Ashutosh Gowariker reveals how he got Aamir Khan-Shah Rukh Khan to share a frame for his directorial debut: ‘We celebrated that night’

But for a scene in his directorial debut, which was headlined by Deepak Tijori, Ashutosh Gowariker got together Aamir, Shah Rukh as well as Saif Ali Khan and Sudesh Berry. In an interview with Indianexpress.com, the filmmaker revealed how the actors, including the two superstars, had unshakable faith in him as a director– even before he became one.

“There is Saif, Rahul Roy, Sudhish Berry in the scene, who all, at that time, had their lead films. That film I wanted to direct. The desire that I wanted to make my debut as a director was a known thing for all these actors. For some strange reason, at that time, they all felt, ‘Tu achcha director banega!’ Be it Aamir or Shah Rukh or anyone else, they had that belief.

“So when this came about, that I am going to do my debut, they all were so happy. The feeling was, ‘Yaar Ashu ki pehli picture hai so we must be a part of it.’So they came in good camaraderie,” the director recalled.

The said scene is a cheeky award sequence, where the stars are playing themselves and reference their own films. Shah Rukh greets Deepak and tells him, “Tumne toh Chamatkar kardiya, Gentleman. Main toh tumhara Deewana hogaya,” while Aamir adds, “Lekin lekin lekin Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar.”

Ashutosh Gowariker, who is currently seen on Netflix’s survival drama series Kaala Paani, spilled the beans on how it was a role reversal for him– from working with Aamir and Shah Rukh as co-stars to now directing them on the sets of Pehla Nasha. The filmmaker later went on to direct Aamir and Shah Rukh in feature films, Lagaan and Swades, respectively.

“It was fun shooting that sequence. We shot that scene and celebrated that night! Juhi was someone who comes only in the last scene of the film, but she was also a part of the movie. With all of them, I had also done films as a co-actor. So it was a great experience later directing them. That bonding was different. Because here I was doing films with them as an actor but later I was telling them what to do!” the director recalled.

Kaala Paani sees Ashutosh return to acting. The show follows the lives of people trapped on an island, with no way to escape. Produced by Posham Pa Pictures, the series is directed by Sameer Saxena and Amit Golani, with screenplay by Biswapati Sarkar, Amit Golani, Sandeep Saket and Nimisha Misra.

The survival drama also stars Mona Singh, Amey Wagh, Sukant Goel, Vikas Kumar, Arushi Sharma, Radhika Mehrotra, Chinmay Mandlekar, and Poornima Indrajith.