Ramesh Sippy’s 1972 film Seeta Aur Geeta was a Bollywood blockbuster. Be it the cast or dialogue, the film ticked all the boxes. But did you know Hema Malini wasn’t his first choice for the film? We are not joking here. The director has revealed it himself. Ramesh Sippy also added that he wanted to cast Mumtaz as Seeta and Geeta. Speaking at The Invincibles Series with Arbaaz Khan Season 2, he said, “I had worked with her [Hema Malini] in Andaz and she was very much into it so you like people who want to be a part of the film. When we decided to make it, it felt like Mumtaz would probably be the right person at that time. She had too many commitments and I didn’t want to wait.”
Ramesh Sippy added how the dynamic writer duo Salim-Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar) reacted when he suggested Hema Malini’s name for the film. The filmmaker said that they were not convinced. “So, I asked Hema [Malini] and Salim-Javed asked me, ‘Are you sure? Does she have that in her personality to play Geeta because Seeta’s role is still okay?’”
Seeta Aur Geeta also featured Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra, Manorama, Roopesh Kumar, Satyen Kappu, Honey Irani, and Pratima Devi. The story revolves around twin sisters who were separated at birth. Things take a turn for good after they unintentionally swap places.
Ramesh Sippy and Hema Malini have also worked in the cult classic Sholay. The film also featured the superhit duo – Amitabh Bachchan (Jai) and Dharmendra (Veeru). A while back, Ramesh Sippy opened up about how the makers decided to cast Big B and Dharmendra for the film. “The colour and characters came into existence later but the basic storyline was in place. Except that the two guys (Jai and Veeru) were from the Army and Sanjeev Kumar’s role of Thakur was of an Army officer, who was changed to a cop. The basic idea was about two young guys (Jai and Veeru) on the run, their love for adventure and how they get involved in this emotional story of Thakur. All the characters came into place one by one. It took a life of its own as we discussed and moved further in the script,” he told PTI.
