Yash Chopra in conversation with Uday Chopra – Darr

Today is Uday Chopra’s birthday. I was looking for one of his songs to post as Song of the Day and I found this video. I had seen this video once long time back. Here they are talking about the movie Darr and Uday reveals Dead Calm as the inspiration for Darr.

Yash Chopra also says that Aamir had signed Darr and that there was a mahurat too but then Aamir declined to do the role because his fans, friends, relatives advised him against doing a negative role.

Now some of you might know that I was involved in a discussion on NG sometime back regarding Darr on this very topic. Sunny is supposed to have been very angry during the making of Darr as SRK was being given preferential treatment. But what’s funny is that Sunny (voice over) saying he enjoyed working in the movie and that it was like a picnic. Now I think this was from the Making of Darr which was telecast on Doordarshan back then before the release of the movie. May be he was paid to say that but its really funny when seen in context of his later interviews. Ths Sunny Deol voiceover is at 4 min 55 sec.

Tags:
16 Comments
  1. Milind 12 years ago

    This video does two things.

    1. Rubbishes claims that Aamir left the film due to script issues or that the script was not good etc etc put up by some Aamir fans.

    2. Seconds the POV that Sunny was always aware of his role and direction of the character..that SRK stole the show was on his own merit rather than Sunny feeling he was less projected.May be Sunny thought himself to be bigger at that point of time and being defeated[not literally] was not acceptable to him!

    3.That SRK never begged YR for a role.He had the audacity to say if the role is similar to Anjaam or another unfinished movie of his,YR should not go ahead with narration.Which other actor in history of Indian Cinema can have that audacity at his nascent stage to possibly deny working with YRF..the pantheon Yash Raj.

    • Author
      sputnik 12 years ago

      1. Aamir said that he left the movie because he was not given a joint narration. He said that he knew it all along that Sunny was being taken for a ride. That’s just such BS because why would he be so concerned about Sunny.

      2. If I remember it correctly there was a one hour show called The Making of Darr on DD which was shown a few days before the release of Darr and it had interviews of Sunny, Juhi and SRK and also shooting scenes from Switzerland. All these stories of Sunny being less projected came up only after the audiences as well as media unanimously felt that SRK stole the show.

      3: I disagree with you on the third point. Yash Chopra also says in that same interview that he approached Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgn for the part too and they refused. They was no precedence for a role like that in Hindi cinema before. The guy was stalking the heroine, running away scared from the other hero and getting bashed to pulp by the other hero. So understandably the upcoming heroes were scared to do the role fearing that it might damage their star image.

  2. Milind 12 years ago

    Sanjay refusing is still acceptable..he was billed the next bachchan..ajay refusing is a bit weird though..

    • Author
      sputnik 12 years ago

      Ajay refusing is understandable as he was an action star back then with movies like Phool Aur Kaante and Jigar. And he did not start doing negative roles until much later.

      Sanjay refusing is more surprising to me because Sanjay was not one someone who was scared of doing negative or roles with grey shades.

      In fact he had played a negative role that same year in a movie called Saahiban (it released in July whereas Darr released in December of the same year). Rishi and Madhuri love each other but Sanjay falls in love with Madhuri. He throws Rishi in the river and tries to forcibly get married to Madhuri. The movie was bad but I thought Sanjay acted well back then. And there was Khal Nayak the same year too but then he turns good in the end.

      I liked Sunny in Ghayal, Damini and Ghatak but did not like him at all in Darr. Sunny just couldn’t stand up to SRK with his smirk expressions and screaming. Ideally Sanjay should have done the Sunny role and Madhuri should have done Juhi’s role. Sanjay would have acted much better in Sunny’s role and would have made it a much more even contest.

  3. Milind 12 years ago

    I was talking vis-a-vis the then current star power position in Bollywood..sanjay was a bigger star than ajay..he had options galore..he could have refused but Ajay was a newbie..his refusing seems a bit weird!

  4. hithere 12 years ago

    Yash Chopra is talking BS. Check the scene after 1 minute in climax fight

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se9i-M2pg_s

    Juhi clutching Sunny’s shoulder (and long shot) and SRK monologue during that time ..that was not Sunny; and added without Sunny’s consent and its purpose was to generate sympathy for SRK’s character.

    Most of these interviews are recorded before the final cut of the movie where they seat and talk goody-goody about movie. It was true SRK won all the accolades and probably added insult to injury. Sunny was angry with SRK for long time but they made up couple of years back.

    Who should I believe in this he-said, she-said?
    Yash Chopra saying Aamir having second thought about the movie and doing more negative Earth.

    or Aamir talking about being removed from the movie for asking for joint narration and Sunny Still miffed with Yash Chopra till date!

    https://www.screenindia.com/news/1994-AAMIR-KHAN/7919/
    “I did not walk out of Darr. I was removed from the film”

    https://downloads.movies.indiatimes.com/site/oct2001/cs.html
    “I’ll never work with Yash Chopra again. He isn’t a man of his words. He betrayed my faith in him ”

    ps – In all likelihood this interview was pre Fanna (Last movie in series was Veer-Zaara). I don’t think Yash Chopra would talk about Aamir after Fanna.

    • Author
      sputnik 12 years ago

      hmm… that’s a good find and you may be right on that. But I don’t think that monologue made any difference to the movie as its too late into the movie. In fact I never liked the extended fight scene and that monologue looks so out of character and place.

      I saw Darr on the first day of its release. The audience were rooting for SRK pretty early on and when he stabbed Sunny the whole audience was cheering and whistling.

      As far as the voice over is concerned I already said in my post itself that “May be he was paid to say that but its really funny when seen in context of his later interviews. ”

      This is Aamir from another interview.

      ‘Regarding Yash Chopra’s accusation I’d like to put things in perspective. In the first narration he told me that Sunny (Deol) and I would fight but it would be Juhi (The woman whom I was obsessed with and harassing) who would kill me. That was poetic justice. Then I came to know that he had narrated a different climax to Sunny in which Sunny would kill me. So I asked for a joint narration.

      I was concerned about my screen image. I was certainly not going to be beaten up by a regular hero in a regular commercial film. See, I didn’t mind being beaten up by Deepak Tijori in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar because that was a different kind of film. But if you have a casting coup like Sunny and me then I certainly don’t want to be beaten up by him or even Arnold Schwarzenegger for that matter. Is there anything wrong with that?

      When Yashji told me it would be an equal fight in the climax I asked him what he meant by that and he said both of us would have an equal number of punches. These were his words, said in the presence of cameraman Manmohan Singh and scriptwriter Honey Irani.

      In any case it made more sense to have a heroine who has been terrorised all along killing her tormentor.

      Yashji has also said that I had second thoughts about playing a negative role. Far from it… in fact, I would not have glamorised the role the way it was done in the film if I had done it. The character had a mental problem and it should have been played accordingly. ‘

      https://www.rediff.com/movies/apr/04amir.htm

      Now if we go by Aamir’s points then Aamir and Sunny would have equal punches and Juhi would kill him. In this case it is even more loaded in favor of the Rahul character and Sunny would look even worse.

      I don’t think Aamir was more negative in Earth. To me it was more grey shade. He turns bad after his sisters get killed and he asks Nandita to marry and when she declines he does that in revenge.

      And there is a difference – Aamir says in the above interview that he has no problem getting beaten up by Deepak Tijori and that’s because Deepak is/was not a star in the same league as Aamir. Similarly Rahul Khanna was in not the same league as Aamir and it was Rahul Khanna’s debut.

      When a big star gives one of his not so popular co-actor a better/equal role the star will be praised for his magnanimity but if a bigger or equal star does the other role then people ridicule saying that he was overshadowed.

      But the point I made in my first comment was regarding this.

      “I knew all along that it was Sunny and not me who was being taken for a ride. ”

      https://www.bollywhat.com/Biographies/aamir_bio.html

      I cannot believe that Aamir would be so concerned about Sunny being taken for a ride. There were similar accusations about Aamir too that he shortchanged Salman’s role during Andaz Apna Apna. I think Aamir got the best lines and scenes in AAA and he stole the show from Salman.

      P.S: Yes this interview is pre Fanaa. Yash/Uday mention the year as 2003. And I don’t think Aamir will now talk about Yash Chopra that way either πŸ˜‰

      • hithere 12 years ago

        Sputnik – Rediff and most media sites were not available during Darr time. I posted this because I read it inmagazine at that time. I don’t see that being referenced for Darr controversy in internet era.

        ps – Saw Darr in first week with advance booking. Well I went for Juhi πŸ™‚

        ps1 – Probably Juhi would be best person to tell the truth πŸ™‚

        • Author
          sputnik 12 years ago

          I don’t think there was Internet in India during Darr time. Internet started in India in 1995 according to google search.

          “My next release will be in Diwali — Raja Hindustani with Karishma Kapoor.”

          The rediff interview must be 1995/96. It may have been republished on rediff from a magazine.

          Anyways thanks for that climax scene info.

          “ps – Saw Darr in first week with advance booking. Well I went for Juhi :)”

          LOL I used to find Juhi very annoying. I still hate the way she giggles and jumps in that “Jaadu Teri Nazar” song.

          Well I had to do advance booking too. I went with friends on Monday and there was a big line for the advance booking. Sunny, Juhi, SRK (immediately after Baazigar) in a Yash Chopra movie was a big deal back then. It was a Christmas release πŸ˜‰

          “ps1 – Probably Juhi would be best person to tell the truth :)”

          Now if you can get Juhi to spill the beans we can have an Exclusive πŸ˜‰

  5. Milind 12 years ago

    Yes,you should not believe the maker but you should believe a star who left the film coz of fear of disruption of image.

    Your star is talking true,Yash is talking bullshit!Woww!!

    • hithere 12 years ago

      Aamir or Sunny πŸ˜‰

      Read carefully there is nothing against SRK. He got an opportunity, he grabbed it nothing wrong in it.

    • Author
      sputnik 12 years ago

      Milind,

      hithere is one of the best members you can find on online forums. I cannot disclose who he is but he is not a Aamir fanatic or anything. If you knew who he is you would not have said that. Trust me on this.

    • Author
      sputnik 12 years ago

      Thanks Milind for the link. I saw your link after I posted those pictures. The pictures I posted are even better with no watermark.

  6. aryan 12 years ago

    In 2009 on Subhai Ghai Birthday party SRK-Sunny Deol’s Patch-up story have a look.

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=g3ouol7dta8

Leave a reply

Log in with your credentials

Forgot your details?