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Actor Pallavi Chatterjee has spoken about the controversial kissing scene involving her father, veteran actor Biswajeet, and Rekha during the filming of ‘Anjana Safar’, saying that the incident would have been deeply distressing for a young girl and should not have happened without the actress’s consent.The episode, which has long remained a subject of discussion, was detailed in Yasser Usman’s biography ‘Rekha: The Untold Story’. The book claims that Rekha, who was around 15 years old at the time, was unaware that a kissing scene had been planned and was left shocked and upset during the shoot.In a conversation with journalist Vickey Lalwani, Pallavi reflected on the incident and suggested that filmmakers of that era occasionally withheld details from actors to capture spontaneous reactions on camera.“There were directors who would tell one actor about a scene but would not fully inform the other person because they wanted a particular reaction on camera. I feel that if an incident like this happened, where someone was kissing another person for several minutes in front of the entire unit, it could not have happened without the director’s approval. Perhaps the director had said, ‘This is the shot I want.’ In those days, on-screen kissing was neither common nor widely accepted.”Pallavi said Rekha’s young age would have made the experience especially traumatic.“She was very young then. If something like this happens to you without warning, what are you supposed to do? When you are young and something inappropriate is happening, you often feel awkward even about speaking up. Those times were very different. If a much bigger star was doing something like that, what could you really do?”She also revealed that the two families shared a close personal relationship, which, in her view, may have made the incident even more upsetting for Rekha.“Rekha used to come to our house and we played together as children. Our families were very close and we visited each other’s homes. Perhaps it was even more traumatic for her because there was a family connection. You think of someone as part of your extended family and then something like this happens.”While Pallavi defended her father’s overall reputation and conduct towards women, she maintained that responsibility for the incident did not lie with him alone.“My father worked with many women throughout his career and nothing like this was ever reported. He always had great respect for women. If a woman entered a room, he would stand up to greet her. I don’t think it was just my father involved in what happened.”She further speculated that the scene may have been executed under the director’s instructions.“I personally feel someone must have told him, ‘Do this, I need this kind of footage.’ Otherwise, there have been so many successful films where nothing of this sort ever happened.”At the same time, Pallavi made it clear that she did not condone what occurred.“It was definitely wrong. It was not right, whether it was done by my father or by anyone else. He should have either refused to do it or obtained Rekha’s consent first. She was not prepared for it, and obviously it would have been shocking for a 15- or 16-year-old girl.”She also pointed out that Rekha and Biswajeet later worked together again.“Rekha worked with my father again after that incident in Kahte Hain Mujhko Raja,” she said.The incident was described in detail in ‘Rekha: The Untold Story’. Although ‘Anjana Safar’ was originally intended to be Rekha’s debut film, ‘Sawan Bhadon’ released before it. According to the biography, Rekha was around 15 years old during the filming, while Biswajeet was 32.The book alleges that a romantic sequence was being shot at Mumbai’s Mahboob Studio when director Raja Nawathe planned to capture Rekha’s genuine reaction on camera. It claims the actress had not been informed beforehand about the kissing scene.“As soon as the director said ‘action’, Biswajeet took Rekha in his arms and pressed his lips on hers. Rekha was stunned. This kiss had never been mentioned to her. The camera kept rolling; neither was the director ordering ‘cut’ nor was Biswajeet letting go of her,” the book states.According to the biography, the kiss lasted for nearly five minutes as members of the film unit reportedly whistled and cheered, leaving Rekha in tears afterward.
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