I don’t exactly remember the year! Perhaps it was the mid-2000s. As a starry-eyed film journalist, I was breathless with excitement to meet the diva — Rekha.

It was the shoot of Goutam Ghose’s Yatra in Hyderabad and a 30-something just couldn’t hold his excitement like his compatriots from other publishing houses.

The cast had other notables like Nana Patekar and there was palpitation, keeping in mind his mood swings. But all we wanted was a two-minute chat with the ethereal beauty.

We waited and waited even though we were told she would not speak much. One senior editor was so crestfallen that he refused to go down for lunch. “Arrey we need to at least see her to pen something,” he said. We agreed. But there was no trace of her. She had a flight to catch. Or so we were told.

All of us had only Patekar to talk to. Our group of journalists from Kolkata assembled around a long table to talk to him. The session had barely started when God smiled on us. Who do we see? The lady herself. The Umrao Jaan of the Indian screen.

“Hey! Hi all!” She called out. And we couldn’t believe our luck. We had given up by then because she had “refused to talk”. But it was Patekar who turned out to be our messiah.

“Baat karke jaa na,” he requested the reticent star, and she agreed.

She was inundated with a volley of questions. In between, photographers clicked her and she showed no inkling of arrogance. Questions hovered around her unforgettable characters, favourite roles and experiences during her long career. Questions on her being reserved also popped up and she refused to admit she stays aloof.

There was not even an iota of hesitation in Rekha’s responses and that was one of the highlights of the session. More than her replies, it was her body language that appealed and, needless to say, it is a given.

Some questions did haunt me, especially her link-ups, but I did not dare ask. And yes, a tall, dark and handsome man’s presence was felt even if he was not there in person.