Popular 90s star Deepak Tijori recalled the time he was offered Baazigar before it landed in Shah Rukh Khan’s kitty. For the unversed, Baazigar released in 1993. The movie, directed by director duo Mustan-Abbas, was said to be an unofficial remake of A Kiss Before Dying and was a landmark film in Shah Rukh’s career. The film marked Shilpa Shetty’s acting debut and also starred Kajol in the lead. In an interview last year, Deepak said that he had given the director duo the idea to remake the film.
However, in a new interview, Deepak clarified that he was never offered Baazigar. He added that he was doing a separate film with the director duo at the time. “In our trade, in our business, we don’t hang on to things. We move on, we let things go. So whatever really happened, it wasn’t like I was offered, I was simultaneously making another set up with the same directors. But things went haywire. I believe no matter what, it’s just a matter of time and a matter of work, my actual work starts now. So I think the better of me will be seen now,” he told Zoom TV.
In an interview with Bollywood Hungama last year, Deepak claimed he had watched A Kiss Before Dying and told the story to Abbas-Mastan. They loved the film and he suggested they remake it for Bollywood. “I said I want to play this bad guy because A Kiss Before Dying was about Matt Dillon being a bad guy,” he said last year.
However, he later realised that the filmmakers were making the film with SRK and was shocked. He reached out to Shah Rukh, who was his friend at the time, and asked him not sign the film. “When I met Abbas-Mustan, they told me, ‘Deepak ji galti ho gayi hai (We have made a mistake) We will compensate. We will do something together in the future,” he said. Deepak hinted that he was not compensated.
Baazigar went on to become a blockbuster. Shah Rukh went on to do a string of grey characters in films such as Darr and Anjaam. Speaking with NDTV in 2017, he revealed the reason he signed these films was because other actors were turning down these roles.
“The reasons I agreed to do roles which the other guys were saying no to (for whatever their mindset was), a Darr or a Baazigar, was because I thought I’m not good-looking enough to be a hero, so let me just get a villain’s job. I didn’t do it because I was gutsy or because I knew I could pull it off, I’m such a great actor,” he said at the time.
Coincidentally, SRK and Deepak worked together in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, which released in 1994. Besides that, Deepak was seen in films such as Aashiqui, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Sadak, Khiladi and the famous Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. He turned director with films such as Khamoshh… Khauff Ki Raat, Fareb, and Tom, Dick, and Harry.
He will now be seen in Tipppsy.
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