By Sanjeev Kumar Patro
Bhubaneswar: The wide-eyed, teeny innocent Vijayta, sporting a virtuous-cum-charming smile, rose to the stardom at the age of 14. Her brilliant on-screen chemistry with Kumar Gaurav had made Love Story a smash hit. The film produced by ‘Jubilee’ star Rajendra Kumar, father of Kumar Gaurav, despite having the old plot of children of feuding families falling in love, was a super-hit and grossed $110 mn, just $10mn short of Millennium star Amitabh Bachchan’s Laawaris.
Bunty-Pinky, the filmy name of Gaurav and Vijayta in Love Story, was early 80’s craze. The chartbuster songs held music lovers in enthral. The romantic pair of Vijayta Pandit-Kumar Gaurav was the top sensation in early 80’s. But the stars faded after one glorious shine. The curtains are now off on the behind story.
NOT REEL, ITS REAL LOVE!
Opening up after 43 years to the Love Story, Vijayta, 57 now, in a ‘tempestuous’ interview to veteran film critic Bharati S Pradhan (Lehren retro), bared it all behind the super success of Love story and the disastrous turn.
“When Love Story film was being made, love was all around. I was 14, and I hugged first time a boy, Bunty, (Kumar Gaurav). And the experiences are new for me. Love happens naturally. When Bunty and I work out on the love scenes, one cannot, but go into the skin of the character. This is not my case alone. All romantic pairs – Rishi-Dimple in Bobby, Sunny-Amrita in Betaab and Sanjay-Tina in Rocky – had a real life love affair,” said Vijayta with a wide smile.
Vijayta said Kumar Gaurav had a very charming personality, and he was head over heels in love with me.
The sensational star of early 80’s disclosed that as love blossomed between Kumar Gaurav and Vijayta, Rajendra Kumar got very perturbed and angry.
“I had listened Rajendra Kumar and Kumar Gaurav having heated arguments over the love affair. And Rajendra Kumar telling Gaurav, you are my Prince, I will bring a princess, a super-rich girl for you,” confided a scary looking Vijayata, when the film is being shot at locations in Kashmir.
KUMAR GAURAV IN LOVE WITH VIJAYTA
How bitterly Kumar Gaurav was in love with Vijayta is known from here that when Rajendra Kumar, in the midst of the Love Story shooting and after getting the whiff of love between, engaged Gaurav with Raj Kapoor’s daughter Reema Kapoor, and in that engagement ceremony, when Vijayta told Bunty about the beautiful big diamond studded engagement ring, he got upset and angrily told Vijayta, “If you don’t like it , I will throw it now, that stunned even famous actress Reena Roy standing beside.
Kumar Gaurav, despite engagement with Raj Kapoor’s daughter, kept going to Vijayta’s house. Vijayta’s parents feel very worried.
As per Vijayta, “When my mother, a disciple of Prabhupada, and who daily pray with rosary beeds, asked Kumar Gaurav, why you come here, you are already engaged. Kumar replied, I love Vijayta and will marry her. He took a vow to marry me with the rosary beeds.”
TERRIBLE TURN
Answering to the question how you faded away from the arc light, Vijayta with a little perplexed look confided that in the films like Teri Kasam, Romance, Lovers, Stars et al, I was the heroine. She recalled, “Even Ramanand Sagar had called on me over phone to act in his film Romance.”
Jubilee star Rajendra Kumar removed Vijayta from all the films: The Love Story star actress divulged that it’s Rajendra Kumar who advised, or say compelled, film producers to drop Vijayta from the star cast, and choose other newbie actresses like Poonam Dhillon, Rati Agnihotri and Padmini Kolhapure.
After Kumar Gaurav tied knot with Namrata Dutt in 1984, Vijyata got offers to work with new comer actors like Anil Kapoor in Mohabbat.
CINEMA LOVERS OBSESSED WITH KUMAR GAURAV-VIJAYTA PAIR
Vijayta said she later worked with many actors from Mithun Chakraborty, Anil Kapoor to Sanjay Dutt, but the cine connoisseurs had the image of Love Story in their psyche, and they never accepted me with other actors, and the same happened with Kumar Gaurav, despite acting with other actresses from Poonam to Madhuri. Success eluded to both of us.
