In the early 1970s, Rehana Sultan blazed quite a trail of thought-provoking eye-brow raising unconventional films like Dastak and Chetna which re-defined the Hindi film heroine. Today she lives far away from the limelight with her husband, writer-director B R Ishaara, happy to be a housewife. In a rare interview, the relatively reclusive actress talks about the years gone by.

I didn't vanish. I did a lot of films. Some worked, others didn't. I had no guidance for my career; no one from my family had anything to do with the industry. I went to the Pune Film Institute. My career went off pretty fine. When I got married I decided to take a break. The offers kept coming for a while.

I must admit that image damaged my career. Filmmakers would come to me only with those kinds of roles. The character would be a simple girl, but she'd be required to do all kinds of things. They wanted some sex in any movie that I featured in. I said no thanks. How would a simple middle-class girl land up in a bathtub? She wouldn't have known what a bathtub is. I had heated arguments with filmmakers. Nowadays, look at what the heroines are doing!

First of all the belief that I'm Muslim is wrong. I'm a Bahai. My husband is a pucca Brahmin. So I lead a completely cosmopolitan life. I did Chetna because I liked the story of the rehabilitation of a prostitute. I had problem with just one bedroom scene where my character was supposed to be nude. It was impossible for me to actually do a nude scene. I kept asking Ishara Saab about it until he must've thought I'm not interested in doing it. My hairdresser Maria bailed me out. She styled my hair with a wig in such a way that it covered my upper torso completely. As for the controversial shot of my legs in an inverted V, I had to do nothing, just hitch up my skirt a bit. But the effect was very bold. I'd say the bold scenes were more in the mind than body.

I wouldn't like to comment on any one actress. But all these actresses will have to prove themselves. I've nothing against actresses who flaunt a good body. It's their decision. But an artiste needs acting talent to endure. I feel actresses who flaunt assets other than their acting talent are taking short -cuts. When I signed films like Chetna and Dastak I wasn't thinking of shocking audiences for publicity's sake. The bold scenes were part of the script. I may be wrong, but these actresses who constantly show their bodies are like those sub-standard products which are over-sold to the public. These are signs of insecurity. No wonder some of these girls have a Friday-to-Friday shelf life.

Cordial….we weren't good friends. I knew Smita Patil well. I met her a little before her death. We had promised to meet after her child birth… I and Jaya (Bachchan) were both from the Pune institute. But we lost touch.

This is cache, read story here