Bhagyashree talks about Maine Pyar Kiya

It's ironical that Sooraj Barjatya approached Bhagyashree for his love story, Maine Pyar Kiya, when she had just broken up with childhood sweetheart Himalaya since her parents were completely against the match. She was trying to convince her father, to let her go abroad for higher studies, films did not interest her in the slightest. But Sooraj, a family friend, wanted her for his directorial debut and returned with the role of Suman half-a-dozen times. "When I realised that my dad was never going to send me abroad, I agreed to do the film, mostly because I'd run out of excuses. Besides, I liked the story and I knew Soorajji would handle it well," says Bhagyashree, a quarter of a century later, adding that she was allowed to attend college in the morning and report for shooting later in the afternoon.

Her first shot was in the temple where Salman hands over his first earnings and his mother's kangan to her father, Alok Nath. "It went off well but there was a shot at the end of the "Kabootar ja ja ja" song where I run into Salman's arms which upset me. I'd never hugged a man in my life and worried about what people would say, I sobbed for three hours before the scene.

Soorajji and Salman sat on the floor beside me, ready to delete the shot," the actress reminisces, admitting that eventually she convinced herself that it was just a movie, and pull it off.

She adds that the pigeon had grown so attached to her that it refused to fly off to Salman. "Take after take, it would wing back to me. And the kabootar has stuck with me in public memory even today," she laughs.

The other song which upset her was "Dil Deewana" which was filmed in Ooty over a month-long schedule. Bhagyashree, who had never been away from home before this, was feeling low. One day, Salman who till then had been a really well-behaved co-star, asking her permission before reaching for her hand, sat down really close to her and started humming "Dil Deewana" in her ear.

"I wondered why he was suddenly being so flirtatious and worried about how I would finish the film with him. After 48 hours, he confessed that he was into my secret and knew all about Himalaya and me," she narrates.

When the couple who while fighting their way through school fell in love, decided to get married, Bhagyashree's 'hero' was the first to know. And with her parents staying away from the wedding, Salman became her proxy family.

"He was the first to arrive at the shaadi and the last to leave," she smiles, adding that they continued shooting for the film for a week after she tied the knot with Himalaya and Salman was sweetly protective. "He would keep asking me if all was well and warned that Himalaya would be answerable to him if he upset me in any way." Talking about Salman's character, Prem, she insists it's modelled on Sooraj, what he is and what he wishes to be. "Salman brought him to life on screen," she says.

By the time the film released, Bhagyashree was pregnant and quit movies to make a home and family with her first love. "Himalaya is the first and last man in my life. My daughter teases me for being boring, but when I look at him and our two children, I feel blessed. For me love has always been about putting someone's happiness before my own," she asserts.

No regrets about giving up on her career after a blockbuster debut? "God puts you at the crossroads, you can't go forward and live life to the fullest if you keep retracing your footsteps. No regrets," she asserts.

Twenty-six years later, despite the fact that it has not spawned any sequel, Maine Pyar Kiya continues to be a memorable love story. And down two decades, Bhagyashree remains the girl-nextdoor every Prem still wants to take home to mamma.