Mumbai, July 5 : Veteran actress Reena Roy once revealed that she was not the first choice for the iconic movie 'Naagin'.

As she appeared on "The Kapil Sharma Show," Reena Roy revealed that before she came on board, the makers had approached a lot of leading ladies of the time, including Rekha and Asha Parekh.

"All the heroines had rejected 'Naagin'. They went to Rekha ji, they went to Asha Parekh, all the leading ladies of the time. Then they came to me since they knew I could dance well," shared Reena Roy.

She added that even her mother was not in favour of her doing the role. "You are killing people. Why are you doing this role", her mother had said.

However, Reena Roy was convinced that it was a good subject, different, so she had to do it.

During the fun interaction, the actress further revealed that after "Naagin," people even started getting scared of her.

Backed and directed by Rajkumar Kohli, under the banner of Shankar Movies, the project featured Reena Roy in the title role, along with a star-studded ensemble cast with Sunil Dutt, Feroz Khan, Jeetendra, Sanjay Khan, Rekha, Mumtaz, Vinod Mehra, Yogeeta Bali, Kabir Bedi, and Anil Dhawan in pivotal roles.

"Naagin" is believed to be inspired by François Truffaut's 1968 French film "The Bride Wore Black," which itself was based on Cornell Woolrich's 1940 novel of the same name.

The film was also later remade in Tamil with the name "Neeya?". The 1979 release starred Sripriya in the leading role.

The memorable tunes of "Naagin" have been scored by the composer duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal.

The project turned out to be a blockbuster hit at the box office and became the highest-grossing film of 1976.

It was only after the massive success of "Naagin" that Reena Roy gained the status of a star.

/IANS