Key Points

Poonam Dhillon was launched in the Bollywood industry by Yash Chopra with the star-studded film 'Trishul' in 1978. Renowned actors of that time, Amitabh Bachchan, Sashi Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar played the lead roles in the movie.

In an interview with ANI, Poonam Dhillon recalled the time when she pitched a story for a movie to Yash Chopra, which the director rejected, saying that it wouldn't be "accepted" by the Hindi movie audience.

The movie was later made as 'Yeh Vaada Raha' in 1982. Although the film didn't perform well at the box office, it is still considered one of the iconic films of Bollywood.

"The audience still feels that the subject of Yeh Wada Raha is iconic. That time it wasn't accepted. Because I remember reading that book. I think I was going to Japan, and I picked that book up at the airport. It was a book by Daniel Steele called The Promise," said Dhillon.

'The Promise' story impressed Dhillon to the extent that she couldn't stop herself from pitching it to Yash Chopra.

"So when I came back, I told Yashji. I said, Yashji, ek bohot achchi kahani maini padhi hai (I have read a good story). I think it's a lovely story. He said, I don't read books, you give it to Pam, she'll read it and tell me. So I said, okay. Yeah, so Pam ji read it probably again in a day. It was a very fast read. And she gave him the narration of the subject. And I was very excited waiting for his reaction. So I said, Yash ji, you read it, Pam ji told you. He said, Yes, yes. But this film, our Hindi audience won't accept it. I said, Why Yash ji, it's such a good story, you know, romantic story, everything," said Poonam Dhillon.

The plot of the book centred on the concept of plastic surgery and featured the lead roles of two actresses. Yash Chopra was unsure of how to portray it on the big screen. Yash Chopra identified a significant flaw in the story, which, according to him, renders it unsuitable for the Hindi audience.

"He said, acha ek baat bta. Hema Malini Zeenat Aman ban jaae, kon accept karega (Tell me one thing. If Hema Malini becomes Zeenat Aman, who will accept?). He finished my dream there and then, and the story was over. Yash Chopra toh nhi banane waale the. (Chopra was not going to make it)," said Dhillon.

Unexpectedly, years later, Dhillon was pitched a similar story by the makers of 'Yeh Vaada Raha', which was immediately accepted by the actress.

"After five-seven years later, when the subject was offered to me, when they were narrating it to me, I said, this is 'The Promise'. He said, yeah, it's based on that. I said, you know, I've always loved that subject, and I wanted it to be made," said Dhillon.

After the film's struggling performance at the Box office, Dhillon recalled Yash Chopra's feedback on the story.

"And sure, it proved right enough. At that time, plastic surgery wasn't something people would accept so easily. And that whole face has changed, and the same person is etc. So, it didn't work well at that time," added Dhillon.

On the work front, Dhillon is best known for her 1979 film 'Noorie'. She also worked in 'Red Rose', 'Dard' 'Romance' , 'Sohni Mahiwal', 'Teri Meherbaniyan', 'Samundar', 'Karma', 'Naam' and 'Maalamaal'.

Poonam made a special appearance in 'Judaai'.She also made a mark on TV and was seen as a contestant on Season 3 of 'Bigg Boss' aired in 2009.

The veteran actor played the lead role in the serial 'Ekk Nayi Pehchaan'.

- ANI