Veteran actress Rati Agnihotri, known for her talent and beauty, gained fame in Bollywood after the success of 'Ek Duuje Ke Liye' alongside Kamal Haasan. In an exclusive throwback podcast with Lehren, she shared insights about her life before Google.
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00:00 And I had this silly friend of mine on the set.
00:02 And as it is, I was finding it so difficult, so tough to perform because you feel uncomfortable.
00:09 Most embarrassing moment is always when I am paid a compliment.
00:13 Thoroughly enjoyed working with Mr. Bachchan, with Chintu, Rishi Kapoor, with Midtone, with
00:17 Sanju.
00:18 And I shared a good rapport with all of them.
00:23 Favorite person?
00:29 Favorite person.
00:30 Favorite people?
00:31 Yeah.
00:32 Two share the favorite persons.
00:36 My husband and my son.
00:38 Even if it sounds cliched, but my husband and my son, they're both dying for the first
00:44 place.
00:45 I don't know what the reason.
00:48 Maybe they're part of me.
00:49 My son is born from me.
00:51 My husband is part of me.
00:54 And they have rounded up my personality, my character completely.
01:02 So I suppose that's why both of them are.
01:06 Any favorite quirk?
01:08 Favorite quirk.
01:09 You really want to know a lot about me.
01:14 Yes, me being extremely meticulous.
01:20 And that sometimes works against me because I'm so particular about things, about timings.
01:28 So maybe I could relax a bit on it.
01:34 Most embarrassing moment?
01:37 Most embarrassing moment is always when I am paid a compliment.
01:42 I just do not know how to handle it.
01:45 Like I look so embarrassed, you know, and they say, but we're only paying you a compliment.
01:49 I said, I know, but I don't know how to handle it.
01:53 So that's always been my embarrassing moments.
01:56 Most scared of?
01:59 Snakes.
02:00 Definitely.
02:01 100%.
02:02 Petrified.
02:03 Like, I mean, I have been to snake farms because as my son was growing up, you know, you take
02:06 them to crocodile farms and snake farms.
02:08 But like I'm, I'm waiting to just flee.
02:11 I break out into cold sweat.
02:14 I'm that petrified.
02:15 Most difficult scene to do?
02:23 From this film of mine, Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye, there was a scene with Mithun and it was a
02:29 very lovey-dovey and, you know, I'm, you know, we have to be very, very happening, cool and
02:36 this and that.
02:38 And I had this silly friend of mine on the set, you know, and as it is, I was finding
02:42 it so difficult, so tough to perform because you feel uncomfortable, you know.
02:48 And she started giggling.
02:50 So Mr. L.V.
02:51 Prasad, he was the producer of the film, he said, can we ask her to please leave?
02:56 Because she's delaying the shot.
02:59 But that has been one of the most difficult shots for me.
03:02 I remember it so clearly.
03:03 It was in Madras at the Fisherman's Cove, you know, and I remember it so clearly.
03:08 And every time we think about it, I said, my God, such fools we were, you know.
03:12 I mean, it's no big deal, you know.
03:14 But I think at that time, at that age, you know, are a bit uncomfortable to do certain
03:20 things.
03:21 My favorite co-stars, co-stars, we'll make them plural, at that point was, I mean, there
03:34 have been so many.
03:37 Like I thoroughly enjoyed working with Mr. Bachchan, with Chintu, Rishi Kapoor, with
03:41 Mithun, with Sanju.
03:42 It's so many, you know.
03:44 So it's very difficult.
03:46 And I shared a good rapport with all of them.
03:49 So it's very difficult to pinpoint a or even two good or favorite co-stars.
03:54 And I'm not being diplomatic.
03:56 I mean it.
03:57 But we had to answer Mithun.
03:58 Okay.
03:59 He's also been one of my favorites.
04:00 And Rishi Bhai too.
04:01 Okay, yeah, see.
04:02 I'm telling it's very difficult because...
04:03 Because there are so many movies with Mithun.
04:04 Yeah, but it's so...
04:05 But I did so many with all of these, with Sanju, with Mithun, you know.
04:14 So the thing is that you can't really segregate and say this has, he has been my favorite
04:19 co-star.
04:20 And I don't think either of us are planning, you know, being diplomatic about it.
04:24 It's just that you share good vibes with all, you work comfortably with all, and you have
04:29 special, you share certain good moments with each one.
04:32 Favorite scene?
04:35 Favorite scene?
04:39 Favorite scene?
04:40 You've stumped me.
04:42 I don't know.
04:44 I don't know.
04:45 Favorite scene?
04:46 That's not fair.
04:47 You should have asked me this earlier.
04:48 Yeah, I wanted to be spontaneous.
04:51 Favorite scene?
04:52 Definitely from Ek Doojhe Ke Le.
04:55 The favorite scene was definitely from my first Hindi film Ek Doojhe Ke Le.
05:02 You know, the scene where I'm, I have the photograph in my hand and I'm defying my parents
05:10 and I light the photograph and I, you know, crumble the photograph, the ashes into the
05:16 cup of tea and I stir it and I drink it and I give that one look to my parents like, you
05:22 know, like you may stop me from seeing him, from being with him, but he's there in my
05:26 system and I, you know, swallow the cup of tea and I lick it, you know.
05:32 So maybe it's my basic nature, why I relate to the scene, why it is my favorite scene
05:37 is probably because I relate to it.
05:39 Because I basically, I'm a kind of a person that I don't cow down.
05:45 I'm, I probably, I have to believe in something.
05:51 And if I don't believe in something, nothing on the face of this earth can make me do it.
05:55 Favorite movie?
05:56 Of course, Ek Doojhe Ke Le.
05:59 There's no doubt about it.
06:02 I'll tell you why.
06:03 It's not that I'm differentiating with my other films, but being my first Hindi film,
06:08 the amount of satisfaction it gave me because I was young, new.
06:13 So the success, the adulation, the fame, the progress that I had with the film and the
06:19 recognition was amazing because still today people walk up to me and it's, I mean, it's
06:26 20 years since Ek Doojhe Ke Le was released.
06:29 20 years is a long time.
06:31 And still people walk up to me and they, you know, talk about the film, certain scenes.
06:36 In fact, one of the favorite scenes of the audiences also have been the scene that has
06:41 been one of my favorite scenes, you know, because it leaves an impact in your mind.
06:46 And there are probably people who are very impressionable, like the people who walk up
06:49 to me are always people of probably my age who at that point were going through similar
06:54 crisis in their lives.
06:56 So they related to it.
06:58 So they relate to me because of the film.
07:01 You know?
07:02 Favorite song?
07:03 Hum bane tum bane Ek Doojhe Ke Le.
07:06 Everything revolves around Ek Doojhe Ke Le because the music was brilliant, the movie
07:13 was brilliant, success naturally with it, you know, recognition, everything is, it's
07:20 all interconnected with, you know.
07:22 The most amazing dance you danced?
07:27 In what way amazing?
07:28 In the movie?
07:29 In what way amazing?
07:30 Very special, very difficult.
07:31 Oh, with Intavaayaf?
07:32 I didn't know how to dance like a Mujre Wali.
07:37 And Mr. Gopi Krishan, you know, he was choreographing that particular song.
07:43 And he had a particular style about him, you know, and I didn't know how to handle this,
07:47 you know, because he had this certain adaas of this and that.
07:51 But we did it, you know, with and probably I was in awe of, you know, him being such
07:58 a senior, you know, performer himself.
08:02 So your biggest asset as a person and as an actress?
08:09 My biggest asset as a person will come foremost because I believe in the person you are and
08:16 then whatever your profession, okay, so we are from the performing arts, so we are actresses.
08:23 My biggest asset as a person is my sincerity because I truly believe in everything I say,
08:32 I truly mean it and I truly believe in it.
08:35 I don't, I can never, never say never, but I don't normally say things that I don't believe
08:42 in.
08:43 So I think it's my sincerity.
08:45 Sorry?
08:46 Actress.
08:47 Actress.
08:48 My dedication.
08:49 Again, it stems from sincere, sincerity, my dedication, my hundred percent, my punctuality.
08:59 It's all basically, it's all, they all revolve around the same thing, like being a sincere
09:04 person.
09:05 If you're a sincere person, you basically have these qualities in you.
09:08 So I think it remains the same, but I put a human being more than an actress.
09:14 Biggest, you know, your pros and cons, biggest liability as a person and as an actress?
09:21 Liability?
09:22 Nothing's a liability.
09:24 You are in your whole, in your complete conscious state.
09:29 So whatever decision you make, you're completely aware of it.
09:32 So nothing, I don't think anybody would be able to, should answer this question because
09:36 nothing's a liability.
09:37 You do it hundred percent, you do it for doing it.
09:40 Unforgettable moment?
09:41 Premiere of Ek Doojje Ke Le.
09:45 We had gone to Calcutta and I don't think I'd ever been for a premiere, not even in,
09:52 like I had worked in movies before my first Hindi movie, I'd worked in the South, in Tamil
09:57 and Telugu movies, but we never went for premieres and you know.
10:02 So when Ek Doojje Ke Le was releasing, we had to go to Calcutta and suddenly, you know,
10:08 like even though one is used to it by then, all the, you know, fans and the autograph
10:13 signing, but a premiere is a premiere, you know, so you're dressing up and, you know,
10:19 young, so you look at it totally from a different perspective.
10:23 Favorite hobby?
10:27 My favorite hobbies.
10:30 My favorite hobbies are, I'm basically a very creative person.
10:35 So I immediately lean onto things that are creative.
10:41 Probably that's why I've come back to the industry because it also is a creative industry.
10:46 Candle making, my stained glass, my rock sculpting, my painting, all the creative aspects of.
10:55 Favorite outdoor location?
10:58 Used to be Srinagar.
10:59 No longer.
11:01 Any incident you remember?
11:04 So many instances, it's very hard to pinpoint, but I used to love going to Srinagar.
11:10 I used to love it, especially as you go higher from Gulmarg to Sonmarg and you know, it's
11:15 so virgin, you know, unfortunately.
11:19 Favorite vacation spot?
11:24 As a tie, London and Switzerland.
11:29 Because I love good weather.
11:32 I can't handle the heat.
11:35 So I normally like to go to places where it's cold and, you know, wear all those warm things
11:39 and, you know, go into the, you know, higher areas where, you know, you feel so clean and
11:45 so fresh and your lungs breathe better, you feel better, you feel more hungry.
11:50 And I love food.
11:51 I'm a very food person, full food oriented person.
11:55 And I think the calm.
11:58 You just look, you can just gaze, especially in Switzerland, if you go higher into the
12:03 mountains, you just gaze into the, you know, lovely mountains and I can just sit there
12:10 and read.
12:11 I read a lot.
12:12 Favorite season?
12:13 Winter, undoubtedly.
12:14 Because I can't bear the heat.
12:20 I'm like, it's summer, like I'm the only one going through the summer, you know, definitely.
12:26 Last question, most embarrassing romantic scene?
12:31 I just told you, no?
12:33 Mujhe Hain Saaf Chahiye.
12:35 Was very embarrassing.
12:36 And I, when I get embarrassed, I start giggling.
12:39 And fortunately, I was doing it with Mithun, who, you know, I had done a lot of films and
12:43 I was very, very comfortable and I used to enjoy working with him.
12:47 It was very embarrassing, but fortunately, I'm lucky that I had him as a co-star.
12:51 So, you know, I mean, we could tie through that scene, but it was very embarrassing because
12:55 I would keep giggling.
12:56 Every time he would come close to me, I would start giggling because I didn't know how to
12:59 handle it.
13:00 And he would scream at me, he said, "Behave yourself, let's just go through the scene,"
13:02 you know.
13:03 And that scene took forever because, you know, when you're feeling embarrassed, you're feeling
13:07 a little uncomfortable, that just goes on.
13:11 And that's how it was.
13:12 Okay.
13:13 Thank you.
13:14 Thank you.
13:20 (dramatic music)
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