“My Karan Arjun will come……”
On hearing this dialogue, Rakhi Gulzar’s face comes to mind. The beauty of the actress, who was counted among the most famous actresses of the 70s-80s, can be gauged from the fact that Yash Chopra wrote the 1976 blockbuster film Kabhie Kabhie after seeing her. The famous lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi took inspiration from Rakhi’s personality to write the song of the film ‘Kabhie Kabhie Mere Dil Mein Khayal Aata Hai…’. Sunil Dutt was such a fan of Rakhi’s acting that whenever he got the opportunity to see Rakhi’s performance, his eyes remained moist.
In a film career spanning 4 decades, Rakhi has worked in nearly 100 films, for which she has been honoured with 2 National Awards, 3 Filmfare Awards and Padma Shri.
Rakhi’s life was full of ups and downs, sometimes she had to bear the pain of her husband Gulzar’s infidelity in his second marriage, but Rakhi, who is firm on her principles, never accepted defeat. She says, ‘I am firm on my will and self-respect, even if there is a financial crunch, but I will never do a film or work that I don’t like.’
Today Rakhi Gulzar is 77 years old. Even at this age, she is living her life alone in the valleys away from the city and glitz. She says, ‘Now I don’t need money, I do my work myself and am living a happy life with animals.’ There are many dogs, cows, snakes and birds in her farmhouse in Panvel, which she takes care of herself.