MUMBAI: Bollywood has its own charm. Whether it is onscreen stories or behind the scenes trivia, Bollywood has always captivated audiences. Sony MAX2’s show “Lights Camera and Kissey” features some interesting nuggets of Bollywood’s iconic movies.
Here are some interesting stories of Bollywood’s famous leading men:
Rafoo Chakkar – Rishi Kapoor’s drag avatar
In the 1970’s, seeing leading heroes of Bollywood movies in female avatars was not a common phenomenon. Challenging the quintessential image of a macho-hero was Rishi Kapoor in the movie Rafoo Chakkar. Audiences may recall, the plot required, Rishi Kapoor to dress up as girl for nearly 70% of the movie.
Now, here’s a funny anecdote: while shooting for a scene in Kashmir, Rishi Kapoor desperately wanted to use washroom but found himself in a catch-22 situation! He was in full costume and walking into the gents’ washroom while dressed as a woman would have raised eyebrows but at the same time he couldn’t use the ladies room either! Finally, he along with Paintel (who was also in his costume) decided to use the gents’ washroom. There they startled two foreigners, who rushed outsides in their embarrassment and confusion! A few hours later, the foreigners were frantically looking for the ‘women’ who barged into the male washroom! Imagine their shock when they finally found Rishi Kapoor mid-shoot only to realize that a famous movie star had walked in on them!
Conviction and perfection are traits that make Aamir Khan stand apart from other actors. He has proved that his dedication towards his characters and movies is worth appreciation. One such role is that of Siddharth Marathe from Ghulam. The unforgettable ‘dus-dus ki daud’ train scene has been one of the most talked about scenes of Bollywood and made waves when the movie first released. But very few of us know the real story behind it!
Being the perfectionist that he is Aamir insisted that he would not use a stuntman but do the scene himself. This surprised Vikhram Bhatt who was initially completely against this but Aamir managed to convince him. The camera was rolling, the train had turned on the headlights & had started chugging towards Aamir. However, it’s approach was much faster than what Aamir had expected. Rani Mukherjee, Deepak Tijori, Vikram Bhatt and rest of the unit were silently watching the act. Aamir pulled off the daredevil act with panache and missed the train by only a second! While editing, Vikhram Bhatt and Aamir realized that he had missed the train by 24 frames. Aamir still has those 24 frames with him that he keeps as a souvenir.
Munna Bhai MBBS – Sanjay Dutt’s turning point in his career
You cannot fight your destiny! This phrase stands true for the Munna Bhai of Bollywood, Sanjay Dutt. Raju Hirani who was ready with the script of his first movie – Munna Bhai M.B.B.S pitched the project to producer, Vidhu Vinod Chopra. After many discussions and considering actors like Anil Kapoor and Vivek Oberoi, they finally unanimously agreed on Shah Rukh Khan for the role of Munna. Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai were meant to play the lead pair of the movie and Vinod was keen on casting Sanjay Dutt for Zahir’s role, which was later played by Jimmy Shergil. Sanjay Dutt was enthused about the role and accepted it without even reading the script thanks to his friendship with Vidhu Vinod Chopra.
However, as luck would have it, Shah Rukh Khan declined the role and the hunt for the perfect ‘Munna’ began once again. Vidhu Vinod Chopra who was impressed by Sanjay Dutt’s gesture to play a smaller role in the movie later decided that he deserved to be awarded Munna’s role for the trust and faith he had placed in the script. This was the first and the last time that Sanjay Dutt worked with his father in a movie. This incident was such a turning point in Sanjay Dutt’s life that it was later included in his biopic ‘Sanju’.
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