Veteran actors Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar, who played the character of great friends in director Subhash Ghai’s film Saudagar’, were bitter rivals. They reportedly hadn’t spoken to one another in over thirty years before they were cast in the 1991 film. Although the well-known Holi song ‘Imli Ka Boota’ highlights their camaraderie on screen, the team had an extremely difficult time filming the song.Tension on the movie sets was unavoidable due to their evident animosity. Actor Prashant Narayanan, who worked as an assistant art director on the film, recounted how things escalated to a dangerous degree during the shooting of the Holi song.
During a candid conversation with Siddharth Kannan, Prashant Narayanan shared an anecdote when he was shooting for a sequence of the film ‘Saudagar’. He said, “Raaj Kumar was instructed by four people that he shouldn’t throw gulaal directly on Dilip Kumar’s face as he was wearing contact lenses. Dilip had specifically said, ‘Don’t throw gulaal directly at my face because it might get into my eyes.’ They hit their marks, the shot was lit, everybody was ready. And then, Subhash ji went and whispered to Raaj Kumar to be careful. When four people tell you the same thing, there’s going to be a problem. Raaj Kumar looked around, and said, ‘Lights off…’ He walked off and lit a cigarette.” The actor even revealed that he was standing between the two stars while holding a tray of Holi colours.
Prashant disclosed how the incident made everyone present on the set uncomfortable. He narrated the entire incident and said, “Raaj Kumar continued smoking while there was a pin-drop silence. Finally, the two actors were ready to shoot the scene. He was supposed to grab a pinch of the colour and throw it near Dilip saab’s face. But Raaj Kumar grabbed a fistful of gulaal from the thali that I was holding and threw it on Dilip Kumar’s face with full force. He recoiled in shock, he seemed to be in pain, and he rubbed his eyes. He stormed off.”
He stated that after the incident happened Subhash Ghai immediately shouted ‘Lights off!’ while Raaj Kumar, who stood there exclaimed, ‘Pack up!’ Prashant even revealed that he had a feeling that Dilip Kumar wasn’t coming back to the set again and there was constant friction between the two actors. He said it was a crazy feeling for him because he was in the middle of these two actors.
For the unversed, Raaj Kumar and Dilip got into a well-known feud when Raaj Kumar slapped Dilip too hard during the shooting of a scene for Ramanand Sagar’s 1959 film ‘Paigham’. The two actors developed a rift as a result of this occurrence and Dilip made the decision to never collaborate with his peers again. Raaj Kumar and Dilip Kumar gave powerful performances in ‘Saudagar’ despite their personal rivalry, and the movie went on to become a commercial hit.
During a candid conversation with Siddharth Kannan, Prashant Narayanan shared an anecdote when he was shooting for a sequence of the film ‘Saudagar’. He said, “Raaj Kumar was instructed by four people that he shouldn’t throw gulaal directly on Dilip Kumar’s face as he was wearing contact lenses. Dilip had specifically said, ‘Don’t throw gulaal directly at my face because it might get into my eyes.’ They hit their marks, the shot was lit, everybody was ready. And then, Subhash ji went and whispered to Raaj Kumar to be careful. When four people tell you the same thing, there’s going to be a problem. Raaj Kumar looked around, and said, ‘Lights off…’ He walked off and lit a cigarette.” The actor even revealed that he was standing between the two stars while holding a tray of Holi colours.
Prashant disclosed how the incident made everyone present on the set uncomfortable. He narrated the entire incident and said, “Raaj Kumar continued smoking while there was a pin-drop silence. Finally, the two actors were ready to shoot the scene. He was supposed to grab a pinch of the colour and throw it near Dilip saab’s face. But Raaj Kumar grabbed a fistful of gulaal from the thali that I was holding and threw it on Dilip Kumar’s face with full force. He recoiled in shock, he seemed to be in pain, and he rubbed his eyes. He stormed off.”
He stated that after the incident happened Subhash Ghai immediately shouted ‘Lights off!’ while Raaj Kumar, who stood there exclaimed, ‘Pack up!’ Prashant even revealed that he had a feeling that Dilip Kumar wasn’t coming back to the set again and there was constant friction between the two actors. He said it was a crazy feeling for him because he was in the middle of these two actors.
For the unversed, Raaj Kumar and Dilip got into a well-known feud when Raaj Kumar slapped Dilip too hard during the shooting of a scene for Ramanand Sagar’s 1959 film ‘Paigham’. The two actors developed a rift as a result of this occurrence and Dilip made the decision to never collaborate with his peers again. Raaj Kumar and Dilip Kumar gave powerful performances in ‘Saudagar’ despite their personal rivalry, and the movie went on to become a commercial hit.
Subhash Ghai on What Ails Bollywood | Dilip Kumar, Rishi Kapoor, Raaj Kumar
