Bollywood actress Zarina Wahab recently spoke her heart out about her experience working on the mythological film Gopal Krishna in 1979. The film was produced by Tarachand Barjatya, the founder of Rajshree Films and grandfather of filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya. Well, Tarachand strongly believed that cinema could succeed without depending on obscenity or violence. Gopal Krishna is a mythological film that starred Zarina Wahab and Sachin Pilgaonkar in the main roles. The producer stayed true to his principles and had strict guidelines for his actors. One of his rules included they had to avoid eating non-vegetarian food while shooting mythological films.
Actress Zarina who played the role of Radha in the film spoke about being cast and the strict rules on the sets. In an interview with Lehren Retro, Zarina recalled how she received a call one night asking her to come to the film set. She agreed and went and was given an outfit to try. Zarina was roped in to replace an actress who was removed from the project due to unprofessional behavior. Zarina walked down the lane as she remembered how the replacement happened after 11 reels of the film had already been shot. Zarina was called to Tarachand Barjatya's office and was explained the rules that she needed to follow for the role. He told her that, since she was playing the role of Radha in the film, she had to stop eating meat until the film was completed. Zarina followed this request and adapted a new lifestyle. She started eating vegetarian food and revealed how she prefers veg over non-veg food. She said, 'One night, I received a call. The person asked me to come to a particular film set the next day if I was free. I went. As soon as I reached there, I was given a certain outfit and was asked to check if it fit'.
She even added saying, 'They were replacing a heroine in the film after having shot 11 reels of film. I don't want to disclose who she was. My hairdresser at that time informed me about her'.
She continued added saying, 'After pack-up, Tarachand Barjatya, who we fondly addressed as Sethji, called me to his office. He told me, 'Look, you are playing Radha in this film, Gopal Krishna, so please quit eating meat until we finish shooting the film.' I agreed to it. I didn't ever eat meat until the film released'.
