Vivek Vaswani recalls how he cast Shah Rukh Khan in Raju Van Gaya Gentleman. SRK said he asked, “Will you launch me?” – Exclusive | Hindi Movie News
Starring Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla Raju Van Gaya Gentleman Last week, 31 years of releases were completed.co-producer of the film Vivek Vaswani Speaking candidly to ETimes, he spoke about his journey in cinema, his chance meeting with Shah Rukh Khan, how he ended up casting SRK in his film and why. RajuDespite being the first film he signed, it turned out to be his fourth release, Juhi Chawla’s first reaction to SRK and more. excerpt:
Tell us about the journey of this film and your first meeting with Shah Rukh Khan.
The journey of this film started a year and a half before the film was released. It was an unexpected journey as I never expected to launch anyone. I had already launched Raveena Tandon in Patal Ke Phool and Salman Khan had become a big star. I think Sippy Saab and I, Ananth Bharani, were preparing to do another film with Salman and Raveena.
The last day of shooting for Patar Ke Phule was Sunday and we were shooting at Linking Road. Sundays are the only day you can go outdoors. I met Shah Rukh at Linking Road when the shooting was going on. There was a hotel called Bandra International behind Lucky Biryani. There was a coffee shop on the first floor with large windows. So you could see my shooting from there. Anant was directing Salman and Raveena.sanjay gupta Sanjay Gadhvi I was among the assistants on set.
It was the last day of the patchwork shoot. I was sitting inside a coffee shop. I met Shah Rukh. We had coffee and cigarettes. He told me that he was staying at Saeed Mirza’s office to shoot a circus. Everything was great.
After packing my things, Anant and everyone came. Sanjay Gupta told me that Shah Rukh is a big star. He does his Faji and has a big fan following. After packing my bags, I headed to the Starling Cinema, which had a new Dolby system. And for the 10:30 p.m. show, they were showing a movie called “The Abyss.” Shah Rukh accompanied me in his father’s Fiat and we both went to Sterling. I’ve been watching Abyss. It was a houseful show, so I bought a black ticket. I bought cigarettes and popcorn. The movie had a long running time and ended at 1am.
Then SRK asked for money…
shah rukh He asked me for 100 rupees as he had to go to Bandra. He had spent everything he had and had no cash. So I told him to get in the car and I would drop him off. However, there was no gasoline in the car. So I said to him, “Let’s go home.” My mother has insomnia. She always wakes up at this time. You borrow 100 rupees from her and go to her Bandra. ” So that night he came to my house. But by chance, my mother was sound asleep that night. So, I told him to stay at my house and go to Bandra the next morning. I made him wear shorts. He stayed at my house for two years.
I went to work in the morning and came back in the evening and he was still sleeping. Her mother said: “He was so tired. I didn’t have the courage to wake him up.” Then I woke him up and made him take a shower. he was a star. He said, “This is a vegetable.” I told him, “I always eat dal chawal on Mondays.” He said, “No.” So I took him to Gaylord and ordered butter chicken. He was emotional that night. He told me that his mother had died. So I told him to stay another night. He stayed there until his marriage. This is the story of Shah Rukh Khan and Vivek Vaswani. But I had no intention of making a movie.
He didn’t want to do movies. He was very happy doing television. After his mother passed away in Delhi after 3-4 months, I went to Delhi where I met Gauri and stayed at his house. He usually called me before he came, but one night he came to my house at 4 o’clock. I asked him to come inside. He said, “My mother has passed away. I’ve done the formalities. Will you launch me? Will you cast me in your movie?” Of course.” He said, “Pere tum boro, nahin to main andar nahin a raha.” He actually took me to a restaurant next to his house. We sat down drinking coffee. Gentleman Raju Van Gaya was born there.
But why did Raju Van Gaya Gentleman become Shah Rukh Khan’s fourth release and not his first?
Aziz Mirza has decided to direct it. We went to his office and sat down with his assistants. I decided to tell a warm story. I was making a film for Shah Rukh. So you have to write only about Shah Rukh, right? What kind of launch film would it be otherwise? The idea was to make him a selling point. So, I took him to Rakesh Roshan in King Uncle, Rajeev Mehra in Chamatkal and Hema Malini in Dil Ashna Hai. I told him: “Once your four films sell for him and all territories sell, then we will start shooting for ‘Raju Van Gaya Gentleman’. So Raju…was the first film, until he couldn’t sell. didn’t want to make the movie, so filming started at the end.”
Rakesh Roshan didn’t need Shah Rukh’s sellability. Hema Malini already had Jeetendra, Mithun Chakraborty and others. Raju needed an element of his salability to work as well…and that’s how it happened. I met Juhi. I told her he was the most handsome boy in the world. Since she lived near my house, she made me meet Shah Rukh. By that time, she had met me and Azeez and wanted to work with us. So everything went well.
Amrita Singh scared me on the first day of shooting. She ran away and married Saif Ali Khan. However, she came back and completed her entire movie and she was very energetic in the movie. The film was a hit and Shah Rukh gained momentum. The purpose was never to make a movie. The goal was always to give him a career. If you cast an actor in a movie, you get a job. But how can you make a movie a hit without proper planning?
Movies become hits when they are backed by a good distribution company and distributed by a strong distribution company. Things like which theater to choose and where to place posters and signage. All of these things put the sales potential element into play. And we did all these things and so did Shah Rukh Khan. I became a star. The strategy was to hit Raju, not because I gave him a break.
Please tell me about the Juhi incident…
First, I met Juhi’s mother Mona Chawla at the Taj. I said, “I’m making a movie with a new boy.” So she said: Juhi has just signed a film contract with a big star. She signed Rishi Kapoor and Bol Radha Bol. Please do not bring new children. Take Aamir Khan instead. ” I told her that GP Sippy was producing the film. Then, as he made Sholay, the whole attitude changed. So she said yes and asked who the new boy was. There I made Juhi meet Shah Rukh. But before that, I had given her a narration about Raju from Aziz. She loved Aziz and her role in the film. She loved everything about that movie.
I don’t think Shah Rukh was a big factor and she wasn’t disappointed in him. She was disappointed that I lied and said that Shah Rukh is the most beautiful boy in the world. So she said, “He’s not the most beautiful boy in the entire universe.” I told her to shoot with her for 2 days and then contact me. So she filmed with him for two days and came back to me and said, “You know what? he’s great ” You have to meet him on set. He’s not handsome. He’s charming. But how should I explain that to her since I also just met him about 6 months ago?
There’s something about Nana Patekar’s salary…
Nana was the biggest star at the time. I paid 300,000 to Juhi and 600,000 to Nana. Nana said to me: “Vivek, I like Aziz. He’s a very good actor. I’ll do the movie. I’ll give you 600,000 yen.”Sippy saab ko jaa ke boro mein, 6 million is liye bola hai kyunki mujhe yeh picture karni hai.Nahin karni hoti toh main 6 million volta”
Tell us about the journey of this film and your first meeting with Shah Rukh Khan.
The journey of this film started a year and a half before the film was released. It was an unexpected journey as I never expected to launch anyone. I had already launched Raveena Tandon in Patal Ke Phool and Salman Khan had become a big star. I think Sippy Saab and I, Ananth Bharani, were preparing to do another film with Salman and Raveena.
The last day of shooting for Patar Ke Phule was Sunday and we were shooting at Linking Road. Sundays are the only day you can go outdoors. I met Shah Rukh at Linking Road when the shooting was going on. There was a hotel called Bandra International behind Lucky Biryani. There was a coffee shop on the first floor with large windows. So you could see my shooting from there. Anant was directing Salman and Raveena.sanjay gupta Sanjay Gadhvi I was among the assistants on set.
It was the last day of the patchwork shoot. I was sitting inside a coffee shop. I met Shah Rukh. We had coffee and cigarettes. He told me that he was staying at Saeed Mirza’s office to shoot a circus. Everything was great.
After packing my things, Anant and everyone came. Sanjay Gupta told me that Shah Rukh is a big star. He does his Faji and has a big fan following. After packing my bags, I headed to the Starling Cinema, which had a new Dolby system. And for the 10:30 p.m. show, they were showing a movie called “The Abyss.” Shah Rukh accompanied me in his father’s Fiat and we both went to Sterling. I’ve been watching Abyss. It was a houseful show, so I bought a black ticket. I bought cigarettes and popcorn. The movie had a long running time and ended at 1am.
Then SRK asked for money…
shah rukh He asked me for 100 rupees as he had to go to Bandra. He had spent everything he had and had no cash. So I told him to get in the car and I would drop him off. However, there was no gasoline in the car. So I said to him, “Let’s go home.” My mother has insomnia. She always wakes up at this time. You borrow 100 rupees from her and go to her Bandra. ” So that night he came to my house. But by chance, my mother was sound asleep that night. So, I told him to stay at my house and go to Bandra the next morning. I made him wear shorts. He stayed at my house for two years.
I went to work in the morning and came back in the evening and he was still sleeping. Her mother said: “He was so tired. I didn’t have the courage to wake him up.” Then I woke him up and made him take a shower. he was a star. He said, “This is a vegetable.” I told him, “I always eat dal chawal on Mondays.” He said, “No.” So I took him to Gaylord and ordered butter chicken. He was emotional that night. He told me that his mother had died. So I told him to stay another night. He stayed there until his marriage. This is the story of Shah Rukh Khan and Vivek Vaswani. But I had no intention of making a movie.
He didn’t want to do movies. He was very happy doing television. After his mother passed away in Delhi after 3-4 months, I went to Delhi where I met Gauri and stayed at his house. He usually called me before he came, but one night he came to my house at 4 o’clock. I asked him to come inside. He said, “My mother has passed away. I’ve done the formalities. Will you launch me? Will you cast me in your movie?” Of course.” He said, “Pere tum boro, nahin to main andar nahin a raha.” He actually took me to a restaurant next to his house. We sat down drinking coffee. Gentleman Raju Van Gaya was born there.
But why did Raju Van Gaya Gentleman become Shah Rukh Khan’s fourth release and not his first?
Aziz Mirza has decided to direct it. We went to his office and sat down with his assistants. I decided to tell a warm story. I was making a film for Shah Rukh. So you have to write only about Shah Rukh, right? What kind of launch film would it be otherwise? The idea was to make him a selling point. So, I took him to Rakesh Roshan in King Uncle, Rajeev Mehra in Chamatkal and Hema Malini in Dil Ashna Hai. I told him: “Once your four films sell for him and all territories sell, then we will start shooting for ‘Raju Van Gaya Gentleman’. So Raju…was the first film, until he couldn’t sell. didn’t want to make the movie, so filming started at the end.”
Rakesh Roshan didn’t need Shah Rukh’s sellability. Hema Malini already had Jeetendra, Mithun Chakraborty and others. Raju needed an element of his salability to work as well…and that’s how it happened. I met Juhi. I told her he was the most handsome boy in the world. Since she lived near my house, she made me meet Shah Rukh. By that time, she had met me and Azeez and wanted to work with us. So everything went well.
Amrita Singh scared me on the first day of shooting. She ran away and married Saif Ali Khan. However, she came back and completed her entire movie and she was very energetic in the movie. The film was a hit and Shah Rukh gained momentum. The purpose was never to make a movie. The goal was always to give him a career. If you cast an actor in a movie, you get a job. But how can you make a movie a hit without proper planning?
Movies become hits when they are backed by a good distribution company and distributed by a strong distribution company. Things like which theater to choose and where to place posters and signage. All of these things put the sales potential element into play. And we did all these things and so did Shah Rukh Khan. I became a star. The strategy was to hit Raju, not because I gave him a break.
Please tell me about the Juhi incident…
First, I met Juhi’s mother Mona Chawla at the Taj. I said, “I’m making a movie with a new boy.” So she said: Juhi has just signed a film contract with a big star. She signed Rishi Kapoor and Bol Radha Bol. Please do not bring new children. Take Aamir Khan instead. ” I told her that GP Sippy was producing the film. Then, as he made Sholay, the whole attitude changed. So she said yes and asked who the new boy was. There I made Juhi meet Shah Rukh. But before that, I had given her a narration about Raju from Aziz. She loved Aziz and her role in the film. She loved everything about that movie.
I don’t think Shah Rukh was a big factor and she wasn’t disappointed in him. She was disappointed that I lied and said that Shah Rukh is the most beautiful boy in the world. So she said, “He’s not the most beautiful boy in the entire universe.” I told her to shoot with her for 2 days and then contact me. So she filmed with him for two days and came back to me and said, “You know what? he’s great ” You have to meet him on set. He’s not handsome. He’s charming. But how should I explain that to her since I also just met him about 6 months ago?
There’s something about Nana Patekar’s salary…
Nana was the biggest star at the time. I paid 300,000 to Juhi and 600,000 to Nana. Nana said to me: “Vivek, I like Aziz. He’s a very good actor. I’ll do the movie. I’ll give you 600,000 yen.”Sippy saab ko jaa ke boro mein, 6 million is liye bola hai kyunki mujhe yeh picture karni hai.Nahin karni hoti toh main 6 million volta”
(Tag Translation) Vivek Vaswani
