When Mahesh Bhatt yelled ‘who called him’ after deciding to axe scene with Deepak Tijori, told him to pack-up

Deepak Tijori recalled when he convinced Mahesh Bhatt to write his character out of a scene, by using his daughter Shaheen Bhatt as an example.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | February 22, 2023 01:26 PM IST

3 min read

Mahesh Bhatt and Deepak Tijori worked together on several films.

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Actor Deepak Tijori recalled how he got director Mahesh Bhatt to change his mind about a scene in the film Naajayaz, by drawing a comparison between his character and Bhatt’s young daughter Shaheen. He praised the filmmaker for taking his suggestion, and remembered being sent home from set because he was no longer required.

In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Deepak recalled how the incident went down. He said, “One day, I got a call. I was supposed to shoot at Mukesh Mills at 9 in the morning. We had to be there by 8. Those days, we never used to get scripts, so I asked Bhatt saab’s assistant at the time, Milan Luthria, what I was supposed to do. It was a market set, and Gulshan Grover was there. I was under his wing in the film. I had the character graph in me. He told me it’s a murder scene, and me and Gulshan had to kill Ashish Vidyarthi’s character.”

Also read | Deepak Tijori says he didn’t want to work with Shah Rukh Khan in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, got film’s climax changed: ‘Got a lot of gaalis for that’

But Deepak felt that something was off about the scene, and that his character had no reason to be in it. So, he told Mahesh Bhatt his concerns. He said that Ashish Vidyarthi’s character in the film was like family to his character, and he used the example of Bhatt’s daughter Shaheen, who was very young at the time, and the bond she shared with a man named Jagan, who worked with them. “How can I be here, Bhatt saab? Will Shaheen ever accept if Jagan is killed in front of her?” he remembered asking the director.

Bhatt was quiet for a moment, and then he summoned Milan Luthria, whose nickname is Bunty. “Bunty, who the f**k called him? He’s right, how the hell can you get this guy in the scene?” the filmmaker yelled at him, and told Deepak to leave.

In the same interview, Deepak recalled how Bhatt gathered him and Rahul Roy and other actors together, and humorously asked them to decide among themselves who’ll play the lead in Aashiqui.

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