Mumbai

She started acting at the age of nine. Seven decades and over 500 films later, acting has become a part of her soul, says veteran actor Aruna Irani, reflecting on a career that saw her share screen space with stars like Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor and Sridevi.

For the 79-year-old, the film industry has been both her school and a place where she grew up.

"I started working from the age of nine. So, it has become my food. It is inside me. I am always hungry to act. That is why I have this passion," Irani told PTI in an interview.

Recalling her early days in the profession, Irani said, "We would stand in the shot and then eat, drink and have fun. Then we grew up. At one point, we were neither kids nor adults so there was a gap and I thought what to do next but to be honest, there is no better profession than being an actor. And there is no better industry than our film industry. They will never ask, ‘what diploma do you have?’ If you know how to work, you will get work. I was not educated so my world began from here."

Irani began as a child star and was first noticed when she acted in Dilip Kumar's 1961 movie "Ganga Jamuna". She featured in the popular song "Insaaf Ki Dagar Pe".

Recalling her memories of Dilip Kumar, Irani said he would address her and other children "lovingly".

"He must be in his 40s. There were no hotels in Igatpuri (Maharashtra), so everyone stayed in the forest guest houses, including him. In the evenings, he would just lie down under a tree. I would ask him, 'What happened uncle?' and he would say, 'Nothing, my head is heavy', and then I would massage his forehead."

Over the years, Irani made appearances in popular movies such as "Patthar Ke Sanam", "Upkar", "Tumse Achha Kaun Hai" and "Caravan".

Irani said she had a crush on Shashi Kapoor, her co-star from films such as "Fakira", "Aap Beti", "Gautam Govinda", “Rahu Ketu”, “Sindoor” and “Rootha Naa Karo”.

She recalled that while doing romantic scenes, she would tease the handsome actor by demanding retakes.

"The best co-star was Shashi Kapoor. I had a crush on him. I liked him a lot. And liking someone doesn’t mean acquiring. I used to trouble him a lot in romantic scenes. After a take, I would often say, ‘No. One more take’," she said.

Reflecting on her experience of working with Raj Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor in "Bobby", Irani described Raj Kapoor as not only a great actor but also an exceptional director.

"He used to make very good and romantic films. He and Yash Chopra, these two were legends in making love stories. I would say that I am very lucky that I have worked with so many good directors," Irani said.

"With Yash ji, I worked with ‘Deewaar’. Then with his son, I did this film, ‘Dil Toh Pagal Hai’. It was nice experience. Aditya ji is very soft spoken, he never shouted on the sets," she said.

One of her frequent co-stars in the 80s and 90s was Sridevi and they worked on a number of hits, including "Chaalbaaz", "Laadla" and "Aag Aur Shola".

"She (Sridevi) was so punctual, so well-behaved. She would listen to her director carefully and follow it. She would not say, ‘I will do this or I will do that’. All the artists, they used to obey the director a lot. Because see, we come, say two dialogues and leave. But our directors keep thinking about the scene and the nuance," she said.

The actor played a variety of roles, including vamp characters, which she enjoyed the most.

"Playing a simple girl gets very boring because you have to look scared all the time. But there is fun in playing a vamp because it is colourful, you get to wear happening dresses, give a certain look and get interesting hairstyles, so it was a lot of fun. You would get different kinds of roles so there never was any monotony."

Talking about her lead role opposite "Bombay to Goa" with Amitabh Bachchan, Irani said they both were relatively new at the time.

"Bachchan sir was also new at that time. He had done two three films as a side character. I used to do side characters only. So, by combining these two people, they made this. It was good. It was fun. I don't know why I didn't get work for three years after that but later, I started working again."

Irani is now set to explore the emerging microdrama format, a genre of short-form scripted storytelling told through bite-sized episodes.

She will feature in Kuku TV's upcoming show “Don’t Mess With My Grandma”, which is directed by Karanvir Bohra and Madhavi Bhojwani and produced under their production MEOW Entertainment.

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“Every character had its own fun. Like the fun of playing the role of a vamp. The fun of a simple girl. But what happens in a simple girl, it gets very boring because you are doing all the time. You are scare, you are dead-like. But the fun of playing the role of a vamp. It is very colorful, wearing such happening dresses, giving looks, making hair. All that used to be very different and nice,” Irani said.