MUMBAI: Abbas-Mustan's Baazigar was a pivotal movie in different ways for Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, and Shilpa Shetty, who were all just starting their careers. Among SRK's first big-screen roles, the movie is frequently cited as a turning point in his career. Baazigar completed 30 in 2023, was both Shilpa's and Kajol's (Priya) first appearance in mainstream Hindi cinema, and it also served as a career-defining milestone for Priya.
“In one of the scenes, when Shilpa’s character is pushed and falls off the terrace and dies, Kajol is supposed to cry, and SRK consoles her and takes her back into the car. However, when she saw Shilpa lying on the ground, she couldn’t control her laughter. She was just 17, and I think she didn’t understand the scene,” recalled Mustan.
(Also read: Deepak Tijori reacts to the reports on losing Baazigar to Shah Rukh Khan; Says ‘But things went haywire…’)
However, Abbas quickly interjected, “I don’t think it was because of her age. When she saw Shilpa lying with her eyes open, she burst into laughter. She said, ‘She is supposed to be dead but her eyes are open, how can I bring out the emotions,” shared Abbas.
After setting up a four-camera setup, the two spoke with Kajol one-on-one to discuss the significance of the moment. “We called her and told her, ‘Imagine the dead girl lying on the ground is your younger sister, Tanishaa. What would you do if you saw your real sister in a pool of blood?’ She immediately started crying. She continued to sob even after sitting in the car. We did the shot in just one take, and whatever she did in the scene was natural,” the duo narrated in unison.
“We wanted girls like Kajol and Shilpa for their respective roles. When we signed Kajol, Bekhudi had not been released. They were still shooting for it,” they recalled. When they met Kajol at her place, she was writing something. “When we saw her perform in the film, she looked like a child. She was very natural and didn’t trouble us on the sets,” said Mustan, adding, “We wanted someone new, and Shilpa was the perfect fit for the role. Both these girls were 17 and minors, and their parents had to sign the film’s contract on their behalf.”
The directors claimed in a previous interview with the entertainment portal that Shilpa arrived via Venus. “They told us there was a girl who wanted to act in films, so we met her and liked her. We wanted a girl who did not have any image; we wanted a fresh face. If it was a bigger star and Shah Rukh would throw her off the terrace, people would start sympathising with her, and the whole film would be about that track. We didn’t want that to happen,” they shared.
Abbas praised the two actors for their powerful performances, saying, “We were tensed, as we were not sure if they would be able to pull off the characters. We were worried whether they would understand the scenes. But once they understood the scene, they went with the flow.”
(Also read Deepak Tijori reacts to the reports on losing Baazigar to Shah Rukh Khan; Says ‘But things went haywire…’)
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Credits – The Indian Express
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