21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Shah Rukh Khan replaced Armaan Kohli in Deewana, says Guddu Dhanoa: ‘He didn't even know, I had already signed him'
Shah Rukh Khan is one of the biggest superstars in the country today. And the actor has had quite an interesting story to stardom. In 1989, SRK featured in two television shows – Fauji and Circus, and those seem to pave the way for him to enter Bollywood. In 1992, producer Guddu Dhanoa signed him for his first film, Deewana, which featured SRK alongside Rishi Kapoor and Divya Bharti. Recently, in an exclusive conversation with SCREEN, Deewana's producer Guddu Dhanoa recalled how he signed SRK for the part, and spoke about their very first meeting in Delhi.
Guddu said, 'Armaan Kohli was in that film; however, he left the film, and it was Shekhar Kapur who suggested Shah Rukh Khan's name to me. We were going to Madras to see the effects of the film Anjali, that's when he told me to sign SRK, and I was like, 'Who is Shah Rukh Khan?' So he asked me if I had seen Fauji and Circus. I had seen the shows, but I couldn't recall his face.'
Also Read: Anubhav Sinha says working with Shah Rukh Khan made him feel like a 'kid lost in a candy store': 'He's so middle-class it's not funny'
'Once we returned from Madras, I called Shah Rukh and he asked us to come to Delhi. We met at a restaurant at Connaught Palace, he exactly entered the place at noon, and I was asking the film's director Raj Kanwar at that time who SRK was, I still couldn't remember his face till then. And when he entered, just at his first glimpse, I locked him for Deewana. He didn't even know I had already signed him, I didn't know if he would say yes to me doing the film, I just finalized him. I waved at him, he came and sat down, and we spoke further. When I saw him for the first time, I just thought he was fantastic. He was so perfect for the film, ' Guddu Dhanoa added.
A post shared by Shah Rukh Khan (@srkking555)
Talking about how Shah Rukh Khan has not changed a bit, Guddu said, 'He has not changed even a bit since then. There are a lot of people whose behaviour is different when they are new, and later, once they become stars, they change drastically. Shah Rukh never changed.'
Guddu Dhanoa has worked with the biggest of names in Indian cinema, namely Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Priyanka Chopra, Tabu, Raveena Tandon, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Ajay Devgn, etc. He also produced the very first film of singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh.
On the work front, he has now returned as a director for Romeo S3, the film stars Thakur Anoop Singh and Palak Tiwari in the lead roles. In another interview, Guddu also confirmed that he is making a sequel to SRK's film Deewana; the film is currently in the scripting stage.
Nawaz Kochra is an enthusiastic entertainment journalistic for the last 9 years, he has been a known face and successfully worked with some big publications. At Nawaz majorly covers TV and OTT and also does video interviews. Having the best conversations with celebrities is what Nawaz loves. ... Read More
