Legendary actors Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar created a permanent place in the hearts of fans with their iconic characters and films. Both of them played best friends in Subhash Ghai’s 1991 film Saudagar, but they weren’t fond of each other in real life. Actor Prashant Narayanan, an assistant art director in Saudagar, recently revealed how it was a considerable task to shoot the iconic song Imli Ka Boota from Saudagar featuring both of them.
When Raaj Kumar threw Holi color in Dilip Kumar’s eyes on the sets of Saudagar
During a recent interview with Siddharth Kannan, Prashant Narayanan recalled the incident on the sets of Saudagar that made everyone present uncomfortable. The actor recalled how arch-rivals Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar were shooting for the Holi song Imli Ka Boota, which celebrated their friendship in the film, but it was a completely different situation on the sets.
Prashant shared that Dilip Kumar was wearing contact lenses during the shoot, and Raaj Kumar was specifically instructed not to put gulaal (the holi color) directly on his face, but he still went on to do it.
“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,” shared Prashant, adding that Raaj Kumar continued to smoke while there was a pin-drop silence.
Further narrating the story, he added, “He was supposed to grab a pinch of the color 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. Subhash ji (Subhash Ghai) immediately shouted, ‘Lights off!’ Raaj Kumar, who stood there, exclaimed, ‘Pack up!’ There was no way Dilip Saab was coming back to the set again,”
What went wrong between Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar?
Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar earlier worked together in Ramanand Sagar’s 1959 film Paigham, in which they played brothers. However, their relationship soured when Raaj Kumar slapped Dilip too hard while shooting a scene. After that film, neither worked together for three decades until Ghai brought them together.
