the actor Pallavi Chatterjee his father, veteran actor Biswajeet and Rekha During the shooting of the film ‘Anjana Safar’, saying that the incident would have been very distressing for a young girl and that it should not have happened without the consent of the actress.The episode, which has long remained the subject of debate, was detailed in Yasser Usman’s biography ‘Rekha: The Untold Story’. The book claims that Rekha, who was around 15 at the time, was unaware that a kissing scene had been staged and was shocked and upset during the shoot.In an interview with journalist Vickey Lalwani, Pallavi reflected on the incident and suggested that filmmakers of the time sometimes hid details from actors to capture spontaneous camera reactions.“There were directors who would tell an actor a scene, but wouldn’t tell the other person completely because they wanted a certain reaction on camera. I feel like if an incident like this happened, where someone was kissing another person in front of the whole unit for several minutes, it couldn’t happen without the director’s approval. Maybe the director said, ‘This is the shot I want.'” In those days, kissing on the screen was not common, nor was it widely accepted.”Pallavi said Rekha’s youth would have made the experience particularly traumatic.“He was very young then. If something like this happens to you without warning, what are you supposed to do? When you’re young and something inappropriate happens, you often feel awkward even talking about it. Those were very different times. If a much bigger star did something like this, what could you really do?”He also revealed that the two families shared a close personal relationship, which he felt could have made the incident even more upsetting for Rekha.“Rekha used to come to our house and we used to play together as children. Our families were very close and we visited each other’s houses. It was perhaps 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 general reputation and behavior towards women, she maintained that she was not solely responsible for the incident.“My father worked with many women throughout his career and nothing like this was ever reported. He always had a lot of respect for women. If a woman walked into a room, he would stand up to greet her. I don’t think my father was the only one involved in what happened.”He also speculated that the scene might have been executed on the director’s orders.“Personally, I think somebody needs to say, ‘Do this, I need this kind of footage.’ Otherwise, there have been so many successful films that nothing like this has happened.”At the same time, Pallavi made it clear that she did not accept what had happened.“It was definitely wrong. It wasn’t right, whether my father did it or anyone else. He should have given it up or gotten Rekha’s permission first. He wasn’t prepared for it, and of course it would have been shocking to a 15- or 16-year-old girl.”He also revealed that Rekha and Biswajeet later worked together.“Rekha worked with my father again after the incident in Kahte Hain Mujhko Rajan,” he said.The incident was described in detail in ‘Rekha: The Untold Story’. Although ‘Anjana Safar’ was originally intended to be Rekha’s first film, ‘Sawan Bhadon’ was released before that. According to the bio, Rekha was around 15 years old at the time of filming, while Biswajeet was 32.The book says that they were shooting a romantic sequence at Mahboob Studio in Mumbai when director Raja Nawathe planned to capture Rekha’s real reaction on camera. The actress was not informed about the kissing scene in advance.“As soon as the director said ‘action’, Biswajeet took Rekha in his arms and pressed his lips on her. Rekha was stunned. She was never told about the kiss. The camera kept rolling; the director didn’t say ‘cut’ and Biswajeet wouldn’t let go,” says the book.According to the biography, the kiss went on for almost five minutes, as members of the film unit reportedly whistled and cheered, leaving Rekha in tears.
