Rajpal Yadav recalls getting Rs 26,000 haircut, only for Priyadarshan to have a fit on set: ‘They put a katora on my head and cut it all off’

Rajpal Yadav recalled a humorous anecdote about how director Priyadarshan reacted to his expensive haircut when he showed up to set on Chup Chup Ke.

3 min readNew DelhiJun 27, 2023 12:08 PM IST

Rajpal Yadav in a still from Chup Chup Ke.

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Rajpal Yadav recalls getting Rs 26,000 haircut, only for Priyadarshan to have a fit on set: ‘They put a katora on my head and cut it all off’

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Actor Rajpal Yadav has a longstanding working relationship with director Priyadarshan, and in a new interview, he recalled a humorous anecdote about what happened when he showed up to set with an unusually expensive haircut. In a chat with The Lallantop, Rajpal said that Priyadarshan’s working style is unfussy, and that the filmmaker has a rapid turnaround time. Which is why, when he was summoned for 40 days, Rajpal thought that he’d made it.

The year was 2004 and the movie was Chup Chup Ke. Rajpal said that he received a phone call from Priyadarshan, who said that he needed him for 40 days. Rajpal was convinced that this was the role that would catapult him to the next level, as he knew that Priyadarshan never wastes time on set, and gets hassled when actors stick around even after they’ve been told to pack up.

Also read | Rajpal Yadav reveals his first wife died during childbirth when he was 20: ‘I was supposed to meet her but I carried her body on my shoulders’

And so, Rajpal went to celebrity hairdresser Aalim Hakim to get a proper haircut. It took for hours and four assistants, and the bill came to Rs 26,000. He continued in Hindi, “I landed in Goa, went to the set. I was feeling so confident because of my new haircut, and then, I saw Priyadarshan looking at me and swearing under his breath. He was gesturing towards me and complaining about something to his assistants. He called me over, and told the assistants to take me away. I swear to you, they put a ‘katora (bowl)’ on my head and cut all my hair off.”

He added, “If you watch Chup Chup Ke now, you’ll see. Aalim didn’t take money for that haircut, I kept insisting, because the production would’ve paid for it, but he didn’t. He was shocked to see me when I returned to Mumbai.”

Rajpal has worked with Priyadarshan on films such as Hungama and Garam Masala. Most recently, he also appeared in the poorly received sequel Hungama 2. Chup Chup Ke starred Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Paresh Rawal and Suniel Shetty.

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