Moushumi Chatterjee talks about reconciling with Gulzar after she was replaced by Jaya Bachchan in his film Koshish: 'I wouldn’t pander to anyone’s ego'

Not many are aware that Moushumi Chatterjee was originally cast opposite Sanjeev Kumar in Gulzar's 'Koshish'. But she was replaced by Jaya Bachchan. Chatterjee has spoken about it, even earlier, but in a recent interview she has revealed why she lost out on the film. She also spoke about how it was a thing of the past as she teamed up with Gulzar for 'Angoor' after that. Chatterjee is making her comeback to Bengali cinema with 'Aarii'.
In a recent interview with Screen, amidst the promotions of her upcoming Bengali film, Moushumi was asked about being replaced in 'Koshish' and she said, "That’s because I would never compromise with my dignity, no matter what. All that is in the past. Gulzar and I made up and did Angoor many years later. Coincidentally, Haribhai (Sanjeev Kumar) was my hero in Koshish, and also in Angoor. I lost a lot of roles as I wouldn’t pander to anyone’s ego."

In this chat, she also spoke about some of her memorable work and said, "I can’t remember them all. There were so many. I must have done hundreds. But yes, Balika Badhu my first film. Then my Hindi debut in Anurag. I played a blind girl. Tumhari Kasam where I again played a blind girl. Basu Chatterjee’s Manzil with Amitabh was fun. Many years later I did Piku with him. I enjoyed that also. I also liked Pyasa Saawan, Udhar Ki Zindagi and Aa Ab Laut Chale."

The actress shed light on how she came across as rude to her male co-stars as she would often slap them. She said, "They deserved it, they were sexist but I don’t blame them for this. You have to see both sides of the coin. The heroes used to flirt with the heroines, and they expected the heroines to reciprocate. That is the only way they knew. They didn’t know any other way. Men are brought up with mothers pampering them, wives pampering them, sisters pampering them ."