Raj Kapoor Used A Casteist Slur Against Zarina Wahab: 'He Compared Me To...'
Zarina Wahab said that although Raj Kapoor used the slur, he meant it as a compliment.
Zarina Wahab is a popular name in the Indian film industry. She has mostly worked in Hindi and Malayalam cinema and has created a footing for herself besides being Aditya Pancholi’s wife. Back in the day, it was said that when Zarina met the late Raj Kapoor, he called her a casteist slur. In a recent chat, Zarina opened up about the incident.
Speaking to Lehren Retro, Zarina mentioned, “This is incorrect. People have taken it completely out of context. What really happened was, back then, whenever Raj Kapoor used to visit his farm in Loni, he used to call people from the Pune institute (Film and Television Institute of India). We all went, all dolled up. I don’t know what he was thinking, he looked at me and (made a casteist remark). I thought to myself, ‘I dressed up well, why did he use that word for me?’ I felt bad but I didn’t react."
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She added, “When I was leaving, he stopped me and asked, ‘Do you know why I used that word about you?’ I said, ‘No, sir.’ He then clarified, ‘I called you that word because that’s what I call Waheeda Rehman’. That suddenly lifted my mood. What an amazing compliment he gave me. He compared me to Waheeda Rehman. I was flattered."
Zarina continued, “I was so silly. After all this, when I went to Mumbai. I met Waheeda ji and told her, ‘I look like you’. She looked at me, and she was like maybe the jawline is like me. She was just being kind, we don’t have any similarities. God knows what Raj Kapoor saw in me."
Previously, Zarina had told Amar Ujala, “When I was studying at Pune Film Institute, Raj Kapoor used to come there often to meet Shailendra Singh. Shailendra was trying to become an actor and during this time he had also sung the songs filmed on Rishi Kapoor in Raj Kapoor’s film Bobby."
“Yes, one day Raj Kapoor did say to me that you look like a sweeper, I asked him why are you saying so? So he said that I call Zeenat Aman also by the same name. I see Zeenat Aman’s image in you. This was a big compliment from Raj Kapoor for me and people twisted it and presented it as something else," she had said.
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