I didn`t work with Dilip Kumar because I didn`t like him: Asha Parekh

Panaji: Veteran actress Asha Parekh, who ruled the Hindi film industry in the 60s and 70s, has worked with almost all the stars of that time but she consciously stayed away from one actor, superstar Dilip Kumar. Parekh, who is known for her frank and forthright attitude, said that she refused to be cast with Kumar because of the simple fact that she did not like him.

When asked that why the audience did not see the two actors romancing onscreen, Parekh said, "Who I don`t like I don`t work with." The 67-year-old actress is being felicitated for completing 50 years in the film industry at the ongoing 40th International Film Festival of India (IFFI). She started her career as a child artiste under the screen name Baby Asha Parekh in the film `Aasmaan` in 1952. Thereafter noted filmmaker Bimal Roy saw her dance at a stage function and cast her at the tender age of twelve in `Baap Beti` 1954. Parekh`s first lead role was in 1959 `Dil Deke Dekho` with Shammi Kapoor after which never she looked back. Since then she has worked the biggest names of the tinsel town like Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, Shashi Kapoor, Jitendra, Manoj Kumar and Dharmendra to name a few. The actress has been given special golden jubilee retrospective in the IFFI this year, which saw screening of two her films `Dil Deke Dekho` and `Kati Patang`. PTI