When I found Gulzar saab’s house name funny and went on to act in his film!

A page from the personal diary of Shiju Kataria When I was going through my struggling period, once I happened to pass by Gulzar saab’s bungalow at Bandra. I was with my friend and I told her I liked the bungalow but found its name, ‘Boskyana’ funny. My friend told me it was Gulzar saab’s bungalow and it was named after his daughter, Meghna whose nickname was Bosky. My friend also told me this was his office where auditions were on for the lead role and they were looking for an Indian girl with simple looks. I was told to drop my pictures and try my luck. Initially I was a bit reluctant but I went ahead for the auditions. Then his assistant asked me to take off my sandals and make up and he took me inside the house. The next thing I knew was that I was standing in front of Gulzar saab. I did not know how to react so I did not even wish him. He gave me a few lines and told me the character they were looking for was of a 14-year-old girl who addresses herself as hum and others as Tum. I spoke the lines given to me and he was impressed with me and handed over the script to me. He told me I was selected after a round of auditioning for about 150 girls that had gone on for about 15 days. I could not believe it and when I came out, I told my friend I had been selected for the role of Rupa, Pankaj Kapur’s youngest daughter in a film called Godaan, based on a story of Munshi Premchand. The movie starred Pankaj Kapur, Surekha Sikri and Vrajesh Hirjee. I remember when I went for my shoot I narrated the whole incident about how I hated the name of his bungalow to him. He laughed and announced this on the mike in front of the entire film crew. He told everyone that Chutki (me) hated the name and found it very funny. For me this was a funny incident and an embarrassing one too. Something I can never forget in my life.