Only last week on the Makar Sankranti day, she responded on my social media page with her good wishes for the festival. So, it was hard to believe that she passed away day before yesterday. This shocking news of her sad demise reminds us of the uncertainly of life. It takes me down memory lane when during my active days of film Journalism as a freelance Journalist, I had come across this dashing energetic woman film PRO, who worked single handedly through her company Media relations.
Hill lived in Krishna building near ISKCON temple Juhu, which was then close to my house and whenever there was any urgent news I used to collect it from her house . She was always cheerful and offered all the help in time. She possessed a very good quality of appreciating the coverage and was always eager to introduce us to the artistes and film makers during parties and launch functions. She had particularly helped me to arrange interviews with the artistes of the films and TV serials she had in hand for publicity purpose. She ussed to be available on her landline all the time during the day. I still remember, she had handled the publicity of Adhikari Brothers’ Marathi detective serial ‘Paramveer’ very efficiently.
Hilla was very committed to her work. Once she asked me to come along with a Police Inspector Sagar Salunke who was selected for the role of Balaram in B.R.Chopra’s Mahabharat . He had also signed for small roles in Prakash Mehra and Manmohan Desai’s films. Being smart nd handsome, he was also a good singer. Hilla had read his interview done by me. And she wanted to write about him in her Mid day column . When we reached Hilla’s place and she was about to begin the talk, unexpectedly Dheeraj Kumar and his wife Zubi gave her a surprise with their arrival. Obviously, they had come for some urgent work regarding publicity of their TV serial. Though we knew each other, Hilla officially introduced us and went ahead with the talks in our presence . It was an awkward situation for us, but Hilla made us comfortable involving us in their discussion, which was frank and friendly.
It was only when she finished with them and after saying goodbye to them, she began talking to Sagar. And this went on for the next one hour or so. This showed her commitment. After few days, I saw her article in Mid day under the catchy header ‘Honest Police Officer in Good bad World of Films’. She had very nicely presented him in that article. Hilla was also very good at issuing her press releases of the films she had in hand. She used to furnish all the details, which enabled us to get complete idea of the film and the artistes. She also made it a point to send additional still photographs for selection.
With her passing away I have lost a good friend, philosopher and guide in the field of Journalism. May God rest her soul in eternal peace.