Sushmita Sen is a powerhouse on her own, and there is no doubt about that. From winning the Miss Universe crown, to choosing to adopt her girls — Renee and Alisah — at a very young age, she has always walked her own path. Now, she returned to acting after 10 years with the web series, Aarya, earning critical applause from everyone.
Now, this throwback anecdote shared by ace Bollywood choreographer, Ganesh Hegde, proves why she is the queen she is when it comes to being strong, commanding and confident. Ganesh, in an interview with HuffPost, revealed that Sushmita refused to lip sync to a certain line from the song, ‘Mehboob Mere‘. Ganesh goes on to say that the line went something like, ‘aa garmi le mere seene se (come feel the heat of my bosom)‘, and Sushmita outright said, “I won’t just do it.” He adds that she made the music composer, Anu Malik had to change the lyrics to ‘aa narmi le mere aankhon se (bask in the softness of my eyes)’.
The song was sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and Karsan Sargathiya and featured in the film 2000 film, Fiza, starring Hrithik Roshan and Karisma Kapoor. Ganesh reminisces about that incident and says, “It was unheard of at that point of time, to command and extract that kind of respect.”
Speaking about choreographing for stage shows, he adds that she dominated the stage when she danced and that unlike many actors who would perform with a troupe, she would sometimes dance solo on a huge stage, and own it!
Sushmita is truly an inspiration for so many women out there to keep their chin and their crowns up, amirite?