Mala Sinha On Being Honoured For  The  First Nepali Film

The last year has been extremely eventful  for veteran actress Mala Sinha. She has been missing from Mumbai for a major part  of  the  year .

 Now  back at her home in Mumbai the  actress who regaled audiences in a slew of superhits  in  the  1960s and early 70s , says she was honoured for  her contribution to Nepali and Indian cinema  at a function in  Kathmandu in  August 2017.   “It was  basically an event to honour the people associated with Maati Ghar  the  first Nepali film that was  released  51 years  ago.  The film starred  me and my future  husband  C P Lohani. We met and fell in  love during  the  making of this film.”

Ever since  the making of Maati Ghar Mala Sinha and  her  husband have shared a  long-distance marriage.  “He stays  in  Kathmandu. I visit him and sometimes he visits me. Because of this function honouring Maati Ghar I got a chance to be in Nepal with my  husband for four months.I even celebrated  my birthday(on November 11, 2017) in Nepal this time.”

On a  more somber note Malaji lost her  mother in April 2017.

“She was ailing  for  the  last 11 year. She was constantly in and out of hospitals. I looked after her as best as  I could. But she  was very old and she had  to go. We all have  to  go one day. But  I miss her,” says the actress who  has been too busy looking after her  mother to keep up with her  contemporaries  like Waheeda Rehman, Vyjanthimala andAsha Parekh .

“Some of them  like Nanda and Sadhan are  gone. I rrgret not meeting them  more often  when they were  alive. Now it’s too late. Sometimes  while being a good wife, a good daughter and a good mother,  a woman forgets to be good to herself. “

    Malaji has fond memories  of her  contemporaries and  co-stars  like Biswajeet with whom  she did more than a  dozen films . “We don’t meet  much. But when we  do  we meet with a  lot of warmth.   I miss being  in front of  the camera. For  20 years I did nothing but work work work. Then  it stopped. I  got married , my daughter  was born. My life changed. But no  complaints,” says  the  warm-hearted actress whose  performances in Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa, B R Chopra’s Gumrah and Yash Chopra’s Dhool Ka Phool are remembered  to this day.

 Malaji’s daughter Pratibha tried her hand at acting. But failed.

Says  the  doting mother, “Pratibha now loves animals. She has  begun looking after stray animals. If you come to  our home you will see dogs and cats  everywhere. It’s a house filled with action. I like that.”