Suneel Darshan recalled how he took a risk by casting Akshay Kumar in his 1999 film Jaanwar when the Bollywood star was undergoing a dull phase in his career after a string of flops.
With a career spanning over three decades, and marked with several memorable roles and numerous awards, Akshay Kumar is one of the biggest superstars in Bollywood. However, there was a time in the late 1990s where the actor underwent a challenging phase in his career when the industry lost faith in him after his films tanked at the box office.
In a interview with Friday Talkies, filmmaker Suneel Darshan recalled the time when nobody wanted to work with Akshay Kumar. He said that while the actor’s punctuality made a strong impression on him, there was another side to consider.
Suneel told the channel, “He had had many flops during that time and many of his prominent films had been halted midway. Like Hera Pheri, the film was shot 90 percent and then it was blocked. Dhadkan, four reels were made but it was also halted.”
The filmmaker then went on to narrate how he took a risk by casting him in his 1999 film Jaanwar as he felt there was something special about the actor despite his box office duds.
Suneel said that when he signed Akshay for Jaanwar, he told the actor that work will only happen on his terms. Later, when he chose Karisma Kapoor as the female lead, he was quite upfront with her about casting Akshay opposite him.
He said, “I told Karisma that there will be two problems. One is that I won’t be able to pay you as much money as you get from others. And the second thing is that Akshay is the hero. She said no problem, you company is our company. Her mom Babita also said that we would love to keep working with you.”
Suneel shared how at that time, Akshay’s career was in a ‘bad condition’ with no distributor even wanting to touch his film. He said that despite the lack of support within the industry, he believed in Akshay’s potential and decided to put everything on the line for him.
Further, he also narrated how Akshay Kumar almost had tears in his eyes when the actor, after a flop film, confided in him about a hurtful experience with a producer
“Akshay came to me and he almost had tears in his eyes. He told me that he had asked another producer why they hadn’t put up a banner of his film and they told him ‘tumhari aukkaat nahi hai ki tumhari film ka banner lagaya jaaye.’ I got nervous looking at his nervous face. I got the biggest banner in Juhu with just Akshay’s face on it. The man who was a liability for everyone, I knew he would be my asset,” Darshan said in his interview,
In the same interview, Suneel also recounted a memorable moment from a party where Yash Chopra told him that post Jaanwar‘s success in Bihar, he can make even Lalu Prasad Yadav lose in that state.
He said, “Jaanwar was the biggest blockbuster in Bihar’s history and in 25 centers, the film worked for 100 days.”
Jaanwar follows the story of a ruthless criminal who mends his ways after coming across an abandoned child, only for his dark past to catch up with him. Besides Karisma Kapoor, the film also starred Shilpa Shetty.
