MISS GULAB
It’s sad… but inevitable perhaps… that no one remembers Miss Gulab, not even the chroniclers of Indian cinema history. She and a Miss Emily were the queens of the movie marquee during the silent era. As a kid, I wasn’t allowed to go to the cinema hall in Indore. But I sneaked in one night and was astounded by the sight of Miss Gulab very daintily trying to hang on to her sari in a storm tossed boat. The boat’s planks were giving way, the winds were ripping the sails apart. That was probably the first wet scene of Indian cinema.
Raj Kapoor may have later raised a storm for Zeenat Aman in Satyam Shivam Sundaram and pushed Mandakini under a waterfall in Ram Teri Ganga Maili. Dimple Kapadia was also drenched from head to toe in Saagar. But for me, Miss Gulab in that boat in a forgotten silent film, is my most cherished memory of a woman in a wet sari.

RUBY MYERS
Among the many film hoardings I painted were of K.L. Saigal and Jamuna. The faces were each eight-feet-tall and ten-feet wide. The features of Jamuna were a delight to capture, with her large sorrowful eyes and plaintive mouth. The early talkie cinema of Bombay was enriched by scores of beauties like Jamuna, Kaanan Bala. In the 1940s there was Naseem Bano, who though there wasn’t much difference in their age went on to become the mother-in-law of Dilip Kumar. Still, there was one actress who was a class apart. Sulochana ‘Ruby’ Myers was hypnotic.
A handsome woman, she was large-framed. Whenever she came on screen her joie de vivre was so palpable that you wanted to go and touch her on the screen. There are no surviving photographs of Ruby, I’ve tried to hunt for them with all sorts of collectors but have drawn a blank. I believe she died in very trying circumstances, which was the lot of many actresses from the early era. Like the dancer Cuckoo. When she passed away, no one in the newspapers seemed to care or even remember her. Sad, but in the film world, it has always been a case of out of sight, out of mind.

GEETA BALI
She was one of a kind, the camera loved her. She was absolutely unhibited and effortless, especially at comedy. She didn’t get her just dues though and was mostly cast in B-grade movies. Fortunately, some of them became enormous hits, like Albela in which she matched dance steps with Bhagwan dada.
Geeta Bali married Shammi Kapoor and wasn’t seen much on the screen anymore. She died prematurely when she was in her 30s on suffering from chicken pox. I remember she was making a film based on Rajinder Singh Bedi’s novel Ek Chaadar Maili Si… but that was not to be. Geeta Bali was an original, so many heroines today seem to have picked up her adas, but without acknowledging their debt to her.

MUMTAZ
The black-and-white films of Bombay during the 1950s boasted of so many accomplished actresses: Nargis, Meena Kumari, Nutan, Madhubala and Waheeda Rehman. Then as films turned to colour, the heroines became more playful, fun-loving, and voluptuous. I loved Mumtaz and with my friends like Bal Chhabda, I’d go to see her films. We would clap, whistle and throw coins on the screen when Mumtaz made an entry. She would make us forget all about our worries, it was as if we had lost ourselves in our company. Even if most of her films were lousy, she was always energetic and entertaining. Mumtaz probably married and left for London because she was getting fed up of doing the same old stuff. Whenever I have met her subsequently… she had dropped in to wish me on my birthday once… I felt like her fan.

SRIDEVI
For several years, there seemed to be a lull. There didn’t seem to be any actress who could match Smita’s charisma and calibre. Till one fine Sunday afternoon, Bal (Chhabda) and I saw Chandni. We were bowled over. Her solo dance…it’s called a tandav isn’t?…in a green meadow by a lakeside was fantastic.. I ended up seeing Chandni 15 times just for that tandav. Whenever I think of Sridevi, I think of that dance.

MADHURI DIXIT
No one compares to her and never will. If I have painted Madhuri, I have never shown her full face. She’s a classical beauty, her neck has a certain flow, she has chiselled features, rhythm and grace in her walk. Like Shakuntala of the legends, it’s impossible to know a woman in all her shades and nuances.
I first met Madhuri in 1994 at a Juhu hotel where the Filmfare Award function was being held. I was sitting between Jaya Bachchan and Parmeshwar Godrej when I was suddenly called upon stage to present the Best Actress Award. I opened the envelope, I paused because I hadn’t seen any of the winner’s films, I had closed my ears to her song Ek do teen (Tezaab) which was blaring from loudspeakers all over the country. I took a deep breath and announced, “The award goes to Madhuri Dixit.”
I was disappointed because I was quite fixated about Sridevi those days. How wrong I was. The day I saw Hum Aapke Hain…Koun! I was hooked. I saw the film again and again, for her dances. One day, I saw all the three shows. Like a Devadasini, she would take five steps backwards and shake her dynamite hips. She represents all the facets of a woman. Since, I have never known my mother, I see her also as my Madhuri. I have seen her as an actress, as a beautiful woman, as a daughter and as a wife who is so much at home with husband and sons in Colorado. A sensible book should be written on Madhuri, her performances have been extraordinary but no critic has done her justice. If no one else writes the book, I will and present it to her.

TABU
Sometimes I feel Madhuri was an illusion while working with Tabu was down to earth. If Madhuri’s real, Tabu’s ethereal. Tabu has her individual strengths, I gave her complete freedom while shooting for Meenaxi. In return she gave me intensity. Most of today’s actresses seem to be bimbettes. On the other hand, Tabu is intelligent, well read, well behaved and innovative. Often she would act out three or four different ways to do a shot and all of them would be extraordinary.

AMRITA RAO
She looks very delicate but also seems to have an inner strength which is why I saw Vivaah three or four times. I met her in Dubai… Shah Rukh Khan was also there at the same time. Amrita is perfect for roles which are restrained and somewhat realistic. I do hope filmmakers tap her potential talent. She deserves to be seen and heard much more.

URMILA MATONDKAR
I wanted to make a comedy with Urmila this year but have put that on hold right now. I’d seen her in Rangeela, Kaun and Bhoot. In her body movement, personality and sense of comic timing, she reminds me of Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl. I’ve met her several times. She had put on some weight for a week or two, but then she came over for an Eid lunch I had hosted, and she looked so thin that I had to insist that she eat an extra plate of kheer. Among our actresses, Urmila’s one of the sexiest.

VIDYA BALAN
As soon as a I saw Ishqiya at a cinema hall in Dubai, I could sense that here’s a woman who doesn’t have to be slim or starved to look sexy. The film was set in a rural area and she looked convincing as a smalltown temptress. Instantly, I was inspired all over again to start a film in which she would be the main character. I spoke to her on the phone, she was very cordial. I’ve invited her with her family to Dubai so I can tell her what my film’s story. Let’s see what happens.

KAJOL
I’ve never met her in person. I don’t need to because her performances have been so believable and life-like that I feel I’ve known her for years. It’s a pity that she has gone into almost semi-retirement after having a baby. It’s a great loss really because she was far ahead of the other actresses in her age group. She has a superb flair for drama and comedy. I liked her especially in Baazigar and as the Punjabi girl in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. I would love to cast her in my film… in fact if she agreed, I would drop everything and start shooting the very same day.

ANUSHKA SHARMA
She’s an asli robust Punjabi girl — lively and graceful. In Band Baaja Baarat, she appealed to me for her spirit and sauciness. I contacted her through Yash Raj Films. Over the phone, she sounded bright and bubbly. Now, I’m not thinking of starting a film with her or anything like that... but I want to do a painting for her which I will call Punjabi di Kudi.