Archana Puran Singh: I don’t believe in hiding my age, if kids are 25, will people think you’re 16?
Archana Puran Singh doesn’t get why people hide their age, and more so if they are in showbiz
Archana Puran Singh doesn’t get why people hide their age, and more so if they are in showbiz. The actor, who turns 59 on September 26, shares that many people there also hide their actual birthdays, and celebrate the same age the next year too!
“In the 40 years of my career, I had no secretary or agent. I had one manager, Jeet, but very briefly, for a few months. When people used to ask me my age, I’d say 20 or 21. She (manager) would say, ‘Aap aisa mat bola karo’. I’d say, It’s just 20, not 40’. She’d tell me, ‘Nahi, aaj 20 bologe toh log hisaab lagayenge 10 saal baad 30 hai.’ This was the general trend, you didn’t tell your birthday,” recounts Singh, that “people celebrate their birthdays teen saal mein ek baar”.
Today when every information is readily available on the internet, the actor feels that it will be a task to hide one’s realage. “Everything, you can just search, sab aa jaata hai. I don’t believe in hiding my age. If you have grown up kids, people can see that. What do they think, children are 25 and you’re still 16? (sic),” she jokes.
Singh remembers the first birthday party she threw after becoming an actor, and it was graced by a lot of celebrities, including actors Amitabh Bachchan, Danny Denzongpa and filmmaker Subhash Ghai. What surprised her the most was Bachchan’s punctuality.
“Earlier, there was this flower agency who’d send bouquets on your behalf to birthday people. I threw a party once, and I was at a restaurant in Mumbai, adjusting my dress... the door opened, and someone entered with a huge bouquet. I couldn’t see and asked, ‘Kaun laya hai’, and suddenly from behind came a voice, ‘Hum laaye hain’. It was a familiar voice and it turned out to be Amit ji. I was like, ‘Amit ji aap 7 baje aa gaye’, he said, ‘Aapne 7 baje bulaya toh hum 7 baje hi aayenge na!’” she laughs narrating the incident.
However, over the years, she has wanted to focus more on spending the day with only her family and close friends. “Everyone keeps asking me, ‘Iss baar kya karna hai’, I say it’ll be impromptu,” she signs off.
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