Rukhsar Rehman, who began her acting career at the age of 17, was once considered a rising star. She stepped away from the industry due to family pressure. Rehman returned in 2005 with a new resolve, starting from scratch with auditions, rejections, and small roles. “Acting has and will always be my passion,” she says. “I feel I have done well. But as an actor, we always feel, jitna mile utna kam hai. We are always hungry for more. Everybody knows me in the industry now, irrespective of how small the roles have been. It is a satisfying feeling when people reach out to me with projects.” Over the years, Rehman built a solid body of work with films such as Sarkar (2005), God Tussi Great Ho (2008), Shaitan (2011), PK (2014), Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), 83 (2021), and numerous television shows.
Now, she has two films lined up — Lahore 1947, directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and starring Sunny Deol, and Uttar Da Puttar alongside Annu Kapoor. While she remains tight-lipped about the former, Rehman reveals that working with Santoshi was a fulfilling experience. “He is a sharp filmmaker, and very clear about his vision and how a scene needs to look. Many directors [keep their options open], which is not a bad thing to do, but sir is confident about how his characters would feel and react.”
Rajkumar Santoshi
Set during the Partition of India, Lahore 1947 follows the journey of Sikander Mirzaon, played by Deol. Rehman, who has wrapped the period drama, shares, “Rajkumar sir’s Andaz Apna Apna [1994] is one of my favourites. He is full of stories and anecdotes. During the shoot, I’d often ask him to narrate shoot stories from his earlier movies. During lunch, on set, he would always insist that we all sit together. I am happy to work with him.”
A brief history of Rukhsar’s career
Rukhsar Rehman made her film debut in 1992 with a lead role in Deepak Anand’s Yaad Rakhegi Duniya opposite Aditya Pancholi. She also appeared in JK Bihari’s Inteha Pyar Ki (1992) opposite late Rishi Kapoor. In one of her interviews, Rehman confessed that she was offered Saugandh (1991), Roja (1992), Baazigar (1993), and 1942: A Love Story (1994), but was unable to take up the offers.