Why Sunny Deol Didn’t Speak To Shah Rukh Khan For 16 Years

Mumbai: Did you know that Sunny Deol and Shah Rukh Khan didn’t speak to each other for 16 years after the release of ‘Darr’?

Sunny played the role of traditional hero in the 1993 Yash Chopra movie — which was promoted as a violent love story — while Shah Rukh Khan was the anti-hero and Juhi Chawla played the female lead.

There had been rumours that all was not well with Sunny and Shah Rukh. But it was during an appearance in the TV show Aap Ki Adalat many years later that Sunny opened up on how he was upset at the way his character was portrayed in the film, while Shah Rukh’s Rahul Mehra dominated.

Sunny recounted the disagreements he had with Chopra on the sets of the film, especially regarding the climax where Shah Rukh stabs Sunny’s commando character.

“I had a heated discussion with Yash Chopra regarding that scene. I tried explaining that I am a commando officer in the film. My character is an expert and fit, then how can this boy beat me easily? He can beat me if I can’t see him. If he can stab me while I am looking at him, then I won’t be called a commando,” Sunny recalled during the programme.

Chopra ignored Sunny’s viewpoint, prompting Dharmendra’s son to rip off his pant in anger.

“Soon, out of anger, I didn’t even realise that I had ripped my pants with my hands,” Sunny said.

He admitted that he and Shah Rukh didn’t speak for 16 years thereafter, but it wasn’t deliberate. “It’s not that I didn’t talk, but I just cut myself off and I anyway don’t socialise much. So we never met, toh baat karne ki baat he nahi hai,” he recalled.

At the time of the film’s release, Sunny was at the peak of his career while Shah Rukh was still establishing himself.

“My issue with the film was that I did not know they would glorify the villain,” Sunny had said in another interview.