I was very young when I fell in love and got marri

When I met Rati Agnihotri after the screening of her Bengali film 'Aainata' which figured in the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of Goa which concluded a couple of days ago, Rati said that she connected to Goa right from the time that she had acted in her first film in Hindi- 'Ek Duuje Ke Liye' in which Kamal Haasan was her leading man and confessed that she has always been very attached to Goa ever since she had shot for 'Ek Duuje Ke Liye' three decades ago.

"Believe it or not, since my maternal grand mother was a Saraswat Brahmin and my maternal grand father was a Portuguese, my ancestral home is somewhere in Goa though I do not know where exactly it is located.

I love not only the Goan people but also the Goan food. Besides 'Ek Duuje Ke Liye', I had shot in Goa also for 'Shaukeen'. I can never forget the love that I have received from people in Goa, " Rati added.

Rati confessed that she took a break from acting in films seventeen years after her marriage because she would have got burnt out otherwise.

She added, "I did not regret quitting acting even a little bit, because I was then very young and had fallen in love. I needed to get married and lead a very normal life because I used to feel claustrophobic. In any case, even when I was at the peak of my career, I had never believed in quantity and went in for quality when I chose my films, " she averred.

How did she succumb to the temptation of staging her comeback, that to after a hiatus of seventeen year? I quizzed Rati.

"Frankly speaking, I had absolutely no clue that I would ever return to cinema. My comeback was very accidental. I started my second innings after a long hiatus when Rahul Rawail landed at my house and insisted that I should play the role of Kajol's mother in 'Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi' in which Rishi Kapoor played my husband, way back in 2000."

Rati adds, "My husband Anil Virwani also encouraged me to take to acting because by then my son Tanuj had grown up and I could afford to spend time outside the house. I had retired after I had worked with Rishi Kapoor in 'Tawaif'.

I should confess that it did take me a little while to get back into the groove as an actress, because I had simply forgotten films and had to work again.

Since I had earlier worked with Rishi Kapoor in films like 'Coolie' and 'Tawaif', there was certain comfort level when I again started working with him after a long hiatus."

Rati who has till date acted in films in not just five or six but ten different languages, stated that she considers privileged because though a Punjabi girl, she had made her debut when she was just 16 with the Tamil film 'Puthiya Varppugal', which was directed by Bharathi Raja.

"When I was cast by K. Balachander in 'Ek Duuje Ke Liye', which was the Hindi remake of the Telugu film 'Maro Charitra', I had not even seen the film and did not know what emotions were and whatever accolade I received for my performance in the film was thanks to Balachander Sir who groomed me as an actress. I have not looked back ever since."

Rati admitted that over the years, she has had a huge growth as an actress in the last 32 years. "I have no regrets with the way my career has shaped.

I remember when I had made my debut as an actor with 'Puthiya Varppugal', I did not known the ABC of acting since Bharathi Rajaa had discovered me when I was in Good Shepherd School and did not know to fake emotions and just laughed when I was asked to laugh and cried when I was asked to cry"

Rati elucidates, "I would give the entire credit for shaping me as an actress to various people like producer L.V. Prasad who introduced me in Hindi films with 'Ek Duuje Ke Liye', K. Balachander who directed me in that film, my co-actors like Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.

I remember K. Bhagyaraj also had made his debut as an actor with Puthiya Varppugal along with me. Since he was also an assistant to Bharathi Rajaa, he had to coach me in between the takes in Tamil, which was of great help to me then.

I am happy that I have been able to strike the right balance between being a home maker with a lovely husband like Anil and a son like Tanuj who is now all set to make his debut as a leading man shortly."