Decades-long feud between SRK-Sunny traced back to 'Darr' set
A long-standing feud between Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Sunny Deol reportedly originated on the set of Yash Chopra's film Darr. And, now action director Tinu Verma has provided new tidbits. In a recent interview with the YouTube channel Inconversation with Ishan, Verma detailed a tense incident during the shooting of the film's climax scene. The disagreement was about Khan's character, Kiran's (Juhi Chawla) stalker, injuring Deol's character, a trained naval officer in a fight.
Khan refused to stab Deol from the back
Per Verma, Deol insisted that Rahul (Khan) couldn't attack Sunil (Deol) from the front. Khan retorted by saying, "I am not Shakti Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Gulshan Grover that I will attack on the back." The situation on the set escalated in the presence of director Chopra and associate director Aditya Chopra. Deol got so angry that he ripped his pants. "Sunny...had his hands in his pocket, and he pushed his hands so hard that his pants tore," recalled Verma.
Verma's solution to 'Darr' dispute and Khan's determination
This incident led to an immediate pack-up for the day. Following this, Chopra asked Verma to find a resolution as the action director. Verma devised a shot where Deol's character wouldn't see the knife coming and get stabbed in his stomach, thus satisfying both actors' requirements. Verma also highlighted Khan's determination during this incident. He said, "(SRK) was stubborn. He told Yash ji that I won't stab him in the back. It's because of that confident attitude that (he's) Baadshah."
Deol had earlier talked about 'Darr' incident
In an episode of Aap Ki Adalat, Deol shared his perspective on the incident. He said, "I had a heated discussion with (Chopra) regarding that scene. I tried explaining that I'm a commando officer in the film. My character is an expert and fit, then how can this boy beat me easily?" "Soon, out of anger, I didn't even realize that I had ripped my pants with my hands." The incident led to a 16-year silence between Khan and Deol.
This is why Khan, Deol didn't talk for 16 years
The disagreement on the Darr set led to Deol vowing to never be a part of Yash Raj productions and a prolonged cold war with Khan. However, Deol clarified that the silence was not intentional. He stated, "It's not that I didn't talk but I just cut myself off and I anyway don't socialize much. So we never met, toh baat karne ki baat he nahi hai." Darr is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
