Dilip Kumar, Raaj Kumar did ‘childish things’ on Saudagar sets, recalls Vivek Mushran: ‘Aaj maine usko ignore kiya…’

Veteran actors late Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar did ‘childish things’ on the sets of their film Saudagar, actor Vivek Mushran has recalled. Taking a trip down memory lane, as Saudagar clocked 30 years, Vivek narrated an incident that took place between the actors refuting rumours that ‘there was anything major’.

Directed by Subhash Ghai, Saudagar released in 1991 featuring Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar in the leading roles. It was their second film together after Paigham (1959). Saudagar was also the debut film of Vivek Mushran and Manisha Koirala.

Speaking on rumours of spat between the two veteran actors on the Saudagar sets, Vivek told Indian Express, “Since Raaj ji kept to himself most of the time, there must have been some instance where Dilip ji greeted him and he didn’t realise. Then later Dilip ji told Subhash Ghai, ‘Lalle aaj maine bhi usko ignore kiya, toh usne hello bola (I ignored him today so he said ‘Hello’).” They did such childish things on the set. I don’t think there was anything major…The mastery of Subhash ji was how he handled these two great actors. It’s not easy to have such big people in a single project. You have to treat them with a lot of care, and yet manage to get great performances out of everyone. Every filmmaker cannot do that.”

Recalling Dilip Kumar on he sets of Saudagar, he said, “Dilip saab was a very people’s man. He used to go on walks in between shoot, and needed company, so he dragged me along. We were filming in Manali. He took his cook everywhere and got him to prepare meals for the entire crew. Then he used to sit down to share stories about his life and career. He was a very good talker and liked to be around people.”

In a 2018 interview with Hindustan Times, Vivek had said, “I feel people got stuck with my ilu ilu image from Subhash Ghai’s Saudagar. They still remember me from that, though it’s encouraging in a way. Even youngsters and kids, who were not born then, whenever they see me, they mention that [song]. That chocolate boy image was so strong that it stayed on, which is good also but the other side of it is that people don’t see you doing other roles. I am happy that it’s finally changing.”

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Saudagar also featured several other actors such as Amrish Puri, Anupam Kher, Mukesh Khanna, Dalip Tahil, Gulshan Grover, Dina Pathak and Jackie Shroff.