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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00:00And I had this silly friend of mine on the set, you know, and as it is I was finding it so difficult, so tough to perform because you feel uncomfortable, you know.
00:09Most embarrassing moment is always when I am paid a compliment.
00:13Thoroughly enjoyed working with Mr. Bachchan, with Chintu, Rishi Kapoor, with Mithun, with Sanju.
00:18And I shared a good rapport with all of them.
00:21Favorite person?
00:28Favorite person. Favorite people?
00:33Two share the favorite persons. My husband and my son.
00:37Even if it sounds cliched but my husband and my son, they are both tying for the first place.
00:44I don't know what the reason, maybe they are part of me.
00:49My son is born from me. My husband is part of me.
00:53And they have been very, they have rounded up my personality, my character completely.
01:00So, I suppose that's why both of them are.
01:05Any favorite quirk?
01:08Favorite quirk. You really want to know a lot about me.
01:14Yes, me being extremely meticulous.
01:18And that sometimes works against me because I am so particular about things, about timings.
01:27So, maybe I could relax a bit on it.
01:32Most embarrassing moment?
01:35Most embarrassing moment is always when I am paid a compliment.
01:41I just do not know how to handle it.
01:44Like, I look so embarrassed, you know.
01:47And they say, but we are only paying you a compliment.
01:49I say, I know but I don't know how to handle it.
01:52So, that's always been my embarrassing moments.
01:56Most scared of?
01:58Snakes. Definitely, 100%. Petrified.
02:02Like, I mean, I have been to snake farms because as my son was growing up, you know,
02:06you take them to crocodile farms and snake farms.
02:08But like, I am waiting to just flee.
02:11I break out into cold sweat.
02:13I am that petrified.
02:17Most difficult scene to do?
02:23From this film of mine, Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye,
02:26there was this scene with Mithun.
02:28And it was a very lovey-dovey and, you know,
02:32we have to be very, very happening, cool and this and that.
02:38And I had this silly friend of mine on the set, you know.
02:41And as it is, I was finding it so difficult, so tough to perform
02:45because you feel uncomfortable, you know.
02:48And she started giggling.
02:50So, Mr. LV Prasad, he was the producer of the film, he said,
02:53can we ask her to please leave?
02:56Because she is, you know, delaying the shot.
02:58But that has been one of the most difficult shots for me.
03:02I remember it so clearly.
03:04It was in Madras at the Fisherman's Cove, you know.
03:06And I remember it so clearly.
03:08And every time we think about it, I said, my God,
03:10such fools we were, you know.
03:12I mean, it's no big deal, you know.
03:14But I think at that time, at that age, you, you know,
03:17are a bit uncomfortable to do certain things.
03:23Favourite co-stars?
03:24My favourite co-stars, co-stars, we'll make them plural,
03:30at that point was,
03:32I mean, there have been so many.
03:35Like, I thoroughly enjoyed working with Mr. Bachchan,
03:38with Chintu, Rishi Kapoor, with Mithun, with Sanju.
03:41It's so many, you know.
03:43So, it's very difficult.
03:45And I shared a good rapport with all of them.
03:48So, it's very difficult to pinpoint a, or even two,
03:51good or favourite co-stars.
03:53And I'm not being diplomatic.
03:55I mean it.
03:57But we had to answer Mithun.
03:59Okay.
04:00Okay.
04:01He's also been one of my favourites.
04:05Okay, yeah, see.
04:06I'm telling you, it's very difficult because…
04:10Yeah, but it's so…
04:11But I did so many with all of these,
04:13with Sanju, with Mithun, you know.
04:14So, the thing is that it, you can't really segregate and say,
04:18this has, he has been my favourite co-star.
04:20And I don't think either of us are planning,
04:22you know, being diplomatic about it.
04:24It's just that you share good vibes with all,
04:27you work comfortably with all,
04:28and you have specials,
04:29you share certain good moments with each one.
04:33Favourite scene?
04:35Favourite scene?
04:38Favourite scene?
04:39You've stumped me.
04:42I don't know.
04:44I don't know. Favourite scene?
04:45That's not fair.
04:46You should have asked me this earlier.
04:49Yeah, I wanted to be spontaneous.
04:51Favourite scene?
04:52Definitely from Ek Doojhe Ke Le.
04:55The favourite scene was definitely
04:57from my first Hindi film, Ek Doojhe Ke Le.
05:02You know, the scene where
05:05I'm, I have the photograph in my hand
05:08and I'm defying my parents.
05:10And I light the photograph
05:12and I, you know, crumble the photograph,
05:15the ashes into the cup of tea.
05:17And I stir it and I drink it
05:19and I give that one look to my parents.
05:22Like, you know, like,
05:23y'all may stop me from seeing him,
05:25from being with him,
05:26but he's there in my system
05:27and I, you know, swallow the cup of tea
05:30and I lick it, you know.
05:32So maybe it's my basic nature,
05:34why I relate to the scene,
05:35why it is my favourite scene
05:37is probably because I relate to it.
05:39Because I basically am a kind of a person that
05:43I don't cow down.
05:45I'm, I probably,
05:48I have to believe in something.
05:51And if I don't believe in something,
05:53nothing on the face of this earth can make me do it.
05:56Film and movie?
05:57Of course, Ek Doojhe Ke Le.
05:59There's no doubt about it.
06:02I'll tell you why.
06:03It's not that I'm differentiating with my other films,
06:05but being my first Hindi film,
06:08the amount of satisfaction it gave me
06:11because I was young, new.
06:13So the success, the adulation, the fame,
06:16the progress that I had with the film
06:18and the recognition
06:21was amazing because still today,
06:23people walk up to me and
06:25it's, I mean, it's 20 years since Ek Doojhe Ke Le was released.
06:2920 years is a long time.
06:31And still people walk up to me and they, you know,
06:33talk about the film, certain scenes.
06:36In fact, one of the favourite scenes of the audiences
06:39also have been the scene that has been one of my favourite scenes, you know.
06:43Because it leaves an impact in your mind.
06:46And probably people were very impressionable.
06:48Like, the people who walk up to me are always people of
06:51probably my age who, at that point,
06:53were going through similar crisis in their lives.
06:56So they related to it.
06:58So they relate to me because of the film.
07:01You know?
07:02Favourite song?
07:04Hum Bane, Tum Bane Ek Doojhe Ke Le.
07:09Everything revolves around Ek Doojhe Ke Le.
07:11Because the music was brilliant,
07:13the movie was brilliant.
07:15Success, naturally, with it.
07:17You know?
07:18Recognition.
07:19Everything is, it's all interconnected with, you know.
07:22The most amazing dance you danced?
07:27In what way amazing?
07:28In the movie?
07:29In what way amazing?
07:30Very special, very, very difficult.
07:31Oh, with, in Tawaif?
07:34I didn't know how to dance like a Mujre Wali.
07:36And Mr. Gopi Krishan, you know,
07:39he was choreographing that particular song.
07:42And he had a particular style about him, you know.
07:45And I didn't know how to handle this, you know.
07:47Because he had this certain adaas and this and that.
07:51But we did it, you know.
07:54And probably I was in awe of, you know,
07:57him being such a senior, you know, performer himself.
08:04Your biggest asset as a person and as an actress?
08:08My biggest asset as a person will come foremost.
08:13Because I believe in the person you are
08:15and then whatever your profession,
08:18okay, so we are from the performing arts,
08:21so we are actresses.
08:23My biggest asset as a person is my sincerity.
08:28Because I truly believe in everything I say,
08:32I truly mean it and I truly believe in it.
08:35I don't, I can never, never say never,
08:39but I don't normally say things that I don't believe in.
08:42So I think it's my sincerity.
08:46Sorry?
08:47Actress?
08:48Actress.
08:50My dedication.
08:51Again, it stems from sincere, sincerity.
08:54My dedication, my hundred percent, my punctuality.
08:59It's all basically, it's all,
09:01they all revolve around the same thing.
09:03Like being a sincere person.
09:04If you're a sincere person,
09:05you basically have these qualities in you.
09:08So I think it remains the same,
09:10but I put a human being more than an actress.
09:14Biggest, you know, your pros and cons,
09:17biggest liability as a person and as an actress?
09:20Liability?
09:22Nothing's a liability.
09:24You are in your whole, in your complete conscious state.
09:29So whatever decision you make,
09:31you're completely aware of it,
09:32so nothing,
09:33I don't think anybody would be able to,
09:35should answer this question
09:36because nothing's a liability.
09:37You do it hundred percent,
09:38you do it for doing it.
09:41Unforgettable moment?
09:43Premiere of Ek Dooji Ke Liye.
09:45We had gone to Calcutta
09:48and I don't think I'd ever been for a premiere,
09:51not even in, like I had worked in movies
09:54before my first Hindi movie,
09:56I'd worked in the South,
09:57in Tamil and Telugu movies,
09:59but we never went for premieres and you know,
10:01so when Ek Dooji Ke Liye was releasing,
10:04we had to go to Calcutta
10:06and suddenly, you know,
10:08like even though one is used to it,
10:10by then all the, you know,
10:12fans and the autograph signing,
10:14but a premiere is a premiere,
10:16you know, so you're dressing up and,
10:18you know, young,
10:20so you look at it totally from a different perspective.
10:25Favourite hobby?
10:27My favourite hobbies,
10:30my favourite hobbies are,
10:33I'm basically a very creative person,
10:35so I immediately lean on to things that are creative,
10:40probably that's why I've come back to the industry
10:43because it also is a creative industry,
10:46candle making, my stained glass,
10:48my rock sculpting,
10:50my painting,
10:52all the creative aspects of.
10:55Favourite outdoor location?
10:57Used to be Srinagar.
10:59No longer.
11:01Any incident you remember?
11:03So many instances,
11:05it's very hard to pinpoint,
11:07but I used to love going to Srinagar,
11:09I used to love it,
11:11especially as you go higher from Gulmarg to Sonmarg,
11:13and you know,
11:15it's so virgin, you know,
11:17unfortunately.
11:20Favourite vacation spot?
11:24There's a tie,
11:26London and Switzerland.
11:29Because I love good weather,
11:31I can't handle the heat,
11:34so I normally like to go to places where it's cold,
11:37and you know, wear all those warm things,
11:40and you know, go into the, you know,
11:42higher areas where you feel so clean,
11:45and so fresh,
11:46and your lungs breathe better,
11:48you feel better,
11:49you feel more hungry,
11:50and I love food,
11:51I'm a very food person,
11:52full food oriented person,
11:54and I think the calm.
11:58You can just gaze,
12:00especially in Switzerland,
12:02if you go higher into the mountains,
12:04you just gaze into the, you know,
12:06lovely mountains,
12:09I can just sit there and read,
12:11I read a lot.
12:13Favourite season?
12:15Winter, undoubtedly,
12:17because I can't bear the heat,
12:19I'm like, it's summer,
12:22like I'm the only one going through the summer, you know,
12:25winter, definitely.
12:26Last question,
12:27most embarrassing romantic scene?
12:30I just told you, no?
12:32Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye,
12:34was very embarrassing,
12:36and when I get embarrassed, I start giggling,
12:39and fortunately, I was doing it with Mithun,
12:41who, you know, I had done a lot of films,
12:43and I was very, very comfortable,
12:45and I used to enjoy working with him,
12:47it was very embarrassing,
12:48but fortunately, I'm lucky that I had him as a co-star,
12:51so, you know, I mean, we could tie through that scene,
12:54but it was very embarrassing,
12:55because I would keep giggling,
12:56every time he would come close to me,
12:58I would start giggling,
12:59because I didn't know how to handle it,
13:00and he would scream at me,
13:01he said, behave yourself,
13:02let's just go through the scene, you know,
13:03and that scene took forever,
13:05because, you know, when you're feeling embarrassed,
13:07or you're feeling a little uncomfortable,
13:09that just goes on,
13:11and that's how it was.
13:13Okay, thank you.