Veer Zaara shall always remain one of the most timeless romantic classics of Yash Chopra. With Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta in the lead, the surprising element was probably the casting of Manoj Bajpayee in the film. In a recent interview, as quoted on a leading entertainment platform, Manoj Bajpayee spoke at length about his experience working with the maestro and the superstar on set.
He was quoted “No offence to him (Shah Rukh), but I did this film because Mr Yash Chopra called me up and requested me to be a part of it. He was a big fan of my performance in Pinjar and once he saw the film in Delhi with Lal Krishna Advani ji, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji, he was thoroughly impressed with my performance. That’s when he thought of offering me this role.” He went on to elaborate on how he was treated warmly on the sets even though it was a shoot for only four-five days.
Speaking about reuniting with Shah Rukh Khan again, he said “Shah Rukh, I have known for many years from my days in Delhi, so it was also a chance to catch up. Because we don’t meet up, we belong to two different kinds of films and filmmaking. So, it was a chance to catch up with him and also enjoy being on the sets of Mr Yash Chopra, who had been such a magnificent, successful mainstream director for so many years. We grew up watching his films! We used to chat for long, both Yash ji and me. He was very clear in telling me, ‘I don’t make films for an actor like you, so I don’t think I would have anything else in the future, but this is very good and it will be great if you agree to do it.’ He was such a humble man.”
On the work front, Manoj Bajpayee just had his film Gulmohar have an OTT release and it has received rave reviews.
