'She is in my thoughts all the time' (original) (raw)

Home > Movies > Features'She is in my thoughts all the time' Sunil Dutt | June 01, 2004 15:31 IST

June 1 is a special day for Sunil Dutt. It marks the 75th birth anniversary of his late wife, the�legendary actress Nargis, who passed into the ages in May 1981.

Dutt, who was recently appointed as Union�minister of sports and youth affairs, remembers�Nargis in�conversation with Lata Khubchandani:

I am very touched that the media remembers her [_Nargis_] and continues to remind people of�my wife. People forget so easily.

I am in Delhi, busy in meetings, but�she has been on my mind all the time. I keep wondering how she would have reacted to my becoming a�minister. Her achievements were so much bigger than mine. She was an MP when I was merely an actor.

I had this thing that I would never go and stay in the house she got in Delhi. I used to book myself in a suite at Hotel Ashoka and ask her to visit me. I didn't want to use government property. I remember how�lovingly�she set up the Delhi house. She had a�huge puja before moving�in.

It was not a very happy time for her [_though_]. She took the oath as an MP in April. In August that same year, she was diagnosed with cancer.

Today, I think of her with great intensity and wonder [_what_] her reaction to my new position in government [_would be_].

It is her birthday today. All her birthdays were celebrated like a kid's birthday. They [_children Sanjay, Namrata, Priya_] would get new clothes. There was cake. She [_Nargis_] would organise entertainment programmes like magic shows. And then she would invite all the kids, their cousins and friends over and show [_them_] a film on a 16mm screen. The kids used to think it was their birthday party.�

I never bought her gifts but I gave her myself, which is the greatest gift. Isn't it? [_Laughs_].

She loved to shop and my kids have taken after her. I tried to buy her things but gave up. She loved saris. Whenever I was visiting Banaras and Chanderi -- which are famous for their saris, I would pick up saris for her [_Nargis loved Chanderi handlooms_]. When I came home and gave them to her she would say, "Lovely."

I waited for a�few days to see her in those saris. But she never wore them. Finally, I asked what happened to the saris I bought. She replied, "They are outdated. No one wears those kind now!" After that I decided�I would not buy her gifts. She could choose them herself.

She was fun-loving. She would think of a new [_idea_] for [_celebrating_] everyone's birthday, including her own.

I would try and match her in surprising the kids too. Once while shooting a�fight scene, I had to be covered with [_fake_] blood. After the shoot, I didn't clean up. I went home as I was. It was my daughter Anju's [_Namrata_] birthday. When they saw me, all soaked in�blood, they were devastated!

She is in my thoughts all the time.

Image: Uday Kuckian