At the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) session, while introducing Asha Parekh, who was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award this year, the moderator told the audience how back in the day films used to be promoted just using ‘Hit Girl’ Parekh’s name. Parekh spoke about her muchcelebrated movies such as Teesri Manzil, Kati Patang and Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki, and shared how directors used to first sign her for the female lead before finalising the hero.

Talking about rewatching her films, Parekh said, “Watching my old films is like revisiting old memories; it’s a nostalgic trip down memory lane.”

When asked if not working with Dilip Kumar remains an unfulfilled wish for her, she said, “When I came to IFFI four-five years ago, a gentleman wrote that because I didn’t like Dilip Kumar, I didn’t work with him. It was very upsetting because I was always in awe of Dilip sahab. There was a film, Zabardast, for which I was signed to work with Dilip Kumar. But the movie got shelved. I was unlucky.”

Stating that she has done side roles in several films, Parekh elaborated, “The critics always thought that I was a glamour girl and couldn’t act. But after Do Badan, when a renowned critic, who was critical of all films, praised me, I was finally accepted by the press as a good actor. I got roles in films like Kati Patang and Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki and people started taking me seriously. I don’t know why I did those films. There was an actor with whom I did two-three films. He would never come on time and I’d wait for hours on the set. One day I thought what am I even doing playing these character roles and decided to not act anymore. I got into direction and I really liked directing the TV show Kora Kagaz, which was a big hit. I had a superb heroine in Renuka Shahane. But there was a lot of intervention from TV executive producers with the dialogues or my actors’ looks. That was the point when I decided – no more TV.”

Talking about the Dadasaheb Phalke award, Parekh said, “This award is being given to a woman after a long time and I’m also the first Gujarati to receive this award. For a good two days, it didn’t register.”

Talking about her Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) tenure, Parekh said, “I was criticized by the press so badly during my CBFC tenure because I was the first woman in CBFC (first woman chairperson). The press thought I was too strict because I was a woman. I don’t want to name the film, but a certain film was certified R (restricted) in the US and they wanted me to give U/A. In the end, we gave it a U/A certification, but with cuts.”

Someone from the audience asked, “What do you want to say about CBFC’s role today?” She responded, “Ye bhari sankat wala sawal hai kyunki saara kuch change ho gaya hai.”

When someone asked about her opinion on today’s movies, she said, “Ab log bahut westernized ho gaye hain.”

When asked why today’s films do not have silver jubilee, she said, “Aaj kal sab kuch itna fast chal raha hai toh bechare kaise tikenge?” A fan also made a request to the veteran actress, saying, “Just one request, please ask Wikipedia to remove ‘retired actress’ from your bio. An actor never retires.”