Asha Parekh regrets not having acted in Ray's 'Kanchanjunga'

Yesteryear actress and former censor board boss Asha Parekh regrets not having acted in film maestro Satyajit Ray's "Kanchanjunga" in which he had offered her a role after seeing a photograph of hers in a studio.
"Ray had offered me the role in 'Kanchanjunga' and I was very excited but he wanted dates for a month at a stretch which was not possible for me at that stage," she said.
"The great filmmaker had seen my photograph at a studio and offered me the role. I tried my best to adjust the shooting dates and even went to Darjeeling to meet him but it didn't work out," she said.

"I felt very sad that I had to let go this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Ray, however, said he admired my honesty for telling him at the outset about my inability to give shooting dates at a stretch," the leading actress of several hits of the sixties and seventies of the last century said.
The first woman to become the chairperson of Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC), Parekh said that it was a "tough job and I often wondered where I have put myself".
"I, however, performed the role to the best of my abilities and followed the rules and guidelines," she added.

She was here to promote her forthcoming biography "Asha Parekh: The Hit Girl" at the recently-concluded Brahmaputra Literary Festival.

The famed actress, nicknamed 'Jubilee Girl' for the string of hits that she delivered during the sixties, said she had worked with the best directors of her time.
"Luck was with me and I worked with the best directors of my time. Many of my films went on to become silver and even golden jubilee hits. Producers lined up to sign me and I was called the girl with the golden touch," said the actress of hit movies like "Dil Deke Dekho", "Teesri Kasam", "Kati Patang", "Mera Gaon, Mera Desh", and others.

"Both luck and talent favoured me. God has been very kind to me. Films were being sold on my name," she said.