Veteran actor Bindu has opened up about her memories of the late Parveen Babi, recalling the actress’ struggles following her nervous breakdown and the impact it had on her personal and professional life.In a recent conversation with Vickey Lalwani, Bindu remembered meeting Parveen during a difficult phase and shared how the actress would often talk about Amitabh Bachchan. She also recounted witnessing the early signs of Parveen’s deteriorating health while working with her on a film.
‘She was only talking about him’
When asked whether Parveen Babi was fond of Amitabh Bachchan, Bindu admitted that she wasn’t aware of the nature of their relationship but recalled meeting the actress after she suffered a nervous breakdown.“I didn’t get to know about him, but later when she had a nervous breakdown, I met her at a party and she was only talking about him. I felt that she was saying something wrong. She said a lot of things about him,” Bindu said.The veteran actor added that Parveen would often make unusual remarks about several people around her.“She used to say a lot of things about us too. I understood what she was saying. My husband and I sat together and I told her not to ask too much. It was a nervous breakdown. She must be loving him, we don’t know. That’s what I heard later,” she said.Bindu clarified that she had not worked extensively with Parveen and therefore could not comment further on the actress’ personal feelings.“I didn’t have many films with Parveen Babi. So, I don’t know anything about it.”
‘It was a very sad thing about her’
Recalling the period when Parveen’s health began affecting her work, Bindu described an incident that occurred during the shooting of Jwalamukhi.“What a tragic death it was. It was very sad. It happened right in front of me. At first, we were playing Jwalamukhi. Shatru. Yes, Shatru. We took Reena after Shatru. So, Parveen was playing her,” she recalled.According to Bindu, the team was scheduled to shoot from 2 pm to 10 pm and had completed rehearsals before Parveen arrived on set.“We had a shift from 2 to 10. We got ready at 2. We rehearsed too. We said, Parveen is coming. She came to the set. After she came, we stood up for a shot. She had some dialogues. She couldn’t speak. She spoke one or two lines and then forgot. She was not listening. She was somewhere in a trance.”
Shooting was cancelled after Parveen fell ill
Bindu said director Prakash Mehra immediately sensed that something was wrong and decided to halt the shoot.“Prakash ji said, if you’re not feeling well, we’ll pack up and do it tomorrow. She said, yes, I think so. I’m not feeling well. That day, we packed up the shooting.”The actress revealed that the following day, the schedule had to be cancelled altogether.“Prakash ji said, let’s do one thing. I’ll call you tomorrow morning. We’ll probably have the shift at 2. He said, okay. The next day, he called. He said, no, we’ll have to cancel the schedule. She’s not keeping well. That’s when it started.”Bindu added that no one on the set understood the seriousness of the situation at the time.“We didn’t know what had happened. How serious it was. We didn’t know anything.”
Parveen was eventually replaced by Reena Roy
As Parveen’s health worsened, production delays mounted and the filmmakers eventually replaced her with Reena Roy.“After that, our schedule got very long. The break got so long. They changed Parveen and took Reena. Then we shot the movie.”When asked if portions had to be reshot, Bindu explained, “Actually, what happened with them, which we weren’t in. All that got reshooted with Reena. We shot with Reena.”
‘She’s answering, but she’s somewhere else’
Bindu also recalled another unsettling moment she shared with Parveen during a later shoot.“After that, I was shooting in the evening. We were sharing a room with Parveen. We were talking to her. She’s answering, but she’s somewhere else. She’s looking somewhere else in the trance.”She remembered her hairdresser noticing the same thing.“My hair person was with me. She pointed at me and said, what’s going on? I said, I don’t know. We didn’t understand.”According to Bindu, Parveen appeared physically present but mentally distant.“She’s nodding, but she’s not listening to me. She’s somewhere else. After the evening, she fell ill. After that, everything was over.”Looking back, Bindu described Parveen Babi’s decline as one of the saddest experiences she witnessed in the film industry.“That was a very sad thing about her,” she concluded.
