‘Entire theatre clapped when Sanjay Kapoor slapped Madhuri Dixit in Raja,’ recalls Indra Kumar: ‘I thought my career was over when his first film flopped’

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He also added that things were not as smooth as they sound now. He shared, “Just three weeks before the release of Raja, another film of Sanjay Kapoor with Tabu (Prem) had released. But it flopped. People started making fun of me. Even I lost hope. In my mind, I thought, ‘Indra Kumar, consider this your last film. After this, let’s go to Haridwar.'” Explaining his state of mind, Indra Kumar who had just directed the third film of his career, shared, “Now my hero was Sanjay Kapoor, whose previous film flopped so everybody was talking about him. It could have had a bad impact on my film. I lost hope. But, thanks to my stars, and Madhuri Dixit, and Saroj Khan, and my writers, they all saved this film for me.”

Sharing his success moment, the filmmaker said, “When I was watching the movie in Novelty (theatre), the same people who were ridiculing Sanjay Kapoor for his previous film, were clapping for him on the scene where he slaps Madhuri Dixit.” The filmmaker smiled as he shared the incident. He proudly explained, “There is a scene where Madhuri Dixit accuses Sanjay Kapoor’s brother of harassing her, but he slaps her instead and takes his brother’s side. He refuses to believe her. The entire Novelty theatre was clapping. That’s how much power the script holds.”

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The line that Indra Kumar was referring to in his quote was: “Khabardaar jo mere bhai ko pagal kaha aur rahi baat faisle ki toh sun, tujh jaisi 1000 ladkiyan mai qurbaan karta hu apne bhai pe. Samjhi? (Beware anyone who calls my brother mad, and as far as the decision is concerned, listen, I will sacrifice 1000 girls like you for my brother. Understood?)”

Indra Kumar was also a new filmmaker back then who marked his debut with the 1990 film Dil, followed by the 1992 film Beta. Both the films turned out to be commercial hits.

In the same interview, he talked about Sanjay Kapoor not becoming a successful actor. He shared, “Although the film was a great success, it didn’t work in favour of Sanjay Kapoor. I say this to my son too, ‘It doesn’t matter how good you are as an actor, it all depends on your fate and stars. There is a reason certain actors are termed stars. It is because their stars favour them and make them successful. Sanjay Kapoor’s stars were not as powerful. According to me, he did great in movies like Raja. But, it didn’t work for him.”

Sanjay Kapoor got into supporting roles within a decade of his acting career as most of his films flopped at the box office. Eventually, he turned towards production, followed by OTT shows and movies. He reunited with his Raja co-star Madhuri Dixit for the Netflix show, The Fame Game.