Raj Kapoor WANTED TO OWN ME

She is the niece of the famous Mangeshkar sisters, Lata and Asha. Her grandfather was a theater giant, her father a classical singer and beimot her worked in the airline industry. It's no surprise then that Padmini Kolhapure has never had a problem flying high. In this exclusive interview with Linie ndia's Kavita Chhibber, the super star of Indian films, who also made waves with play back singing and is now dabbling successfully in theater talks about her life on and off the silver screen. It is true that I grew up surrounded by music. My father was a classical musician and a disciple of the legendary Kumar Gandharva. Though he taught us in the early years and I have also learnt a bit of Kathak and Bharatnatyam, I hink I picked up a lot more instinctively because music was so deeply ingrained in our lives. However my father had to struggle tremendously. It was after he started taking tuitions thai things improved a bit for us financially. I think even if you look at the classical musicians of today, barring a handful, a majority of them are struggling and have not received the recognition they deserve. I was 7 when I was offered a role in Dev Anand's Ishij Ishq isiici and after that I didn't look back and my family didn't have to struggle any more. Oh [Raj Kapoor] wanted to own me and I say this with my tongue firmly in my cheek! Jokes apart he just wanted me to remain with the R. K. banner. One thing remains true to this day: Raj Kapoor was the real showman in the film industry. We loved and looked forward eagerly to work in his films, because he did everything with style. He was also a man way ahead of his times when you look at the themes he dealt with in all his films. His movies had the best music, because he was so knowledgeable. He used to accompany my father to so many events even when they were in people's homes. For him this was a continuation of learning about music. The food we were served was phenomenal and every one, from the top actors to the technicians to the spot boys ate together. I didn't do Ram Teri Ganga Maili because I was not very comfortable with a kissing and bedroom scene in the film. I was also the first choice for Ek Duje ke Liye, Silsila and Aslitva, but couldn't do them due to date problems.