Posted:
The gangster who loved me
By: Upala KBR
Date: 2008-09-02
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Mumbai:
This week, Monica Bedi may be ousted from the Bigg Boss house. A day before she went into the house, she gave a no-holds-barred interview to SHOWTIME magazine. She also did an extensive photo session for the issue which hits the stands today. Presenting excerpts from the interview.
The first thing Monica said on meeting the interviewer was: "I'm going to tell you the true story but please, put it exactly as I say it. Life is very tough for me. Please help me out."
After the arrest
Monica now lives in Mulund, a far-off place even from suburban Mumbai, drives her own car; doesn't have a secretary and shops at Lokhandwala's modest stores. "I thought people in Mumbai would accept me but even when I'm on the roads, I can sense them discussing me behind my back. There are some sniggers; some taunts. I just ignore them and carry on," she says.
Norway to Mumbai
Monica's stint in the movies happened just by chance. In the interview she reveals, "I was born in Punjab but my family shifted to Norway when I was just one year old. I came to India on a holiday and decided to learn some Kathak. I joined Gopi Kishan's classes and I started getting offers. The first offer I received was from Manoj Kumar. I was just 17."
The first Bolly offer
But Monica was still clueless about the film industry and its people. "I was totally unaware about things. I remember, I had gone to Subhash Ghai's Holi party and I met Rakesh Roshan there. I always saw him as an actor; I never knew he was a producer and director too. At that party, he offered me Karan Arjun #128;#148; the role that Mamta Kulkarni eventually did. He said he'd like to see me in his office. And I was thinking, 'This man is an actor, so why is he calling me?' He gave me his numbers and his address but I never went there," she remembers.
B-Town business
Her films failed to click and Monica didn't know what to do next. "There was no one to guide me. My biggest problem is that I'm very shy and embarrassed to go and ask for work. I don't have an ego problem. I can't get myself to ask anyone for anything, leave alone a film. Whatever I got, I lapped up," she states.
On her disappearance
Suddenly in 2001, Monica Bedi had vanished from the film industry. She says, "I have nothing to hide.
Sentiments are involved; feelings are involved. And if I have made a mistake, I'm not going to blame the other person for it." The 'other person' she's referring to is Abu Salem #128;#147; the man she fell in love with. She begins, "I've had so many people calling me and telling me, 'Say this about him (Abu Salem) and say that about him.' But I can't do that. It was my mistake too."
Abu Salem, who?
Monica lightens up a bit when she tells me how she fell in love. "One day, I got a call from a guy in Dubai saying he was organising a show where he wanted me to perform. I said okay. He said he would get back to me after all the formalities were done. Then, a few days later, he called up again and we talked for some time. A couple of days later, he called again. I began getting friendly with him over the phone. At the time, he gave me a different name. I didn't know he was Abu Salem.
Falling in love
"He still hid his real identity from me at that time. Even though we hadn't met, we became really close. Finally,
we decided to meet up. That's when I went to Dubai. We met; we liked each other. That's how it all started."
Monica visited Salem twice in Dubai and still, his real identity was unknown to her. "When he invited me to Dubai for the third time, I asked him to come to Mumbai instead. But he always kept giving me some excuse or the other. He had introduced himself to me as Arsalan Ali - that's the false identity he used often.
I am Abu Salem
"When I asked him to come to Mumbai, he said things like, 'I won't get the visa' and all that. Finally, on my third trip to Dubai, he told me his real identity. He said his real name was Abu Salem and that he had a past. He said he wanted to change all that and start afresh. By that time, we were in love with each other.
Pyaar kiya, darna kya
Monica reveals that he kept her from returning, "He never allowed me to come back. He feared that if the police got hold of me, eventually, he'd get caught. There were two fears he faced #128;#147; for me and for himself." "Again, he was living with the same fear. That if I left him, I'd go back to India. If I went to India, the police would interrogate me. And if that happened, I may say something about him and he'd get caught. Sometimes, his actions seem selfish to me; sometimes I feel he acted like that because he really loved me. Maybe it was his fear. But the fact was that he didn't allow me to go. I really tried hard. Twice, I even tried to escape but he got me and I came back to him. It was all a big mess. Finally, we got caught in Portugal."
Realisation
By that time, though they were together, the relationship was going through its worst patch. Monica looks back and analyses it. "In the initial days of my relationship with him, I couldn't really make out what kind of a person he was. I would be in Dubai for two-three days and then I'd be back in Mumbai. When you're with a person for just two-three days, he's always on his best behavior. It was only after I started living with him that I realised we weren't meant for each other. But he did not understand it then.
|
Photo courtesy/ Showtime Photographer/ Sudheir K |
The first thing Monica said on meeting the interviewer was: "I'm going to tell you the true story but please, put it exactly as I say it. Life is very tough for me. Please help me out."
After the arrest
Monica now lives in Mulund, a far-off place even from suburban Mumbai, drives her own car; doesn't have a secretary and shops at Lokhandwala's modest stores. "I thought people in Mumbai would accept me but even when I'm on the roads, I can sense them discussing me behind my back. There are some sniggers; some taunts. I just ignore them and carry on," she says.
Norway to Mumbai
Monica's stint in the movies happened just by chance. In the interview she reveals, "I was born in Punjab but my family shifted to Norway when I was just one year old. I came to India on a holiday and decided to learn some Kathak. I joined Gopi Kishan's classes and I started getting offers. The first offer I received was from Manoj Kumar. I was just 17."
The first Bolly offer
But Monica was still clueless about the film industry and its people. "I was totally unaware about things. I remember, I had gone to Subhash Ghai's Holi party and I met Rakesh Roshan there. I always saw him as an actor; I never knew he was a producer and director too. At that party, he offered me Karan Arjun #128;#148; the role that Mamta Kulkarni eventually did. He said he'd like to see me in his office. And I was thinking, 'This man is an actor, so why is he calling me?' He gave me his numbers and his address but I never went there," she remembers.
B-Town business
Her films failed to click and Monica didn't know what to do next. "There was no one to guide me. My biggest problem is that I'm very shy and embarrassed to go and ask for work. I don't have an ego problem. I can't get myself to ask anyone for anything, leave alone a film. Whatever I got, I lapped up," she states.
On her disappearance
Suddenly in 2001, Monica Bedi had vanished from the film industry. She says, "I have nothing to hide.
Sentiments are involved; feelings are involved. And if I have made a mistake, I'm not going to blame the other person for it." The 'other person' she's referring to is Abu Salem #128;#147; the man she fell in love with. She begins, "I've had so many people calling me and telling me, 'Say this about him (Abu Salem) and say that about him.' But I can't do that. It was my mistake too."
Abu Salem, who?
Monica lightens up a bit when she tells me how she fell in love. "One day, I got a call from a guy in Dubai saying he was organising a show where he wanted me to perform. I said okay. He said he would get back to me after all the formalities were done. Then, a few days later, he called up again and we talked for some time. A couple of days later, he called again. I began getting friendly with him over the phone. At the time, he gave me a different name. I didn't know he was Abu Salem.
Falling in love
"He still hid his real identity from me at that time. Even though we hadn't met, we became really close. Finally,
we decided to meet up. That's when I went to Dubai. We met; we liked each other. That's how it all started."
Monica visited Salem twice in Dubai and still, his real identity was unknown to her. "When he invited me to Dubai for the third time, I asked him to come to Mumbai instead. But he always kept giving me some excuse or the other. He had introduced himself to me as Arsalan Ali - that's the false identity he used often.
I am Abu Salem
"When I asked him to come to Mumbai, he said things like, 'I won't get the visa' and all that. Finally, on my third trip to Dubai, he told me his real identity. He said his real name was Abu Salem and that he had a past. He said he wanted to change all that and start afresh. By that time, we were in love with each other.
Pyaar kiya, darna kya
Monica reveals that he kept her from returning, "He never allowed me to come back. He feared that if the police got hold of me, eventually, he'd get caught. There were two fears he faced #128;#147; for me and for himself." "Again, he was living with the same fear. That if I left him, I'd go back to India. If I went to India, the police would interrogate me. And if that happened, I may say something about him and he'd get caught. Sometimes, his actions seem selfish to me; sometimes I feel he acted like that because he really loved me. Maybe it was his fear. But the fact was that he didn't allow me to go. I really tried hard. Twice, I even tried to escape but he got me and I came back to him. It was all a big mess. Finally, we got caught in Portugal."
Realisation
By that time, though they were together, the relationship was going through its worst patch. Monica looks back and analyses it. "In the initial days of my relationship with him, I couldn't really make out what kind of a person he was. I would be in Dubai for two-three days and then I'd be back in Mumbai. When you're with a person for just two-three days, he's always on his best behavior. It was only after I started living with him that I realised we weren't meant for each other. But he did not understand it then.
(The interview appears in the September issue of Showtime magazine)
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