MUMBAI: Hrishikesh Mukherjee was quite a tough taskmaster on set. Most of his leading men back then, including Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra, have faced his wrath.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee ruled the roost then with films including Chupke Chupke, Gol Maal, Anand, Anupama, Abhimaan, Khubsoorat, Guddi, Bawarchi, Namak Haraam, and others. But, he ruled the sets with an iron fist.

Veteran artiste Asrani, one of his frequent collaborators said that the director never explained the details of a scene to his actors until last minute. Asrani shared stories from the set of Chupke Chupke (1975), where he starred alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra.

On a particular day of shoot, Asrani was dressed up in a suit, while Dharmendra arrived in a driver’s costume. “Hrishi da was sitting with writer Rahi Masoom Raza. Both of them were playing chess. There were 4-5 assistant directors and I enquired from them about the scene. But no one responded,” Asrani said.

Though Asrani did not receive any response from Mukherjee when he inquired about the scene and why he was wearing a suit, the reaction was different for lead actors Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan.

He said that due to budgetary restrictions, the costume department would repeat clothes from previous films. “I generally did not get to wear suits in films and now that I was wearing one, Dharmendra got scared and asked, ‘What is going on? What is the scene? How did you get a suit and I get driver’s dress?'

He added that Mukherjee was quick to reply, “‘Aye Dharam! What are you asking Asrani?’ The scene, right? Arey, if you had any sense for story, would you have been a hero then?”

When Amitabh had the same query about the office setup of the scene, Mukherjee tuned to the actor and shouted again, “Hey Amit! What are you asking Asrani? The story or the scene? Dharam! Tell him what I told you. You guys, if you had the sense for the story you wouldn’t be playing heroes in films! Chalo get to work’,” Asrani added.

Credits: Indian Express