Lasyapriya Sundaram (BOMBAY TIMES; January 20, 2019)

Actor, dancer, wife, mother, parliamentarian and grandmother, Hema Malini has donned many hats over the years. Even at 70, she is raring to go and willing to extend herself as an artiste and a politician. She is the evergreen ‘Dream Girl’ and during a candid chat with BT at her Juhu residence, she talks about her upcoming dance ballet, Ganga, which she is all set to perform at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas on January 22 in Varanasi, how she has lived life as it happened to her and about the joy of seeing her grandchildren enjoy themselves when she practises dance at home. Excerpts...

You will be performing the ballet Ganga during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Varanasi. Where did you draw your inspiration for the ballet?
The idea to do a ballet on the Ganga was there in my mind for the last four-five years. It was easier for me to do a ballet based on any of the other religious figures. I did a 12-minute performance with Esha (Deol, daughter) initially. The music for that performance was scored by composer Ravindra Jain. He kept insisting that I should do the longer version of the ballet as well. I couldn’t do it at that time and then, he passed away. I felt very bad and I thought that I wouldn’t be able to do it. However, things fell into place when Ashit Desai came on board to compose the music. And, some eight months back, Sushma ji (Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister) told me that I should stage the ballet on the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. Bhagiratha tried his best to bring Ganga to earth, and I have put in a lot of effort to bring her alive on stage.

What do you aim to convey through this dance performance?
It is a project for the country. When I recently visited Banaras, I realised that Ganga is very clean. That’s a cause I would like to support. Conservation of water is yet another topic that needs to be addressed. In my constituency Mathura, people complain that the water is salty (khara pani). Rivers are polluted, which destroys ground water as well. I can get pumps installed, but what comes out is salt water.

At 70, you will be performing live for close to two hours and you will be suspended from a harness as well. Not many from your generation will try doing that…
It is a contemporary ballet that is set over many yugas. So many artistes are suspended from harnesses during performances. And, if it is for a ballet on Ganga, I better do it. She is descending from the heaven... karenge aur kar ke dikhayenge (laughs!). When I am on stage, I can perform for one-and-a-half hours non-stop, but if I am sitting idle, I feel tired. That’s when you think of all kinds of pain (laughs!). I think it is the mindset.

You are not just an artiste, but also a Lok Sabha MP. What do you want to achieve in the next five years, in the field of dance and politics?
I am not a jyotish to predict that. My whole life has been about accepting whatever happens. I have not created my own path, I live life as it comes. I never wanted to be an actress, but it happened to me and I embraced it. I didn’t want to be a Member of Parliament either, but that too, happened and I did it.

Has Dharam ji (Dharmendra) seen your performances? What has his response been?
He has seen the Yashoda Krishna ballet just because Ahaana (Deol, younger daughter) was in it (laughs!). Once when he saw me in my costume for a ballet, he said, ‘You don’t look like someone who belongs to me. You look like somebody from another world and I am unable to connect with you’. When somebody is possessive about you, they don’t like to see you as anything else. It’s a different feeling, which we cannot express.

Your daughters, Esha and Ahana, are dancers. Do your grandchildren, Darien and Radhya, also show inclination towards the arts?
Ahana’s boy gets excited when he sees me rehearsing. He is already like a big actor. I can see that quality in him. But he is also the son of an intelligent father and might want to go into business as well. Radhya (Esha’s daughter) also wants to dance. If I am dancing, she tries to imitate me. Children do what they see.