Family has vanished in Hindi cinema, south still telling such stories: Zarina Wahab on 'Raja Saab'

Mumbai, Jan 5 (PTI) Actor Zarina Wahab on Monday said she is happy to be getting a lot of admiration for her role in Prabhas-starrer "Raja Saab" as stories revolving around families are still being made in southern cinema.

Wahab plays Prabhas's mother in the movie. The actor said though she has been working in the film industry for over 40 years, people were surprised to see her doing a Telugu movie.

"People ask me why I am doing Telugu films so I said the 'family' in Hindi films have died (vanished). In the south, the family is still very much alive (in storytelling). There are so many family oriented films. I enjoyed it a lot. I'm very thankful to the Telugu and Hindi industries. (But) in family films, artists like me or anyone can fit. When I heard the outline I said yes and after hearing Prabhas name no one can say no to the film," the actor said at the song launch of the movie here.

The film's team launched the song "Naache Naache" at the event.

Wahab said she is doing two-three movies in Telugu and she hopes to work with Prabhas again. She also thanked director Maruthi for the movie.

Actor Boman Irani said when he got the call for the film, his wife got to know that Prabhas was in it.

"She said, 'do it'. So I picked up the phone and said I will do it... We had such a great time, like a picnic." The actor said he had to use a body double during some action sequences even though he wanted to perform his own stunts.

"I think they were respecting my age too much. I saw a body double performing stunts for me and I thought I could do it too. What's the point in being afraid? Try it. I'm 66 now.

"None of my school friends have an opportunity to do what I'm doing. So take the opportunity. And I enjoyed every single stunt. It was fun. The safety measures are so good now. Now all you will have is a memory and a few cuts. I'm very grateful that I can do this at this age in my life," he said.

"Raja Saab" also gave Irani a chance to reteam with his "Munnabhai" co-star Sanjay Dutt, who plays the antagonist in the movie.

"He used to trouble me back then and he still does. He is tormenting me (in the film). I am a psychiatrist. I'm a hypnotist. I'm a psychologist. Sanjay Dutt is the one who can put a hypnotist to sleep. I worked with him(Dutt) again recently in another film but I can't talk about it. I hope in future, Munna Bhai 3 comes alive. Put pressure on Rajkumar Hirani," he said, requesting the media.

Malavika, who also stars in the movie, said it is a fantastic time to be an actor because boundaries between all the industries have really blurred because of OTT and social media.

"You do a good film in any language and if people like the film, it'll travel, get a wider audience, it'll have a wider reach. I personally love the phase I'm at in my career because I'm working with some of the biggest stars and with some of the best directors across multiple industries. I'm making my Telugu debut and I am doing a bunch of exciting things in Hindi as well." Zarine Khan said "Raja Saab"was one of her biggest roles.

"Me and Prabhas have a very beautiful chemistry in the film. During a scene in the film shoot, I said my line and was waiting for his turn but he kept staring and the director was asking Prabhas for his line to speak and Prabhas said 'I was engrossed in her performance and forgot my lines.' Very few people say such things to appreciate an artist." "Raja Sahab" is set to release in theatres on January 9. The film is produced by People Media Factory. Anil Thadani is distributing the film in the North. PTI SS BK BK