28 years back, the romantic thriller, Anjaam, was released on April 22, 1994. The film is remembered fondly today for its melodious songs and because it was the first collaboration of Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit. SRK won the Best Villain award and this was his second consecutive nomination in this category at the Filmfare Awards, after Darr (1993).
Deepak Tijori was also a part of this film and during a recent interaction with NEXSTAR MEDIA, when asked if he regretted doing any film, he replied, “I only regretted doing Anjaam.”
When asked the reason, he explained, “I was not happy with the way it was made and structured. By the time we were in Mauritius, there was a strike here. We were stuck in that country. The script was not ready. The director (Rahul Rawail) started writing a script completely in favour of Madhuri Dixit. He gave a raw deal to my and Shah Rukh Khan’s character. Shah Rukh and I used to wonder, ‘Yeh director kya kar raha hai’. He had our dates and so he was doing whatever he wanted. It was a good opportunity missed. The film did not work. It had great songs and a brilliant star cast, comprising two superstars. Rahul Rawail had always been a great director. I am in love with him for giving films like Dacait (1987), Love Story (1981), Betaab (1983) etc. Hence, when he offered me Anjaam, I was naturally excited. Sadly, everything came crashing.”
Deepak Tijori continued, “Rahul Rawail stopped me in a scene where Shah Rukh Khan beats me in my own house and I hit back. The fight master Tinnu Verma had also approved the shot. Imagine, mere ghar mein meri biwi ko chhed raha hai woh aadmi. Toh ek do baar toh maarunga na? So I tried to attack him. However, the director shouted ‘Cut’. I tried to reason with him. He replied, ‘This is not in your film. Who’s the director?’”
Deepak Tijori sighed, “I have worked with Mahesh Bhatt, Mansoor Khan, Kundan Shah, Abbas-Mustan etc. Whatever suggestion we give as actors is because, that is what we feel while playing the character. We are not puppets. We feel and that is why we act. Hence, if a man comes to my house, makes my wife uncomfortable and tries to hit me, I am going to hit him back. However, the director told me ‘Tu usko maarega hi nahi’. I was like, ‘Aap banao jaisi film aapko banani hai’.
