Sunil Dutt walked off set in anger as Yash Johar could arrange only 99 camels instead of 100: ‘He said pack-up and…’

During the shoot of his 1971 film Reshma Aur Shera, Sunil Dutt asked production controller Yash Johar to arrange for 100 camels. When Johar could bring only 99 camels, Dutt walked off the film's set.

Sunil Dutt in a still from Reshma Aur Shera. (Express archive photo)

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Late filmmaker-actor-politician Sunil Dutt was a strict taskmaster and it is evident from a recent anecdote that Karan Johar narrated from the sets of the 1971 film Reshma Aur Shera. Dutt was the star of the film, and also the director. It also starred Waheeda Rehman, Amitabh Bachchan, Raakhee, Ranjeet, and Amrish Puri, among others. Karan’s late father and producer, Yash Johar was the production controller on the film.

During the shoot of Reshma Aur Shera, Dutt asked Johar that he needed 100 camels for a scene. Karan recalled during an interaction with Film Companion, “Dutt sahab told my father overnight that for Reshma Aur Shera, he wanted 100 camels. My father was a production controller so he was given these requirements. Overnight, he went to the nearby villages and got the camels. They weren’t 100.”

An ‘exhausted’ and ‘sleep-deprived’ Yash Johar went to Dutt and told him he couldn’t arrange 100 camels, but they were 99. “He told him, ‘Dutt sahab, I am sorry. I couldn’t get you 100 camels. But I could get you 99.’ Dutt sahab looked at him and said ‘Pack up’ and walked off. He was serious because they weren’t 100 but 99 camels,” shared Karan.

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Also read | Kishore Kumar, the reluctant actor: Eccentric genius who ‘screamed, ranted, pretended to be crazy’ to avoid acting

Reshma Aur Shera was selected as the Indian submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for the year 1971. The film was also nominated for the Golden Bear at the 22nd Berlin International Film Festival. The film also won three National Awards. Waheeda received the National Award for Best Actor in the film.

It was the first film that Amitabh Bachchan shot for, but it was released after Saat Hindustani which became the actor’s debut film.

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