Radha Saluja-a prominent name of Hindi, Punjabi and other Indian language films, has been away from Indian cinema for four decades now. Where is she? What has she been up to in all these years? Keep reading to know about the lively Radha Saluja.
Born in Jalandhar, Radha’s father was a colonel in the army. Due to her father’s posting in different parts of the country, she grew up seeing different cultures of every reign. While she was studying in Delhi, she wanted to pursue an acting career.
“Once in Ooty we were on picnic, my dad was posted there. Raj Kapoor saab was there shooting for Sangam. The song O Mehbooba was being filmed on Raj Kapoor, Vyjantimala and Rajendra Kumar. Vyjantimala kept making a mistake again & again. I said if I was the heroine I would have done it in the first take. Raj saab heard and asked me “little girl do you want to become an actress when you grow up?” and I said “yes, I do”. In that song I and my sisters Renu and Kumkum can be seen from far. Its then my desire to become an actress started. Years later when I became an actress I reminded about it Raj Kapoor saab once when we were in Delhi for an International Film Festival”, she shared with us.
“Dad was like “Is ladki ka kya hoga” become a doctor or a teacher. What is this ke actress banegi” .Though today I wish I had become a doctor but then my sister Kumkum is a doctor”, she further added. Eventually she got into FTII. “Jaya(Bachchan), Danny, Paintal etc were my batchmates”.
How did the first film come her way?
“I had just got graduated from FTII, a day after convocation in Pune, I was back in Bombay. At that time dad’s posting was not in Bombay, but we had got a flat in Colaba in army camp. Just upon returning the servant broke the news ” Ek lambi si gaadi mein ek sahab aaye the, aapke baare mein pooch rahe the(A man in luxury car had come and asked for me)’. Mummy asked him what was his name or had he given any address or phone number? He said “Woh bolke gaye hain main dobara aaunga”(He said he will come back again).
We were about to enter the home and the same gentleman came. It was producer and director Kewal P Kashyap. He was making this film Chori Chori with Sanjay Khan and signed me as the leading lady. So Chori Chori was the first film which i had signed”.
Breakthrough
Lakhon Mein Ek was one of her first releases. The film’s success made her a known star.
” Lakhon Mein Ek” was a lovely film. I was working with Mehmood Bhai, Pran Saab, Nasir Hussain, Kanhaiyalal, David, Madan Puri, Lalita Pawar, Ramesh Deo, Keshto Mukherjee etc, the actors I grew up watching. So being among them was a different kind of a feeling”.
South Films
“MGR Ramachandran-I had never seen anyone like him. He had such a huge fan following. So when a film offer came my way, I was thrilled. Then I got the opportunity to work with NT Rama Rao. Both went on to become Chief Ministers (Tamil Nadu & Andhra Pradesh).I had a great time working with them.”
Besides that she also worked with other big stars like Prem Nazir, Anant Nag, Gamini Fonseka (A super star from Sri Lanka),Upendra Trivedi etc.
Punjabi Films
“Due to Daddy’s postings in various states, I got to witness different cultures and even learned some languages. There were films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, and Marathi. Being a Punjabi I had to do Punjabi Films. It started with Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam, then I did Sherni, Morni, Jag Jeete Mann Jeete and Darani Jethani.”
“Few years after I had left acting and moved to USA, a Sardar ji had started a theatre and he would screen Indian films every weekend. The whole Indian community would gather there. There were 1-2 Indian restaurants too. So it would be like a huge mela or an event. When that Sardar ji saw me roaming around, he requested me to come to his theatre that weekend as my film Mann Jeete Jagg Jeete was being screened there. People met me so warmly there.”
The life as an actress
“When I started out, we were at the location of Aan Milo Sajna. I was to work under the same production house in another film. The unit was waiting for Asha ji(Parekh) .So in the meantime they did my screen test there.”
“I was signed opposite Amitabh Bachchan for BR Ishara’s film Ek Nazar. Few days before the shooting makers approached me and said that i give them the contract paper as they want to make some addition; I got suspicious and asked now what addition is there to make. But they could not give a proper reply. Few days later I got to know that I have been removed from the film. I went to film federation, though I was not taken back in to the film but they had to pay me the full remuneration.”
Since Jaya Bhaduri (Bachchan) was her friend. Did she ever ask her about replacing her in Ek Nazar.
‘No.I did not want to get in to details or confront them. Even when I was doing this film Abhi To Jee Le(a delayed release) with Jaya, which had most of cast and crew from FTII, Amitabh would drop on sets to meet Jaya. We remained in touch till the time I was in Bombay.”
She shared another interesting incident with us…
‘Being from FTII, film offers came my way on own. At that time Babita had quit films as she had married Randhir Kapoor. Her secretary reached out to me. I remember he was sitting in our drawing room. My sister Renu came from outside, wished him and went inside. While i was talking to this man, she kept beckoning me from inside. I went to her. She asked me about this man; I told her I am going to appoint him as my Secretary. She said to me “don’t trust this man”. I was like you had just seen this person for a few seconds and how she can judge him. I did not listen to her and appointed him as my secretary thinking he is in urgent need of work.”
“Ultimately my sister turned out to be right. This man went to my producers and told them that Radha want to buy a car or a house, so she need money. He took large chunk of money from producers and ran away. After a year or so my driver found him and took him to us. My mother was angry at him, but I cooled her down and forgive him. His wife had died of cancer and all the money he ran away with got spent on it.”
Radha Saluja talks about her very small appearance in Razia Sultan
‘I had more scenes in that film, but my part got edited. Kamal Amrohi saab had told me that I could leave the film, but I wanted to work under his direction. I was friends with his daughter Rukhsar. In the film I played this girl who is abducted and taken to the Harem. So going by the scene I put myself on fire. They had taken all safety precautions. While my right hand would get on fire, left hand did not. It was the same case every time. So by the time left hand caught fire, my right hand got burned due to heat, as stuff put on my hand was not safe any longer. I passed out while doing the scene. I was taken to the hospital. My sister Kumkum who is a surgeon had taken care of everything. I still have those burn marks. Whenever someone asks me about it, I say Razia Sultan. I have named my right hand Razia and left Sultan”, she laughs.
Singing
“I did not take any professional training in singing but it happened by chance. I was shooting for a film Wohi Raat Wohi Awaaz opposite Samit Bhanja(Guddi fame)in Madh Island. A song was to be shot on us but song was still not recorded as Asha ji(Bhosle) was out of town. I can’t recall, but someone noticed me singing while i went for a walk on beach. Next thing i knew that I am supposed to record for the song. At recording studio, when i saw Mohd Rafi saab, I got frightened. He sensed that and made me comfortable. Later on I did few albums and did playback singing for myself.
Once Nutan ji met me during a concert, she had seen me singing. I became a very good friend with Nutan ji. She was like an elder sister. We had done many concerts together. I would always meet her whenever I came back to India, I would stay at her place, would go for a walk at night. During her last times, she had become a very spiritual person. She had not told me about her cancer. I wish I could spend more time with her. She had given me tape of her Bhajans which I had lost as we had a lot of tapes at home from our radio programs. I still feel bad about it. She had given me Bhagwat Geeta and its still with me.”
Radha’s sister Renu was also into films.
“She was very well educated. Initially she had started out as a film Journalist and would write for Filmfare ,Madhuri etc. She would have war of words with Khalid Mohammad. He would write something and she would write something back. She would go to take interviews of big stars and she was told Saab abhi yahan hai, Memsaab abhi aayi nahi. She would get fed up and thought I am not doing this.”
If having a sister as a film journalist helped Radha in her career?
“Apart from one article, she never wrote about me. Our work schedule was like that we would hardly meet. Once during the shoot of Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar everyone was waiting for clap boy, but he was not around. Renu enquired why they are not starting the shoot. When she got to know about the situation, she said I will do it. She did the clap for the shoot. She saw her calling and decided to join FTII. She wanted to get in to direction but Hrishikesh Mukherjee suggested her to go for editing. She learned film editing and met Vidhu (Vinod Chopra) there. Both got married. One of my last work as an actress was for their film Sazaye Maut.”
Marriage
“I was in LA to work on an Indo American Film to be produced by Ricky Dean Martin(Son of Dean Martin).That film did not materialize but I met my future Husband Shamim Zaidi(A Radio Host of Pakistani Origin)”.
His and mine parents were against this match, but eventually they accepted our decision. We had a traditional wedding in Karachi.”
She joined her husband on the Radio and would take celebrity interviews. The couple would also arrange stage shows across the US. That was the only way she remained in touch with the film Industry.
Life in USA
Later on she joined Los Angeles Superior Court as a special interpreter of Asian Languages.
“It’s been many years, now no one recognises me. But back then I would often come across people who knew me as an actress. Once there was this Indian man and I was to put his case across as an interpreter. He said, “Main tuhanu pehchaan leya..Tusi Radha Saluja Ho..Main tuhadi aah film dekhi hai..oh film dekhi hai”(i have recognised you..You are Radha Saluja..i have seen this and that movie of yours).While he was saying all this others were wondering what the conversation was all about. I told him”, Bharava main kaun haan,is time eh matter nahi karda..aina lokan ne tainu fadeya..apna bachav kar”(Brother, right now it’s not about me, but you are under arrest, so concerntrate on that only).
She continues”, My father would always say, “Radha do practise Yoga, it will be very helpful for you”. I continued to learn Yoga at FTII and then at a health club in Taj Hotel(Bombay).I had learned it from Yoga Gurus BKS Iyengar, Jawahar Bangera and Mr Taraporewala. Back in L.A one of our friends got to know about it, who insisted me to teach yoga. Then after job time, I was teaching Yoga to my colleagues but then it was very hectic. Today I teach them yoga on Sundays.”
Once Radha Saluja quit films, she never looked back. But she remained connected to films through various platforms.
“There was this series Alias starring Jennifer Garner in which her character had roots from India. She was to speak Punjabi dialogues in it. I recorded the dialogues on tapes in a very slow form, normal form and then with final emotions. On the day of shoot, she remembered the Punjabi dialogues by heart.”
“Then there was this Indian boy from South who was to speak Punjabi dialogues. I also made him learn the dialogues, but every time he would get it wrong. Ultimately makers took his shots from back and took dubbing services of someone else. I was surprised at the dedication of a non-Indian artist who learned dialogues of an alien language, but the Indian actor could not speak a familiar language.”
‘I was associated as dialogue supervisor for this film called Looking for comedy in The Muslim World. I did subtitling (Hindi) of Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible. Whenever this film is shown anywhere, I receive residuals (royalty sum).In last few years these guys could not find me-The Radha Saluja. More than two decades later they got to know that now I am known as Radha Zaidi, all this while they kept the amount in their trust, once they find out I am the same person they released the amount.”
On social media film groups many users feel that she has not got her due as an actress.
“Yes, probably! But there are a lot of factors that change the course of things. There were some compromises I did not want to make. I had no film background. Without any godfather I made it and end up playing lead roles in over 30 films in various languages. I sang on stage, in films, modelled and made some records. I have a wonderful journey as an actress.’
Radha Saluja leaves for her job early in the morning and comes back in the evening, while she teaches Yoga on Sundays.
“I don’t get much time for movies. Sometimes I watch some new films or catch a show on Netflix or listen to songs or watch films on YouTube. I have seen Vidhu’s (Vidhu Vinod Chopra Productions) films like Shikara and Ek Ladki Ko Dekha. I loved Kapoor & Sons and Gangubai Kathiawadi. It’s good to know Punjabi cinema is doing well,” she says on a concluding note after a heartily chit chat over different aspects of her life.
