Memories Of Another Day

Revisiting the ravishing RANJEETA KAUR’S memorable movies… is FARHANA FAROOK

She had the requisite glamour of the mainstream heroine and yet a quiet gravitas that set her apart from the coquetry of her curvaceous peers. Her intrinsic quietude was her eloquent hallmark. The wine eyes were prisms of emotion. Her husky voice an emotive accessory to her understated craft. And her vulnerable persona made Ranjeeta Kaur a perfect mascot for two love stories back to back in the mid ’70s. As Laila, she personalised HS Rawail’s vision of the classic character in Laila Majnu. Just as she breathed life into her portrayal of the terminally ill Lily Fernandez in Rajshri Productions’ modern love tale Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se. And while Satte Pe Satta is viewed as a timeless comedy, Ranjeeta’s sensitive performance as the wheelchairbound rich heiress, lent moments of epiphany to the film. And who can forget her clad in sinuous sharara lip-synching the elegy Tu iss tarah se meri zindagi mein in Aap To Aise Na The! You could say romance was her forte as she too was quoted saying in a recent interview, “I am from the age of romanticism. So, no one can understand love better than me.” Yet, one cannot discount her versatility, which enabled her to feature in a host of potboilers – most of them with Mithun Chakraborty – from Suraksha to Gunahon Ka Devta. Today, she leads a quiet life in the US, front-lining a host of 7-Eleven convenience stores in Virginia. But we’re sure a remote song playing on a disc, a film airing on a retro channel must be taking the beautiful actress right back to the world, which was once her fiefdom. So, here’s a hark back at her innings in Bollywood…

REEL TAKES