Whenever we think of Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai movies together, it is the iconic drama film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam that never leaves our minds. Even today, you ask a cinema lover about Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s second directorial project and they can write a thesis on how beautiful the masterpiece is. Veteran cinematographer Anil Mehta, who brought the director’s vision live on the sets revealed how Salman’s improvision on a hot desert gave them incredible shots in one of the songs. Read on!
Salman Khan laid in a hot desert in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
Back in 1999, veteran cinematographer Anil Mehta joined hands with Sanjay Leela Bhansali for the romantic musical film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. As remarkable as the movie was, its songs were equally iconic. While talking to Film Companion, Anil shared that Salman Khan’s improvisation skills during the song Tadap Tadap Ke gave them multiple unforgettable scenes.
He went on to recall that while shooting the song track, the Tiger 3 stars laid on hot sand in the desert and asked people to put sand on him. “I remember in the desert; Salman just went with the scene. Otherwise, which hero is going to lie down in the hot sand in some desert and ask people to put that sand on him? He was doing it himself and that’s also infectious. You are drawing from that energy and then he started doing some random stuff,” he divulged.
Continuing with the anecdote, Mehta revealed that since Salman was being spontaneous with his acting, he decided to take the camera off the tripod and went with Khan at the moment, soaking in what he was doing. “Later, the camera also points at the sun which was a ‘no, no’ at the time then, today, it is the norm. I was free-flowing with it. Like I said, it was the energy of the piece and the performance and then, of course, it was the master at work (Sanjay Leela Bhansali) the master of drama at work,” he laughed.
Mehta was so dedicated to his craft and capturing the true essence of the movie that he won a National Film Award for Best Cinematography for the feature film.
