Veteran actress Anita Kanwal spoke about meeting her recently Shah Rukh Khan From his Delhi theater days, casting helped him connect with his struggling years, and the harsh realities faced by character actors in today’s entertainment industry.In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Anita also spoke about the changing culture of Bollywood, and why it is not easy to connect with big stars and filmmakers.
Anita Kanwal recalls working there Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa
Talking about Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Anita recalled that Deepak played Tijori’s mother in the film, even though she was only 30 at the time.“Haan, woh film cult classic bani. Jab pehle din Deepak ne mujhe dekha toh bola, ‘Yeh kisko le aaye ho mother bana ke? She doesn’t look like a mother.” I was 35-36 years old,” he said.The actor further revealed that the film underwent changes after the huge success of the Deewana shoot.“But woh cult film bani aur bilkul pata nahi tha kyunki us waqt Shah Rukh ki koi bhi film release nahi hui thi. Beech mein Deewana release hui thi jab humari shooting chal rahi thi aur woh bahut badi hit ho gayi thi.“Toh jitne bhi Shah Rukh ke motorcycle scenes the woh aur badha diye editing mein. Humare scenes cut kar diye. Main dekh rahi hoon yaar mera scene tha Shah Rukh ke saath woh kahan gaya? Bole woh motorcycle wala. Maine kaha mujhe hi bitha dete motorcycle na pe usketa saa”
“I told people that Shah Rukh Khan had a lot of promise”
Anita shared that she knew Shah Rukh from his theater days in Delhi, long before he became a superstar.“Shah Rukh ko main Delhi se jaanti hoon theater days se. Jab woh Fauji aur yeh sab kar rahe the,” he recalled, referring to Fauji.She shared an interesting fact about her daughter and Shah Rukh’s phone number.“Meri beti Carmel Convent mein padhti thi aur bachche Shah Rukh Khan ke bahut crazy the. Kisi ne blackboard pe Shah Rukh Khan ka number likh diya tha aur meri beti Shivana diary mein number likh ke le aayi – ‘I got Mumma Shah Rukh Khan number’.”Anita added that she was often approached by various people from Mumbai who had come to Delhi for casting during those days.“Us time Bombay se jo log casting karne aate the, woh mere paas hi aate the. Maine unko Shah Rukh Khan ka number de diya. Maine kaha, ‘Is ladke mein bahut promise hai. Aap isko contact karo'”.She also revealed that Shah Rukh called her personally to thank her for recommending her.“Toh Shah Rukh ka mujhe phone aaya. He was so decent. He called me to thank me and then said, ‘How did you get my number?’ Maine kaha meri beti Carmel Convent mein padhti hai. Kehte hain, ‘Oh yes mujhe pata hai kisi ne mera number blackboard pe likh diya tha’”.
Anita Kanwal never asked Shah Rukh Khan for a job
When asked why she did not approach Shah Rukh Khan or other big filmmakers for work, Anita admitted that the industry has become very inaccessible.“They have built fortresses around themselves. Aap kya samajhte ho? Aap Karan Johar ko mil sakte ho? Aditya Chopra ko mil sakte ho? Nahi.“Un tak pahunchna possible hi nahi hai.”He added, “Kaise koshish karungi? Jaake Shah Rukh ke ghar ke bahar thodi khadi ho jaaungi.“Main kisi ko nahi jaanti jo uske yahaan kaam karta ho ya usko personally jaanta ho. Aur main aapko bataun — shayad unko yaad bhi nahi hoga yeh sab. Humein yaad hai kyunki woh Shah Rukh Khan hai.”
