Mamta Kulkarni: ‘Aamir in my kitchen’

Former actress Mamta Kulkarni has revisited the camaraderie of the 1990s film industry, recalling how superstar Aamir Khan would often come straight to her house during the shoot of “Baazi”, change in her bedroom due to the absence of vanity vans, and even make tea in her kitchen after pack-up.

She said it reflected a warmth and ease rarely seen today.

Talking about music composer AR Rahman’s comment of Bollywood being “communal”, Mamta, who was one of the most successful actresses in 1990s, told: “Look, I feel extremely fortunate that I worked in the 1990s. Believe me, I never thought in those terms. I worked with Aamir Khan, I worked with Shah Rukh Khan… we never looked at each other’s religion. Honestly, what should I even say now?”

Elaborating on the working culture of the era, she recalled that vanity vans were not part of film sets back then.

“Aamir Khan used to come to my house. When we were shooting Baazi, he would come and sit at my place. Many times during shoots, he would go into my bedroom to change because back then, there were no vanity vans. It wasn’t like, ‘there’s a van, so we’ll change there.’ If Aamir was shooting in Lokhandwala, he would directly come to my house and change in my bedroom.”

Those times were different, said Mamta.

“We would enter each other’s homes, get ready there, and then go straight for the shoot. During Baazi’s shoot, after pack-up, Aamir Khan and I would come straight to my house, and he would go into my kitchen and make tea.”

Speaking about overseas tours with Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, she said the sense of togetherness extended beyond film sets.

“When we went on a world tour with Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, we would sit in each other’s homes, someone would be making tea, someone else would be cooking. We never thought about such things. But now, it has truly become like this, everything has stopped. An artist is an artist. Please don’t bring discrimination here.”

Touching upon the changing dynamics of the music industry, Kulkarni also commented on composer A.R. Rahman, noting that creative relevance evolves with time.

She concluded: “And when you ask about A.R. Rahman, everything has its time. Maybe your kind of music is no longer relevant. Today, so many very good singers are sitting at home without work.”