This actress once romanced a hero whom she called uncle in real life uncle, film became a superhit.., the actress is..,the film is…

India.com

25-05-2025

This actress once romanced a hero whom she called uncle in real life uncle, film became a superhit.., the actress is.., the film is…
In the glitzy and glamorous world of Bollywood, there is often a lot that happens than what meets the eye. While we only witness the on-screen romance of actors that steals our hearts, there is often something hidden behind the scenes that makes it to the silver screen. One such tale is of the times from 1977 when a young actress romanced a much older hero on screen, but in reality, she used to refer to him as 'Uncle'.
This ironic story is of none other than Neetu Kapoor. During the shoot of the film Dharam Veer, Neetu Kapoor, the lead actor, and Jeetendra. The film featured iconic actors like Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman as other leads. Neetu Kapoor was 17 years younger than Jeetendra and always referred to him as 'uncle' in real life.
Before making her debut as the main lead, Neetu Kapoor had already acted opposite Jeetendra in the 1969 movie Waaris, in which she played a small part of a girl who called him 'uncle' in a quite natural manner. So, whenever she had to shoot as a romantic pair with him later, it was quite a peculiar and mildly uncomfortable circumstance. He had to tell her that she needed to be more professional, particularly because the distributors would not like the correlation if they knew that she called him 'uncle'.
There is an absolute chain of age difference between the male and female leads, and the audience doesn't seem to care at all because the roles are perfectly presented. The audience's acceptance of such portrayals is peculiar, as were the stark age gaps and unusual dynamics in real relationships. Neetu worked splendidly with Jeetendra, and even though their relationship off-screen was much more paternal, the film Dharam Veer was a success because of the on-screen portrayal.
Not only did the film do extraordinarily well at the box office in India, but it was also incredibly popular in other parts of the world, where more than 3 crore tickets were sold. While people appreciated the captivating plot and stunning visuals, very few noticed the odd facts about the film's production.
Such narratives talk about the sheer professionalism and impeccable acting of the celebrities that did not transcend their real-life relationship on the reel screen.