The timeless song Happy Birthday to Sunita, lip-synced by Jeetendra to Babita in the film Farz, unexpectedly became a perennial favourite. Babita, reflecting on her career and family, shares her journey from Bollywood stardom to motherhood, alongside her enduring collaboration with Jeetendra. Read on!
When Jeetendra Recalled Farz’s ‘Birthday Anthem And Actress Became A Rage’
Baar baar din yeh aaye baar baar dil yeh gaaye tum jeeyo hazaaron saal yeh meri hai aarzoo, Happy Birthday to Sunita….
When Jeetendra lip-synced this Mohammed Rafi memorabilia to Babita, he had no idea the song would be such an enduring chartbuster.
Earlier, during an interaction with Zoom, Jeetendra recalled, “During one schedule in Ooty, we shot four songs including the superhit Happy Birthday To Sunita. Little did we know that this song would become the staple for all birthday parties for all times to come. The song and Babita became a rage. We did several other films together. But nothing like Farz.”
Babita whom we met over lunch with her daughter Kareena once told us, “I was flooded with offers. But I was never interested in my career. Not that I was disinterested in my work. I gave my hundred per cent to my career until I married Daboo (Randhir Kapoor) and quit to never look back. After my daughters (Karisma and Kareena) were born they were my only interest. Waise bhi, Kapoor khandaan didn’t like their daughters-in-law to work.”
Farz was a blockbuster opening up the floodgates for the spy thriller in Hindi cinema. The film contained the chartbuster Baar baar din yeh aaye …Happy Birthday to Sunita. The ‘Sunita’ in the song was played by none other than Babita.
How did she feel about being iconised in a song? “That’s Sunita, not me,” Babita laughed.
She went on to do three other hit films with Jeetendra, including Aulad, Banphool and Anmol Moti, the last-mentioned marketing itself as India’s first underwater film, and one flop Bikhre Moti.
