09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Dimple Kapadia said if you call me ‘aunty', I will quit Dil Chahta Hai, recalls Farhan Akhtar: ‘It might look rude if I called her…'
When Farhan Akhtar was making his first film Dil Chahta Hai, he had managed to rope in a mix of the most popular and talented actors of that time. Aside from casting Aamir Khan, Akshaye Khanna and Saif Ali Khan, Farhan managed to bring in veteran actor Dimple Kapadia in one of the most significant roles in the film. Since Dimple was 16 years older than Farhan, and had a lot of seniority over him in terms of their career in the movies, Farhan couldn't decide how to address her, and this confusion went on even after they started shooting.
In a chat at the Waves Summt 2025, Farhan said that he found it odd to address her by her name as that might look rude, but at the same time, he knew that calling her 'Dimple aunty' would upset her, so he was caught in a fix. 'When Dimple arrived on the set… So I had spoken to her, I had cast her in the film but the one thing I had not done was that I had not called her anything because I can't call her Dimple aunty, she would get very upset and I can't call her Dimple because I thought she might feel that I am being too rude so I would just say 'ji ji, yes yes, okay okay, yes ma'am',' he recalled.
Farhan shared that after a couple of days, Dimple started to notice this and asked him why he wasn't addressing her properly. 'When we working also, we started work and if I had to call her, I couldn't say 'call Dimple', so I would say 'are you ready ma'am? Please come.' So after 2-3 days, she asked, 'why are you not calling me by my name?' I said, 'I don't know what to call you'. She said, 'you better call me Dimple. if Dimple aunty comes out of your mouth, I am leaving this film,' he shared with a laugh and called her an 'amazing person to work with.'
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In 2021, on the 20th anniversary of the film, Farhan shared a special note for his cast and crew members on social media. Here, he shared that he would have scrapped the film if Dimple refused to be a part of it. 'I think if you had said no, I'd probably have had to scrap making the film. Tara was written for you and thank my lucky stars that you said yes. Forever grateful,' he shared on X.
