“At 22, I wanted to be a doctor, even though I couldn’t handle the sight of blood,” says Asha Parekh

The actor-director gets nostalgic about growing up as a tomboy, her mom managing her bank account and acting in several hits

What was your career like?

Asha Parekh at 22 (inset) and at 78 (above) (Asha Parekh: The Hit Girl, Om Books International)

Asha was known for playing perky characters (Asha Parekh: The Hit Girl, Om Books International)

At actor Sadhana’s engagement with director RK Nayyar (Asha Parekh: The Hit Girl, Om Books International)

With her regular co-star and Shammi Kapoor’s wife, Geeta Bali (Asha Parekh: The Hit Girl, Om Books International)

A candid picture from the set of a film she was working on in her 20s (Asha Parekh: The Hit Girl, Om Books International)

With Satyajit Ray, who offered Asha a film which didn’t materialise (Asha Parekh: The Hit Girl, Om Books International)

Shooting her debut with Rajendra Kumar in Goonj Uthi Shehnai, though she was replaced (Asha Parekh: The Hit Girl, Om Books International)

A still from her stalled film with Bengali superstar, Uttam Kumar (Asha Parekh: The Hit Girl, Om Books International)

Asha was to star in Zabardast with Dilip Kumar but fate decided otherwise (Asha Parekh: The Hit Girl, Om Books International)