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Delightful dream girls

Hema Malini jams with daughters Esha and Aahana during a brief visit to the city

MAMA'S GIRLS Yesteryear star with her daughters PHOTO: SAMPATH KUMAR G.P.

Hema Malini still lives up to that everlasting image of the garrulous Basanti of Sholay. And she looks like a dream.

The original Dream Girl staged an appearance in Bangalore this week along with daughters Esha and Ahana to perform the dance ballet Parampara that centres on the guru-shishya teaching tradition, to propagate the Art of Living Foundation's education programmes.

Sharing stage with such a stunning mom and performing with her is perhaps quite an overwhelming challenge for the young daughters. While Hema Malini performed Bharatanatya, Esha and Aahana have chosen the Odissi dance form, leading to an interesting jugalbandi.

Hema looked every bit the doting mother at a media conference; Esha the confident actor (complete with an all-black sporty outfit and shades) while Ahana was ever the quiet and reticent sibling. (She was, in fact, hesitant to sit on the stage and had to be coaxed by the family!)

Hema and Esha fielded a few questions, which pithily brought out the relationship they share, and the generational differences between the actors. Hema asserted her faith in the guru-shishya tradition as something that never can deteriorate, and where the guru is looked up to and respected unlike the modern-day student-teacher relationship, which is more informal.

Is she her daughters' guru? "I have not yet directed Esha in films yet so I've not become her guru in films. But in dance, I tell them a lot of things... the mother becomes everything... more than a guru. It's for them to take what they want from me. I share all my experiences with them — on the intricacies of dancing on stage, facing the camera, facing people," says the democratic mother.

Asked for a comment on the pressures students face in the modern education system that sometimes drive them to suicide, Esha held her own. "There is pressure from all sides, as a teenager, in school. I did not take life so seriously. Life is here to be lived happily. I had a lot of hobbies. I played sports. They were good stress-busters."

Hema Malini on her part reiterated that she is a strong believer in the power of dance. "The body, mind and everything else is in right condition, and it helps keep fit too. Learning dance is an early introduction to our culture."

The role Hema Malini would most love to play? "I would love to play Hema Malini! Because I've gone through so many lives in one life, I don't think anyone else can do that."

And Esha's dream role? "I have lots of dream roles. I would love t do real-life characters... like Razia Sultan that my mom did, and Sonia Gandhi!"

To which the BJP MP in Hema instantly asked defensively: "Why not Sushma Swaraj?"

B.K.

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