Then, the offers that came her way didn’t interest her much as an actor. At first, it was because of some health issues in her family that she had to take intermittent breaks. Growing up in Benares, Mishra trained as a Kathak dancer under the tutelage of Pandit Durga Lal right from a very young age. A few weeks later, I finally met her as we began our freewheeling conversation about what’s been keeping her away from professional acting for over a decade, her early days as a young Kathak dancer and her acting journey that started with Jaya Ganga. When I was finally able to establish contact with her, I learnt that she would soon be coming to the Capital for some event. Others said she was still living in Mumbai. Some speculated that she had left Mumbai for good.

So, with this thought in mind, I kept searching for her. I wondered why in today's age of OTT, wherein a versatile performer like her would be a handful, she hasn’t yet made her much-awaited comeback, especially when many of her contemporaries have successfully done so in the recent years. Many critics even compared her to the likes of Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil. In a relatively short career that features films such as Jaya Ganga, Is Raat Ki Subah Nahi, Sardari Begum, Train to Pakistan, One Dollar Curry, Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow, Dil Dosti Etc, and the American film Mitsein, Mishra had proven without doubt her versatility as an actress who wasn’t afraid to push boundaries. That's when my search for her began.Ī skillful dancer and a powerful performer endowed with a rare gift to transfix the viewer with her ability to emote in front of a motion picture camera, Mishra seemed to possess everything that one has come to associate with great Indian actresses across ages. A little research on my part confirmed that Mishra hadn’t done a feature film in over a decade.

I recalled last seeing her in Dil Dosti Etc, which also starred Imaad Shah and Shreyas Talpade. Also, I was a little surprised by her conspicuous absence at the launch. Seeing Zehra's face again on the book cover of the Hindi translation of Jaya Ganga immediately made me think of Smriti Mishra, the actress who essayed the character in the film. The actress playing the part of Zehra had struck me with her elegance, grace, impeccable Urdu diction, and breathtaking classical dancing abilities.

While attending the event at the French Ambassador's residence in New Delhi, I was suddenly reminded of watching the film adaptation of Jaya Ganga (directed by Singh himself) on television as a college student. The recent launch of the Hindi translation of Vijay Singh’s critically acclaimed book Jaya Ganga sent me on a nostalgic trip.

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