Sharmila Tagore recalls Shatrughan Sinha being ‘notoriously’ late during Dostana: ‘Bachchan’s car would leave, and Shatrughan would enter’

At the fourth edition of SCREEN Live, Sharmila Tagore recalled Shatrughan Sinha's habit of being late to film sets.

Chennai | December 16, 2024 07:53 PM IST

2 min read

Sharmila Tagore talks about Shatrughan Sinha's habit of being late on set. (Express photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

The fourth edition of SCREEN Live saw legendary actor Sharmila Tagore sharing fascinating anecdotes from her illustrious career. During the interaction, she recalled Shatrughan Sinha’s habit of being late to film sets. She cited the example of the 1980 film Dostana, in which Shatrughan starred alongside Amitabh Bachchan, known for his unwavering punctuality. The contrasting personalities of the two actors made the film’s production particularly challenging for director Raj Khosla, who, as Sharmila quipped, “lost all his hair” during the making of the movie.

Sharmila reminisced, “After Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan was the only actor who came on time. So, Dostana starred Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, and Zeenat Aman. Shatrughan Sinha was notorious for being late—he was late to his own wedding, and as a parliamentarian, he was late. He is biologically incapable of being on time. For that film, the shift was from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and at exactly 2 p.m., Mr. Bachchan’s car would leave, and Shatrughan Sinha’s car would enter.”

She added, “You can imagine Raj Khosla lost all his hair during the making of the film. You won’t find all three—Amitabh, Shatrughan, and Zeenat—in one frame. Of course, Zeenat adjusted her schedule to accommodate both their timings. For most scenes, the director had to use a body double for shots, filming from behind with the duplicate’s head visible from the back. Shatrughan used to do it for fun; he wasn’t a tormentor—he was a wonderful person. He simply didn’t have the genes to be on time.”

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Dostana also featured Prem Chopra, Amrish Puri, Helen, and Pran in supporting roles. The film was a superhit at the box office, becoming the fourth-highest grosser of 1980.

As for Sharmila Tagore, she is set to appear next on the big screen in Sunil Sukthankar’s Outhouse, scheduled to hit screens this Friday.

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