Rekha loved Sonam Kapoor's Khoobsurat

24 Sep 2014

Finally the iconic Rekha saw what Sonam Kapoor has done to her iconic part in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Khoobsurat . On Tuesday night Rekha finally saw Khoobsurat after a lot of persuasion and procrastination.

A source close to the Kapoors says, "Rekha is very close to Anil and his wife Sunita. Rekha loves Rhea and Sonam and treats them like her own daughters. Sonam is especially close to Rekha's heart. But very honestly Rekha was wary of seeing the Khoobsurat remake after what had happened with the remake of her other iconic film Umrao Jaan." Anil and his daughters "worked their charms" on Rekha and she finally agreed to see the film.

Says Anil, "She loved the film and she loved Sonam. Rekha said Sonam has nailed the character. What better compliment can there be for Sonam?" Says Sonam, "I wasn't at the screening. My sister was there. I heard Rekhaji loved the film. I know she loves me. She says I'm the daughter she never had." Rekha in an interview some years ago said to me, "I remember Hrishida calling me to his home. 'I see you in this role as a little daughter. You aren't just a mischievous brat but you don't want to be told what to do. But you've great values. So you do the right things.' That's how Hrishida conceived the character in Khoobsurat for me. Then later he made a kind of sequel to Khoobsurat entitled Jhoothi . I didn't have to depend on dialogues or scenes." Rekha continued, "Hrishida was a fellow-Libran. He called me Chinnapunnu the Tamil term for 'Little Daughter'. I did some of my best work with him. Hrishida was like a father-figure. He would give me dirty looks if I behaved loudly. Please remember, I was only 13 when I came into the industry. We shot Khoobsurat in his house, so I didn't feel I was shooting a film. Hrishida was such a fantastic editor. Before he reached the sets he had already completed the editing in his mind. That's when I realized what a fantastic craftsman he was and I got interested in editing. Hrishida could concentrate on chess on the sets and still shoot the perfect shot. It didn't mean he wasn't paying attention to the actors. I slowly understood and appreciated him."