mother (Sudha aka Salma Parekh) in 1990 and that of my father (Bachubhai Parekh) in 2003. I felt a certain hollowness creeping in,” she says. “I’ve also spoken about the opportunities I missed... about a few other things, which would not have been possible otherwise. It was difficult to be honest,” she confides hinting at her rumoured closeness to filmmaker and mentor, the late Nasir Hussain...

HIT HAI!