New Delhi:
"Love In Bombay" brought deep financial troubles for Joy Mukherjee but late director-actor's wife Neelam, who is releasing the movie 40 years later, says that despite losing everything, the film remained very close to him.
"This film was my husband's Waterloo. He lost everything he had in this film. He sunk in lot of his own money, major properties. There were 37 cases of insolvency against him. But he cleared everything and had a clean slate and started afresh. This film was very dear to him despite it bringing so much problems to him," Neelam told PTI in an interview.
The 1973 film, now being released by PVR on August 2, was the third part of the "Love in" series which started with Joy debuting with the blockbuster hit "Love in Simla" in 1960 and the golden jubilee hit "Love in Tokyo" in 1966.
The film starred Joy and Waheeda Rehman in the lead. The supporting cast included names like Ashok Kumar, Kishore Kumar and Rehman. Music was composed by Shankar-Jaikishan and lyrics were penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri.
Waheeda Rehman was reported saying that she was embarrassed by the release of the film now. Asked about her response to Rehman's comments, Neelam was reluctant to be drawn into a debate.
"Honestly, I am surprised because Waheedaji is a very gracious person. I don't believe a lady of her stature and maturity would talk like that. I am sure her best wishes are with the film. I can't believe Waheedaji would say something like this," she said.
Mukherjee said her son personally approached Rehman for the premiere of the film on August 1.
"My son Monjoy has personally gone with flowers and the invite. In fact, Waheedaji was invited for the audio release of the film too."
