Book excerpt: The movies that inspired Deepti Naval to become an actress

There were two films that went beyond the emotional connect, and became a cinematic experience. These were Sangam and Guide. With these two films, things had started to fall in a different perspective.

In the summer of 1964 when Sangam was released in Ashoka Talkies in the lane below the Railway Bridge, it rained pamphlets! Little white leaflets were scattered all over the city, from a helicopter, announcing the release of the film. I retain an image in my memory of people gasping as they tried to catch them. Such was the publicity campaign for Sangam that it got the entire city ticking with excitement. When we went to see the film, Didi sat next to Pitaji and I sat next to Mama. When she came back my sister told me she was embarrassed when Vyjayanthimala came on the screen wearing a swimsuit. I was very taken with Vyjayanthimala wearing white throughout the film, except for one song in which she wore the red swimsuit. There was something splendid about Sangam. It stood out as the film of the decade, and created waves in our little lives as well, and impacted me a great deal. After watching that movie, I believed I now understood the complexity of relationships at a deeper level.

Guide, the very next year, came like fresh shower of rain at New Rialto. 'Kaanto se kheench ke yeh aanchal...' was a celebration of life, and became the theme song of our girlhood days. Every girl wanted to be Rosy, breaking chains, starting anew, taking chances in life! I loved the way Waheeda Rehman danced. During lunchtime I'd stand around the banana trees near the back wall of the school and show the girls how Waheeda Rehman, dressed in red and black, dances the famous 'Snake Dance'. Guide was a film for all times. Dev Anand's monologue in the climax of the film was startling. 'Na sukh hai, na dukh hai, na deen hai na duniya. Na insan, na bhagvaan. Sirf mai hoo, mai hoon, mai hoon...sirf mai, sirf mai!

'I'd be up there one day', I'd imagine, sitting in theatre watching a movie. I'd be the face on the big screen, and all these people who are sitting in the audience, laughing and crying along with the stars on the screen, would be laughing and crying with me, connecting with me. They'd be impacted by what I'm going through. They'd feel what I was feeling, they'd dream what I was dreaming, my pain would be their pain, my joy would be their joy. They'd be bonding with me! That was the dream...to emotionally reach out to the audiences in a way that I'd matter to their lives. I wanted to be somebody who mattered.

None of my friends sitting with me in the theatre could ever imagine what was brewing in my head and in my heart. That I'd started to dream about becoming an actress would undoubtedly be a far cry from the kind of person they perceived me to be. They would have dropped dead hearing of it, or fainted for sure. On the outside, my demeanour was of someone who needed to be protected, demure, soft-spoken, naive, and innocent. No one had a whiff of all the fiery, feisty ideas cooking in my head.

Excerpted from A Country Called Childhood: A Memoir by Deepti Naval with permission from Aleph Book Company. Click here to buy your copy.