Veteran actress Shabana Azmi remembers the late Rita Bhaduri as a "cute and impish" girl who was her friend, batchmate and closest competitor at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. Upon Rita's demise on early Tuesday, Shabana was inundated with calls asking her to share "thoughts" on the late actress.

"There is something so matter of fact, almost cold about this question, 'Your thoughts on Rita Bhaduri'. I am yet to fully comprehend that my classmate from FTII passed away this morning. I'm on my way to her house and the phone hasn't stopped ringing. Perfunctory questions... your reactions please? How strange that I mentioned her in a piece I wrote on the FTII days just three days ago," Shabana said.