Veteran actor Shekhar Suman recently shared an interesting insight about the Bollywood icon Rekharevealing an unknown side of his personality. According to him, Rekha has a lot of admiration for the yesteryear star Mumtazeven what he reflects on screen in his style and expressions.Opening up about this special connection, Shekhar Suman shared with IANS, “He is obsessed with Mumtaz, who very few people know about, and he imitates him very well. I even made him do it. Even his mannerisms are influenced by Mumtaz.” He added that one who closely observes Rekha’s gestures and performance style can detect subtle traces of Mumtaz’s influence.Rekha and Shekhar Suman have shared the screen in ‘Utsav’Interestingly, Rekha and Shekhar Suman shared screen space in ‘Utsav’, which marked Shekhar’s debut. the director Girish Karnad and produced Shashi Kapoorthe film is based on the Sanskrit classic ‘Mrichakatika’. Rekha played the courtesan Vasantasena, and Shekhar played Charudatta, set against the backdrop of ancient Ujjain.‘Utsav’ had a strong cast including Shankar Nag, Amjad Khan, Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. The film mixed romance and drama, telling the emotional journey of two people from different social backgrounds who cross paths in unusual circumstances.Shekhar Suman on acting and the importance of languageApart from his revelations, Shekhar Suman also expressed concern that language and vocabulary are often neglected in modern cinema. He said, “Along with acting, I really wanted to focus on speech as these two things are closely related to each other. Actors today often mispronounce common words. What do you expect from people like Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan in an industry known for their mastery of language?”He also added: “In fact, all over the world – it can be Robert De Niro, Al Pacino or Anthony Hopkins – they are all known for their language. Acting, speech, behavior, all these things move together at the same time.’Shekhar Suman work frontShekhar Suman portrayed Nawab Zulfiqar in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Heeramandi’, garnering praise for his superb screen presence and nuanced acting, adding depth and gravitas to the narrative and making a big impression despite his limited screen time in the ensemble-driven period drama.
