Happy Birthday Waheeda Rehman: When an underage girl shocked Guru Dutt with her demand

Iconic Waheeda Rehman, the eternal beauty and legendary actress of Bollywood, celebrates her birthday today. She has been an inspiration for many young dancers and actresses who aspire to project gracefulness, poise, and dignity on the big screen. One of the highlighting features of her journey was the way she carried herself both on and off the screen.

Bollywood happened to Waheeda Rehman out of the blue. Although she was a trained dancer, she had never thought of becoming an actress. But since she was a fabulous dancer, she got a small role in a Telugu movie. At that time, Waheedaji used to live with her family in Chennai. So, how did she meet Guru Dutt, who was responsible for introducing her to Bollywood?

The Guide actress has narrated in detail her first meeting with Guru Dutt and the background that led to this meeting in one of her interviews with Nasreen Munni Kabir years ago. So once when Guru Dutt was in Hyderabad to meet a distributor, he heard a commotion outside the office. Out of curiosity, the legendary filmmaker asked the distributor about the reason behind all this noise. In answer, the distributor said, “A new girl has performed a song in the film. It has caused a sensation. When the stars go on to the stage, the audience demands to see this young girl. Her name is Waheeda Rehman."

Celebrating the legendary actress Waheeda Rehman for her remarkable contribution to Indian cinema.#WaheedaRehman@MinOfCultureGoI@nfdcindia@AshwiniVaishnaw@Murugan_MoS@PIB_India@airnewsalerts@DDNewslive@PIBCulturepic.twitter.com/iVXMJQhR2b

— Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (@MIB_India) February 3, 2025

Waheeda Rehman made an impact with her first movie

Guru Dutt was surprised and expressed his desire to meet her knowing that the girl not only knows Urdu but also can speak Telugu and Tamil. It was the mid-fifties and no one had heard of Guru Dutt as not many magazines related to Bollywood reached down South in those days. But with the help of a mediator Mr. Prasad, the meeting was arranged with Guru Dutt during which Waheedaji’s mother was also present.

Weeks passed after the meeting but there was no reply from Guru Dutt and both the actress and her family had forgotten about the meeting. Three months later a friend of Guru Dutt called upon Rehman’s house and said that the director wanted to meet Waheedaji.

Raj Khosla was supposed to be the director of this movie. Since Waheedaji was less than 18 years old Khosla asked her mother to sign the contract. But an underage Waheedaji intervened and said that she wanted to add a clause of her own to the contract.

I don’t make that kind of film - Guru Dutt

While Khosla objected to this saying that newcomers cannot make such demands, Guru Dutt asked Waheedaji to go ahead with her clause. The young actress wrote that she would not wear dresses or costumes for the film if she did not like them.

In reply, the Pyaasa director said, “I don’t make films of that kind. Have you seen any of my films?’ and asked Waheedaji to go and see his movies. While Guru Dutt was in agreement with this condition of Waheeda Rehman , Raj Khosla was furious and said, “This is amazing, Guru. You’re listening to this girl and not saying anything. The choice of costumes depends on the scene and not on the actress.”

Waheedaji even said that when she grows up she might wear a bikini but at that time she was not comfortable doing that. After a few days, a 3-year-old contract was signed by Waheeda Rehman’s mother which also included the clause that the young actress had demanded.

Happy Birthday ❤️#WaheedaRehmanpic.twitter.com/5LllG8UKOl

— Jackie Shroff (@bindasbhidu) February 3, 2025

And all through her career the Kabhi Kabhie actress worked in Bollywood on her terms with a lot of dignity without compromising on her values.