Yasmeen became Mandakini in front of Raj Kapoor’s camera. In an interview on Wednesday, she said, she was 16, a newcomer from a small town, and that she never once felt uncomfortable on the set of Ram Teri Ganga Maili.”Unka tarika aesa tha ki aap unse koi sawaal hi nahi karte the. Itna pyaar se, itna gentle jaise aapka family member aapse karwa raha ho,” she said. “I didn’t feel any vulgarity from anywhere. There was no disgusting feeling at all.”The waterfall scene in the song Tujhe Bulayen Yeh Meri Bahen, which shows her in a white saree, became one of Hindi cinema’s most discussed moments. When she felt slightly uncomfortable, Kapoor quietly told her to double the saree. She did. The shot was done.The breastfeeding scene, she says, was never what it appeared. “No, there was no breastfeeding. They had picturised it so well.” She was holding a baby close to a low-cut outfit and the camera angle created the impression. “That’s what I want to tell everyone,”She said.The controversies, however, did not end on screen. A photograph of her with Dawood Ibrahim surfaced years later and, she says, caused serious damage to her career. She had travelled to Dubai for a show and attended a cricket match where the picture was taken. “I was not invited by Dawood. I didn’t realise it at the moment,” she said.Despite the setbacks, Mandakini never let the controversy define her relationship with the film that made her.After Ram Teri Ganga Maili, filmmakers pressured her to recreate the waterfall scene. She refused every time. “To hit, you need a very good story. Which was in Ram Teri Ganga Maili,” she said.Following the success of the film, Mandakini continued to work in Hindi cinema and appeared in more than 75 films during her career. She also shared the screen with several leading actors, including Anil Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Govinda, among others. — ANI