When Sunny Deol stopped father Dharmendra from doing Anurag Kashyap’s film, told him point-blank: ‘Deols don’t die’

Anurag Kashyap recalled his meeting with 'cute' Dharmendra, and how they couldn't work together on an unconventional film because Sunny Deol stepped in and pulled the plug on it.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | Updated: February 8, 2023 10:27 AM IST

3 min read

Anurag Kashyap had pitched an idea to Dharrmendra in the '90s.

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Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap revealed that he once pitched an idea to Dharmendra, which was received very well by the legendary star, but he was forbidden from doing the movie by his son Sunny Deol. Sunny, who was probably the biggest Bollywood action hero of that time, declared that ‘Deols don’t die’, which suggests that Dharmendra’s character would have died in the climax of Anurag’s story.

In an interview with YouTuber Samdish Bhatia, Anurag was asked if he has ever met Dharmendra. The filmmaker said that they’ve interacted many times, and said that Dharmendra is ‘cute’. He said, “Bohot sweet hain aur bohot cute hain. Unse mila tha, film leke gaya tha, career ki shuruat mein, bohot pehle. Bohot khush hogaye, bole, ‘Beta, bohot time hogaya hai mere mooh pe makeup nahi lagaya. Bohot achi kahani hai tumhari, karte hain.’ Phir Sunny ne suni, Sunny ne mana kar diya. Bola, ‘Mere papa yeh film nahi karenge.’ Maine poocha kyun, bola, ‘Deols don’t die’ (He’s very cute. I’d met him in the ’90s, at the start of my career. I’d gone to meet him with a film. He liked it a lot, he told me that it had been so long since he’d done a role that didn’t require makeup. But Sunny told him not to do it. I asked him why, he said, ‘Deols don’t die’). This is a fact.”

Also read | Producer recalls Sunny Deol’s ‘suspicious’ intentions, accuses him of refusing to return signing fee for a film he didn’t do

Asked if he felt bad at the rejection, Anurag said, “I’m talking way back, in the 90s… Sunny ji humare agle generation ke favourite actor they na… Unhone bol diya toh bol diya (Sunny was the next big thing, what he said was final). And also, the belief system was such, if the hero dies in the film, the film flops.”

In the same interview, Anurag revealed that he was kicked out of Salman Khan’s Tere Naam as writer and director after he told the actor to not shave his chest for the role. He said that later, the producer came and reprimanded him for having made such a suggestion, and removed him from the project.

Anurag’s new film, Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat, was released in theatres last week. Sunny was last seen in Chup: Revenge of the Artist. Three generations of Deols will unite on screen in the upcoming Apne 2.

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