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Shahid Kapoor urged Sooraj Barjatya to fire him from Vivah after he delivered three flops in one month with Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, and Sanjay Dutt

Shahid Kapoor recalled how Sooraj Barjatya firmly stood by him, even when he himself requested to be replaced in Vivah after delivering three consecutive flops in a month.

“My love for Sooraj Barjatya is undying,” Shahid Kapoor recently said, as he opened up about his deep admiration for the filmmaker. He recalled how Barjatya firmly stood by him, even when Shahid himself asked to be replaced in Vivah after he had delivered three consecutive flops in a month. However, Barjatya believed in Shahid and didn’t waver.

Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, Shahid shared, “I remember when I did Vivah, I had three flops in one month. I remember we shot Vivah for 8-9 days when my films flopped and I went and told Sooraj Barjatya that he can replace me if he wants. Why would anyone want to work with me because I had given three flops in a month. And one of the flops was with Sanjay Dutt, other was with Ajay Devgn and another was with Akshay Kumar – all were big stars and I thought I only must have some bad luck.”

The films Shahid referred to were Deewane Huye Paagal, Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!, and Shikhar, all of which underperformed at the box office. However, despite the setbacks, Sooraj Barjatya had complete faith in him.

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Sharing how Barjatya rubbished his ask to replace him, Shahid said, “But Sooraj ji told me, ‘If you know what to do in front of the camera, just do that and leave the rest to me’ and Vivah was my biggest hit at that time. He backed me and he had faith in me at that time. So that will always be my best memory of Sooraj Barjatya and Vivah.”

Vivah, which also starred Amrita Rao in the lead role, emerged as one of the highest-grossing films of 2006, pulling Shahid out of a career slump. A year later, he starred in Imtiaz Ali’s Jab We Met, a massive success that went on to become a cult classic.

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