Ravi Dewan on Raaj Kumar and Dilip Kumar's ‘cold war' on the sets of Saudagar: ‘Raaj kept looking in the opposite direction'
In an episode of Sutradhar with Vineet Rai, Ravi Dewan was asked how Raaj Kumar and Dilip Kumar were on the sets of Saudagar. He recalled that Raaj Kumar often did many 'funny' things during filming. For instance, when Dilip Kumar was shooting a death scene, and Raaj had no shot scheduled, he placed his chair just eight feet away and kept looking in the opposite direction while everyone else was focused on watching Dilip prepare.
Ravi Dewan also shared another incident from the shooting of Saudagar at a hill station, where many couples would visit the sets to meet the actors and take pictures with them. On one such occasion, while Dilip Kumar was surrounded by a huge crowd, Raaj Kumar did something rather unusual.
'Raaj Kumar took a chair and sat in one foot of water at a nearby waterfall. After a long time, director Subhash Ghai approached him and asked why he was sitting there, as the water was cold. Raaj Kumar replied, 'Yahan photo kheenchne koi nahi aayega (No one will come here to take photos),'' shared Ravi Dewan.
Speaking about Amrish Puri, known for playing memorable villains in many films, Ravi Dewan highlighted his 'soft' nature off-screen. Recalling one scene, Dewan said it was planned for Amrish Puri's character to be tied to a rope and pulled. While the first take went smoothly, Raaj Kumar, being a senior actor on set, insisted on retaking the shot, and had it done multiple times.
Ravi Dewan added that Raaj Kumar seemed to enjoy tormenting his co-stars on set. He recalled the shoot of a punch scene with Amrish Puri where Raaj would deliberately land a hard blow.
For the unversed, the famous rivalry began when Raaj Kumar slapped Dilip Kumar too hard while filming a scene for Ramanand Sagar's 1959 film Paigham. The incident created a rift between the two actors, prompting Dilip Kumar to vow never to work with his contemporaries again. Despite their animosity, Raaj Kumar and Dilip Kumar went on to deliver powerful performances in Saudagar, which became a commercial success.
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