Reena Roy: “I Was  Offered Heeramandi”

Yesteryears’  screen  queen  Reena  Roy  is  all  set for a comeback.

“Now that my daughter is grown up and doesn’t need me to be around constantly,I feel I could do some work again,” says Reena who in the 1970s  and 80s  featured in a slew of superhits  like Kalicharan, Jaise Ko Taisa, Nagin , Apnapan and  Aasha.

“It  was  a wonderful innings. I  slogged  round-the-clock, sometimes  shooting for  2-3  film  simultaneously, Luckily for me, most of my films turned  out to be hits. But then I  took a break. I was exhausted  , and I needed time for my daughter,” confesses  one of the ruling queens of her era.

 Now  Reena wants to  work again. She is getting offers on the OTT.

“I  was offered the wonderful Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s series Heeramandi on Netflix. But the role lacked substance. I just had to perform a Mujra, and exit. Where did  my character come from? Why was she in a  kotha? How did she get there? There was  no back story  for my  character. I regretfully had  to say no,although I’d love to work with Mr Bhansali,” says Reena.

She recalls playing a tawaif years ago. “In Rocky which was Sanjay Dutt’s  debut I  had a small but well-etched  role as a  tawaif. There was a flashback with the villain Ranjeet to  justify how I get there. Although the role was small it  left an  impact.I don’t mind doing  just a few scenes. But my character should not be  there just for the heck of it.”