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The Past Blast: How Sunny Deol and Salman Khan came on board Sajid Nadiadwala’s Jeet
Here's an interesting trivia of how Sajid Nadiadwala managed to cast Sunny Deol and Salman Khan in the Raj Kanwar directed Jeet. It wasn't easy. Read details
25 years back, producer Sajid Nadiadwala pulled off a casting coup by getting Sunny Deol, Salman Khan and Karisma Kapoor together in the Raj Kanwar directed Jeet. The film released on August 23 and proved to be the third highest grossing film of 1996 and the biggest hit then for producer Sajid Nadiadwala. However, not many know that getting the cast was not an easy task.
According to industry insiders, after having a bad experience with Yash Chopra in Darr, Sunny Deol had taken a stand of not doing two hero films with any of the upcoming three Khan’s in the 1990s. Despite this being a chatter in the industry, Sajid went to him with the character of Karan. After hearing the narration, he initially showed some concerns as Sajid and Raj already had plans of casting Salman as Raju. But, he absolutely loved the script and character and on seeing the transparent approach of Sajid, he agreed to come on board the film with complete trust on their vision.
Interestingly, Sajid then approached Salman with the script. The actor, who was shooting for Karan Arjun in Jaipur back then, heard it out, however, rejected it after the first narration. He felt the script was driven by Sunny’s character. On getting assurance on the treatment to his character, he gave a green light to the subject in a matter of a few hours on the same day. After the film’s release, both Sunny and Salman won appreciation for their respective characters and the film emerged a smash hit at the box-office. The duo bonded very well on the sets. It raked in Rs 16.50 crore in India and was the third biggest hit of the year. Five months later, Sajid reunited with Salman on Judwaa, which was yet another smash hit at the box-office.
Through the shoot, Sunny and Salman became best of friends and 25 years later, the two still share a strong bond. It was quite a journey for Sunny, from being hesitant to work with Salman, to finding a friend for life. Same is the case for Salman and Sajid, as after Jeet, the duo went ahead to work in successful films like Judwaa, Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and Kick. And their stint doesn’t end yet as they are gearing up for two more collaborations, the Farhad Samji directed Bhaijaan and Sajid’s own directorial, Kick 2.
Of all the things, another aspect that stood out from Jeet was Sunny Deol’s dance in Yara O Yara choreographed by Chinniprakash. During the song shoot, no one except the key stakeholders like director and choreographer, were allowed to be on the set as Sunny was never known for his dancing skills. To up his confidence, the song was shot with a limited crew and ironically, it has turned out to be one of the most iconic song of Sunny’s career. Well, as they say, every film has it’s destiny and Jeet was destined to succeed and result in giving birth to the friendship of Sunny – Salman, Salman – Sajid.
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