Parveen Babi was a star who lit up the screen even as she battled silent storms behind the scenes. While she redefined glamour and modern womanhood in Hindi cinema, she also battled serious mental health challenges, including struggles that led her to withdraw from the public eye at the peak of her career. However, she was far more than her struggles. She was a trailblazer, a star who changed the face of the Hindi film heroine, and a woman whose legacy continues to endure with grace and complexity.
On her birth anniversary today, April 4, Filmfare’s Editor-In-Chief Jitesh Pillaai writes about the blazing star.
She would have been 72 today. Would you believe that Parveen Babi had one of her major breakdowns before the iconic song Pyar Karne Wale in Shaan? And a massive set was reportedly waiting for her at Film City. This was the biggest film being made at the time, since director Ramesh Sippy’s previous film was Sholay.
After many excuses for her absence from the set were made – right from jaundice to exhaustion – and with intense pressure from many quarters, she had to return to shoot this song. Propped up with lots of medication, she reluctantly shot for the film. You can notice her absence in Shaan quite easily.
Parveen occasionally made news when she filed cases in court against many leading film stars and politicians of the time. Since she had been diagnosed with “paranoid schizophrenia,” it was difficult to ascertain the truth of her claims, and many of the cases were dismissed as fervent accounts of an unstable mind.
In those days, mental ailments were quickly hushed up, and no one really had conversations, especially if a topline celebrity was involved. Parveen increasingly got lost in her own conspiracy theories and delusions, and finally, in the year 2005, gave up the long struggle. She was 51.
Around the same time, she also opted out of Jwalamukhi. The pressure of showbiz and a very vulnerable mind can cave under such strain. Parveen left India in 1983 and returned in 1989 in an almost unrecognisable state. The films she abandoned were Telephone, Teri Bahon Mein, Mera Aasiq, Ameer Aadmi Gareeb Aadmi. She did complete Ashanti, Rang Birangi, Mahaan and a couple of other films around this time, though.
Her faithful secretary, Ved Sharma, was at the airport to receive her, having taken care of finances and her house in her absence. But whimsical showbiz has moved on. Parveen was magical and as much a part of my memories as Rekhaji, Smita, Zeenat and all other wonderful actors. Thank you again for lighting up all our lives. Every single time.
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