MUMBAI: Pervien Dastur Irani was and fiesty Seema in Maine Pyar Kiya, who kept hitting on Salman Khan's Prem. Back then, her character’s modern ways really caught on with fans of the film. The actress became famous in Bollywood. But then, she disappeared. She made one or two appearances and she did one film with Manisha Koirala and a TV show with Pallavi Joshi.
Recently, she spoke to a portal. Read on for excerpts.
When and why did you quit acting?
I went off from acting for a long time. When we were acting in those days, there was not much happening content wise, it was nothing great. All these people kept calling and saying, ‘aap ghoda chalaoge, aap swimming costume pehnoge’. But there was nothing else to the role. There was hardly any clarity in the story or the character. So, I was doing a lot of other things. I was an air hostess with Air India for 15 years. I've been a hairstylist for a long time. Of course, I did a lot of theatre in between. Theatre has always been really close to my heart. But it is very time consuming and doesn’t pay your bills.
How did you end up being an actor?
Back in the 80s, when you were in college you’d go do some sort of modelling here and there. People see you. A director asked me whether I’d like to do a play and I said okay. I went for a reading and I got the role. It was a small role. Then he again cast me in another play which was opposite Naseeruddin Shah. I was the main lead in it, way back in 1984. Then I started doing a lot of theatre. And that’s where Sooraj ji (Barjatya) saw me and cast me in Maine Pyar Kiya. It was never a planned thing. That movie just fell into my lap. I was like, ‘Chalo kar lete hain.’ I never had an inclination towards making movies as a career.
What kind of roles were you offered after Maine Pyar Kiya?
You know how the Hindi film industry works. And in those days, if you have played a vamp in one film, you will always be a vamp. Now things have changed. So much work is happening.
When did you decide to quit films?
Around 1990. I had signed Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke with Aamir Khan. But I got a call from Air India that my training is going to start. So, Aamir’s sister used to also fly with us, too. Aamir’s dad Tahir Hussain was producing the film. So, I went to him saying, ‘Uncle I have just got my call from Air India. What should I do?’ He said, ‘Beta you have to decide whether you want to do training or this film.’ Then he asked me, ‘Beta aapke dimaag mein koi aur hai kya?’ I told him that I had recently worked with Navneet Nishant in Goa for three months. That’s how Navneet got that role.
Credits: TOI
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