Jugal Hansraj, in a new interview, shared that he had initially turned down Masoom as he was scared of being called a ‘crybaby’ at school.
Jugal Hansraj made his big screen debut as a child artiste in Shekhar Kapur’s 1983 domestic drama Masoom in which he shared screen space with acting stalwarts, Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi. The actor impressed the audience and critics alike with his impressive performance as Rahul.
But do you folks know that Jugal had initially rejected this film when it was offered to him. The actor believed that his character was shown to be crying a lot in Masoom. Jugal feared that the kids at school would call him a ‘crybaby’.
In an interview with YouTuber Sal Ahmed, the Mohabbatein actor shared, “When I heard the story, I thought this kid cries a lot in the film. Everyone in my school would laugh at me and call me a crybaby. And I said no. But Shekhar was insistent that he wants me in the film.”
One day, Shekhar Kapur took Jugal for one of the music recording sessions where composer RD Burman was working on the songs of the film. That day, Jugal was convinced that he wanted to be a part of this movie.
“I thought this was so much fun, and films are fun and I should do this. I was a kid and I actually had a lot of fun,” the actor recalled in his interview.
Made in 50 days in a small budget, Masoom is considered to be one of Shekhar Kapur’s best directorial works. It is still remembered for its hit songs like ‘Lakdi Ki Kathi’, ‘Tujhse Naraz Nahi Zindagi’, among others.
The film, an adaptation of Eric Segal”s novel ‘Man, Woman and Child’ revolves around DK Malhotra (Naseeruddin Shah) whose domestic life goes through turbulent times when he brings home his illegitimate son after a brief fling.
