Meet woman, once India's highest paid actress, who was randomly asked if she had 'fight' with Amitabh Bachchan, then thrown out of film due to..., movie was..

Moushumi Chatterjee, one of the highest-paid actresses in Hindi films during the 1970s, was one of those exceptional women who entered the world of acting after marriage but still took the industry by storm. Moushumi Chatterjee worked with Amitabh Bachchan, Jeetendra, and Vinod Mehra, among others, but she achieved all the fame despite being married and being a mother. Moushumi Chatterjee got married young and also welcomed her first child at 17. But with the support of her husband and father-in-law, the actress entered the film industry and never looked back. 

Moushumi Chatterjee not only became a superstar but also one of the highest-paid actors, with her pairing with Amitabh Bachchan being one of the most notable ones, in films such as Benaam (1974), Manzil (1979), and Do Ladke Dono Kadke (1978). However, despite being a hit pair, there was a time when Moushumi Chatterjee was removed from an Amitabh Bachchan film as the actor was not keen on working with her. 

In an interview with Nayandeep Rakshit, Moushumi Chatterjee revealed, "It was filmmaker Shakti Samanta’s film Barsaat Ki Ek Raat. This one day, Shakti uncle called me and asked, ‘Did you have any fight with Amitabh Bachchan?’ I told him, ‘Uncle, I am not so close to anyone that they would fight with me. I am very cordial and nice, and I get that feedback also'." 

Revealing what the filmmaker told her, Moushumi Chatterjee said, "He said, ‘That is the problem. Most of the heroes say, ‘Moushumi ko kyu liya uske sath humara tuning sahi nahi hai.’ He then asked me, ‘Do you understand what do they mean by tuning?’ I said, ‘Maybe, now I understand. Maybe more than friendship. But I am not here to make friends. I am here to work'." 

Moushumi Chatterjee further revealed how, after her conversation with the filmmaker, she was removed from Barsaat Ki Ek Raat. "So, Shakti uncle removed me from this film. I told him, ‘I will return you the signing amount’, he said, ‘No, keep it with you, I will make my next film with you.’ So I did Anand Ashram. I understood that he couldn’t spoil his relationship with the number one star," she said. 

Interestingly, years later, Moushumi Chatterjee and Amitabh Bachchan reunited on screen when the actress played a small role in his award-winning film Piku, co-starring Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan.

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