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Whenever there is mention of memorable films adorned with love, separation and grandeur in the history of Hindi cinema, the name of director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s cult classic film ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ first comes to mind. Released in 1999, this blockbuster film not only redefined romance on the big screen, but also laid the foundation for the real-life love story of two of Bollywood’s biggest superstars—Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai. Even after a long gap of 27 years, the unheard stories related to the sets of this film, its melodious music and the on-screen and off-screen chemistry of both the actors are still heard with great interest among the cinema lovers. Now, a very funny and interesting incident during the shooting of this historical film has been made public by the famous veteran actress Smita Jayakar, who played the role of Aishwarya Rai’s mother in the film. He told how director Sanjay Leela Bhansali got angry when he repeatedly touched Aishwarya during the shooting of a romantic song and he reprimanded Salman Khan in front of everyone on the set itself.
Smita Jayakar is a highly respected and senior actress in the Hindi cinema and television world, who played a very serious and dignified role as ‘Amrita’, the mother of Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) in this epic saga of Bhansali. Recently, while participating in the show of senior journalist and famous podcaster Siddharth Kanan, Smita Jayakar remembered the golden era of film production. He told that this incident is from the time of filming of the film’s immortal and iconic song ‘Aankhon Ki Gustakhiyan Maaf Ho’. Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for perfection and detail in every scene. He was explaining the visual concept of that particular sequence of the song to the entire crew and lead actors. Bhansali had clear instructions that the delicacy of this entire romantic sequence should be based only on eye gestures, facial expressions and the attraction generated without physical touch. That means, in the whole situation, Salman Khan was not to touch Aishwarya Rai at all, but had to express his love only with his eyes while staying away.
Smita Jayakar, while describing that moment with her own eyes, said that despite strict instructions from Bhansali, Salman Khan was not desisting from his flirtatious and mischievous style. During the rehearsal of the shot, Salman was repeatedly touching Aishwarya Rai’s hand and arm lightly. The atmosphere remained normal once or twice, but when Salman repeated the same act again, the anger of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who was staring at the monitor, reached the seventh sky. Bhansali immediately stopped the rehearsal and scolded Salman Khan in a loud voice in front of the entire set, saying, “Salman, why are you touching it again and again? Why are you touching it when it is forbidden?” The veteran actress smiled and said that everyone present on the set was left speechless by Bhansali’s sudden scolding, but Salman took it very easily as he understood very well Bhansali’s dedication towards his work. However, such bickering was common during work on the sets, because Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Salman Khan have been very close friends in real life and both deeply respect each other’s art.
Cinema analysts believe that ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ was not just a film, but it gave birth to the most talked about and discussed love affair of the Indian entertainment world. Before this film, both the actors had never shared the screen together full-time. The closeness between Salman Khan and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai grew on the grand sets of this film, decorated in the beautiful palaces of Gujarat and havelis of Rajasthan. While playing the characters of ‘Sameer’ and ‘Nandini’, both of them had become very close to each other in real life. At that time, film magazines and gossip columns were full of stories of their love. The immense love, attraction and yearning that the audience saw on screen was actually a reflection of the real feelings growing in their hearts. This is the reason why every scene of the film touches the hearts of the audience even today.
However, this fairy-tale love story that started on the sets of ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ could not remain happy for long and after a few years, it ended in a very tense, controversial and painful turn. The two parted ways forever and never worked together in a film again. Despite this, whenever we talk about the classic cinema of the late 90s, the magical world of this film, the timeless music of Ismail Darbar, the lyrics of Mehboob and the unmatched chemistry of Salman-Ash are recorded in golden letters in the pages of cinematic history. This anecdote shared by Smita Jayakar is a living proof of the kind of stress, discipline, innocence and memorable moments that lie behind the making of a masterpiece film.