As Karan Johar and Kartik Aaryan prepare to unleash an icchadhari universe titled Nagzilla, Reena Roy—who famously portrayed the slithering avenger in Raj Kumar Kohli’s blockbuster Nagin almost forty years ago—sends her warmest wishes to Kartik. Says Reena, “It’s a novel idea. I don’t know why no one thought of it before. In our country, snakes have a very special place. They are feared and yet worshipped.”
The original Nagin Reena Roy reacts to Kartik Aaryan’s shape-shifting role in Nagzilla; says, “He’ll be a terrific ichchadhari naag”
Recalling her own iconic Nagin experience, Reena Roy says, “Nagin gave me the chance to play the avenging hero. I killed so many heroes in that film. No one knew at the time that the film and its songs would become such massive hits. I went on to do several other films with Kohli Saab, including the other superhit Jaani Dushman (1979). But nothing in his career—or mine—could equal the craze of Nagin.”
Interestingly, Reena Roy landed Nagin by default. “I got to do Nagin with Kohli Saab because nobody else wanted to do it. He asked every major heroine of the time. They all said no. Then the script came to me. I was immediately interested. A lot of people warned me, ‘Tu pagal hai kya? This girl goes around killing her enemies. It’ll ruin your career before it even begins!’ But I was young and reckless. I was willing to take on anything that came my way. I plunged into it. The only two people who supported my decision to do Nagin were my mother and my sister Barkha. That film took me to the next level. It was a central character—rare for heroines at the time.”
Shooting Nagin was no easy task. “I had to behave like an icchadhari naag. I had to slither on muddy ground and dance. I had to wear very hard lenses whenever my character transformed into a snake. Back then, they didn’t have soft lenses—the hard ones bruised my eyes. The crew would try to stop shooting for my comfort, but I insisted they carry on. Ek junoon tha (there was a passion). I was game for any challenge.”
She concludes with praise and encouragement for Kartik Aaryan. “I’m sure Kartik Aaryan will make a terrific icchadhari naag. I can’t wait to see what he does with it.”
Also Read: Anil Kapoor or Bobby Deol to play villain in Naagzilla with Kartik Aaryan
More Pages: Naagzilla Box Office Collection
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