Juhi Chawla refused to shoot kissing scene with Sunny Deol again, recalls Suneel Darshan: ‘As per contract, I’ll do only one kiss’

“There was a beach song in which she had to just wear a shirt and get wet — ‘Main Teri Rani Tu Raja’. So, there were some reservations. Meanwhile, Divya Bharti was emerging. She was very keen. She wanted to be a part of the movie. But I felt she didn’t fit the role. So, Juhi qualified in the heads of both Dharmesh and me. Then Juhi came onboard,” added Suneel.

Suneel Darshan explained how Juhi Chawla had the image of a girl-next-door, and it was tricky to showcase her as a sex symbol in Lootere. “Juhi was convinced, but also confused. It feels like nadaaniyan today, but there’s a very cute instance that happened. When we narrated her the film and signed the contract, there was a key lip-to-lip kissing sequence between Juhi and Sunny. So, the first time we tried to shoot that scene, we saved it for the end. We’d erected a set outdoors, but realized that day that Juhi was missing,” recalled Suneel.

Suneel claimed Juhi had used the shoot of another film in Udaipur as an excuse to chicken out of the shoot that day. But Suneel insisted that they complete the shoot later since it was important for “the walls of inhibitions between them to get dismantled.” He claimed that the kissing scene was key to the story, and wasn’t there for only sensationalizing.

Suneel suggested Dharmesh to shoot the kissing scene using multiple cameras so that it’s captured in a single take. As soon as the scene got over, Juhi wore a robe and headed back. But the makers felt the scene warranted a retake. So, Suneel approached Juhi and informed her. “Mr. Darshan, as per contract, I was supposed to do one kiss. I’ve done that already,” Juhi told Suneel.

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“It feels like childishness today, but it was very sweet. So, we never shot a retake but retained the first take in the final cut. It’s a remarkable film in Juhi’s career. The whole film revolves around Juhi. It was a big thing to have a heroine-centric film that had a hero at that time,” said Suneel.