Shammi Kapoor and the late Geeta Bali’s son Aditya Raj Kapoor wonders why he wasn't approached ahead of the shooting of the Marathi biopic on Bhagwan Dada Ek Albela in Marathi, directed by Shekhar Sartandel.
Aditya’s mother Geeta Bali will be played by Vidya Balan. He says, “No one has approached me about information on my mother on this film. We know nothing about it except what has appeared in the public domain. Which is fine. I am sure the makers are capable of doing justice to the film. But I could have told them so much about Geeetaji. No one knew her the way I do. I was only 9 when she died. But she left an indelible impression on me and my sister.”
He wonders which aspect of his mom’s life the film will touch on. “Is it just the film Albela? There are so many undisclosed aspects to my mom’s personality.”
Aditya is now in the process of writing a biography on his mother Geeta Bali. “It will be out by next year. It will go into areas of her personality that no one knows about. Do you know she was responsible for my father Shammi Kapoor’s ‘Yahoo’ image? She pulled him out of his obsession with socialist cinema and gave him this new, wild, sexy image. My father’s dance moves were actually my mother’s steps. If you see her dancing in Kidar Sharma’s Jabse Tumhe Dekha Hai she moves the way my dad became famous for.”
Aditya shows full faith in Vidya’s ability to play his mother. “She is very capable. And I am sure she will play my mother with dignity, grace and conviction.”
