EXCLUSIVE: Geeta Basra on how rumours of marrying Harbhajan Singh had affected her career: I was replaced from a couple of films

In an exclusive chat with Bollywood Bubble, Geeta Basra opened up about her interesting journey in Bollywood. The actress made her Bollywood debut with Emraan Hashmi-starrer Dil Diya Hai in 2006. Geeta also shared in detail back then, how rumours of dating Harbhajan Singh affected her career. The actress lost out on a few films and everyone assumed she is getting married to the cricketer when she had not even started dating him.

Geeta revealed how she had just started in the film industry and the rumours of her link-up with Harbhajan had already started. “Dil Diya Hai and The Train happened so quickly. It took me some time to take the next step. Then I just met Harbhajan and a couple of months down the line we started dating. And as a girl who is new to the city and industry, who does not have a Godfather to guide her, it was all confusing. 2006 was a really different time. Unless you’re really established, which I was not as I had just started, and before I took that step. And as I took that step, the rumours had already started that I’m getting married. And I was like, ‘Hain, What’s going on?’ I was new to this field, to this whole press thing. I was like ‘What’s going on? I am not marrying. I have just met him. You know we are just friends. So I mean whatever. It’s one of those things. It’s fine.”

When asked if the rumours affected her career, Geeta said, “Like I said 2006 was very different you couldn’t be linked or seen having a boyfriend at that time. Forget marriage or having a child. They wanted the girl to be “available”. The audience wants their actresses to be available and single. Now you could be married with kids and work. Now it’s a whole different ball game which is amazing. I love the fact that girls have a very different career path. They are settled in their personal and professional life. Back then you didn’t have that choice. Actresses had to be single and to be linked up or to be seen as getting married was a risk to their film, where a whole movie is at stake. People were like, ‘Now she gets married and she gets pregnant then what?”

She added, “My family also used to read those rumours and they were like, ‘What’s going on? Are you getting married?’ and I was like, ‘No. I am not even dating him yet’. The thing is I was always clear like we should get to know each other before taking the next step. I am glad that we got those 8-9 years together. Like we travelled together, we had the best time.”

You can check out the entire interview below:

Sharing how she did lose out on a few films, the actress said, “I did have films that came out at that time like Zila Ghaziabad, Mr Joe B. Carvalho, Second Hand Husband and Lock. Then I had lots of work down South. Then there were a lot of events, ads that were happening. Yeah maybe the opportunities were not as much as I had but there were a couple of films in which I was replaced because of the rumours that kept coming out during that time. But it’s fine. You don’t hold regret or have bitterness because you are in such a better frame of mind and space today. It wasn’t my destiny at that time it was someone else’s. So you just got to look at that like that.”

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Geeta Basra on love story, first meeting & dating Harbhajan Singh: Initially, didn’t know who he is

Bhavna Agarwal

Assistant Editor at Bollywood Bubble. An ambivert who is currently high on K-dramas and K-Pop. A forever Bollywood fan, who continues to gush over solid stories and characters. Hit me up for a fine conversation over chai.

You can also reach me on – https://twitter.com/filmybugB