Watch a throwback interview where Actor Jeetendra shares why he decided to work with Rekha, Rakesh Roshan, Randhir Kapoor, and Saawan Kumar Taak in the 1999 film 'Mother'. Don't miss the insights from the Bollywood legend himself.
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00:00 I've been doing this job for the last 35 years and I don't know anything better.
00:04 It's not that you forget, "How do I act? I forgot."
00:06 Working with Rakesh Roshan and Randhir Kapoor,
00:09 they're buddies and after a long time we were working together.
00:12 Mr. Saman Kumar Tuck has got a track record.
00:15 He's always had fabulous music in his films
00:17 and the songs have been always very different and catchy.
00:20 '70s, they used to always come to me and used to cast me as a leading man.
00:24 Now they don't. There's a big difference.
00:28 What was the script of Madalit that wanted you to be a part of this film?
00:34 Basically, it's not only the script.
00:37 I have worked with Mr. Saman Kumar in two films earlier.
00:42 And then when he asked me to do this film, the other charm was
00:47 working with Rakesh Roshan and Randhir Kapoor.
00:50 They're buddies and after a long time we were working together.
00:54 And then when I heard the script, it's a story of a girl, her mother,
01:01 how she brings her up. Though the girl has got three fathers,
01:05 three biological fathers, nobody knows who the right father is.
01:08 But that is not the point. That's not the story.
01:11 The point is the mother, the child's mother,
01:15 how she brings up the child without a single father.
01:19 She behaves and she brings up the child without a father
01:23 and plays the role of a father, mother, friend, guide, philosopher, all in one.
01:28 But where is the child, the child, this lady's child?
01:33 She finds conventionally the mother has done wrong when three men claim to be the father of this child.
01:41 And then the mother explains that the father, who is the biological father,
01:46 who is the man who pays the money, doesn't bring the child up.
01:51 The child is brought up by love and affection from both father and mother,
01:55 the role played by the mother. That's why the film is called Mother.
01:58 And that's how the whole emotional turmoil is solved in this film.
02:04 What was the experience like for you personally to be facing the camera again after a period, a certain period?
02:11 No, you see, there's a saying in Hindi, monkey when he becomes old,
02:18 he doesn't forget how to climb and jump. So, I've been doing this job for last 35 years and I don't know anything better.
02:26 It's not that you forget how to act, I forgot.
02:29 We have two new talents in this film, the girl who plays Rekha's daughter. How is she as an actress?
02:37 Oh, when I first saw her, I thought she's okay. And then she did one song,
02:45 she's improving. But then there is a scene in the film which we shot in Mauritius,
02:51 I thought she was simply superb. I thought this girl has got a lot of potential.
02:57 And Samanji has done a very wise decision by selecting this girl. She has delivered some beautiful,
03:03 dramatic scenes in the film. And she's so fresh and young and in songs and dances, she's simply superb.
03:12 If you could just draw a comparison between the other mainstream films that we have now and
03:17 Mother, how is the treatment of the subject of Mother different from the other films that we have now?
03:21 The treatment is, I tell you, it is basically the subject which is different. So, when the subject is different,
03:28 the treatment automatically becomes different. And it is though in the same mold of commercial cinema,
03:36 yet it has got elements of being totally different from what normally films are made. It's not a convention.
03:42 Conventionally, a girl should have one father. Here the three men proclaim to be the father of the child.
03:48 And eventually they say, they tell the girl, though we three are your fathers, your mother is a real father.
03:54 That's a different thing which we must have not seen in Hindi cinema till date.
03:59 What is the character that you play? -One of the fathers. -And how does your character develop in the film?
04:06 Yes, it develops with the girl and the mother. It starts off on a hilarious note how we bump into each other,
04:13 three of us. We don't know each other. We all end up in the same place after 20 years.
04:18 And without knowing each other, we keep discussing, we keep telling each other, I am going to meet my date,
04:23 I am going to meet my girlfriend, not knowing we are meeting the same person.
04:27 And how she handles all of us differently. And that was the best part of the film.
04:32 What is the experience like working again with people like Rakesh Roshan, Randhir Kapoor, coming together?
04:38 Oh, it was fun. It was just a picnic. I just dreamed. I just dreamed and think how and when we shot the film, I don't know.
04:46 It was just like, it looks like we went there out for fun and within 4-5 days we finished the film.
04:53 And then we shot for nearly 60-70 days. And I wish if this film runs, and I pray to God this film runs,
04:59 if this runs, then a lot of people are going to cast us together. And we come in a package deal.
05:03 Either all of us or none of us. -Since you have been in the industry for so many years,
05:08 you have been there to witness the changes that have happened, that have transpired in the industry.
05:12 If you could just talk about what is it like in the 70s and now in the 90s.
05:16 70s, they used to always come to me and used to cast me as a leading man. Now they don't.
05:22 That's a big difference. How do you eliminate that difference? -In the 90s we had a lot of
05:27 actors and actresses who had a background of modelling but now they are entering the acting scene.
05:33 What do you think about that? -The whole thing has changed. In 70s there was no TV.
05:38 Now there is lot of exposure on TV. There is so much entertainment on TV.
05:42 So, you have to compete with that small idiot box. You have to keep it at bay. And you have to do something fantastic to survive.
05:49 Earlier people had no choice. The only entertainment was cinema. Now there are so many other avenues opened.
05:55 How was Savitri Markar as a director? What kind of inputs did you receive from him as a director? -Oh, of course.
06:01 The very fact I am doing the third picture with him speaks volumes about what you are asking me.
06:07 What kind of feelings do you think this movie will invoke in the audiences that need to watch it?
06:12 I can't answer that question all the way but at least I will say that I can promise my audience they will not be disappointed.
06:23 They will come out with a very very big smile on their face. Just watch it. -How important is
06:29 fashion or glamour as an element of the Hindi cinema?
06:34 See, the way we call cinema as a commercial art, same way fashion is part of cinema. Without fashion cinema is not there.
06:42 Without cinema fashion is not there. It's both married together. -What is it like working with the all time beautiful actress Rekha?
06:50 Oh my God! It was beautiful. I have done maximum films with her. She is not only a fabulous actress, a fabulous human being too.
06:59 The music soundtrack of this film, could you just tell us about that? -You see, Mr. Saman Kumar Tuck has got a track record.
07:09 He has always had fabulous music in his films and the songs have been always very different and catchy.
07:15 And when we did the film we knew we are going to work with a very great musical entertainer. And the film's music speaks volumes about it.
07:23 Which is your favourite song? -The song where we all three are together singing with Rekha. The three guys and Rekha.
07:30 And we romancing with her. -Thank you. -Thank you.
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