Who can forget Bobby Deol in the 90s’ hit Soldier, swaying his wavy hair and grooving to the movie’s smash song ‘Nayyo Nayyo’? Bobby’s career took off after he made his screen debut in Barsaat and then with Abbas Mustan’s Soldier. But the director team revealed in a recent interview that although Bobby was keen to take on the role in Soldier, his father, veteran actor Dharmendra, insisted on seeing the script before he could give his blessing.
Sharing the anecdote, Abbas Mustan said, “Bobby signed the film with a lot of excitement. Dharmendra ji called us home and said, ‘Mera beta newcomer hai. Iski pehli film aa chuki hai. Aap log Soldier direct kar rahe hai par iski kahani mein sunuga (My son is a newcomer in the film industry. He is just one-film-old. You guys are directing Soldier, but I will hear the film’s story).”
Sharing the same, Abbas said, “The film had a of turn and twists in the plotline. In the film, we projected Dalip Tahil as his father and in a scene, Bobby comes and shoots him. Listening (to) this scene, Dharmendra ji immediately got up from his seat and said, ‘Marne wala role mera beta nahi karega (My son will not do this role where he kills people). Then we urged him to hear the whole story. We said, ‘Kahani mein abhi twist hai. (The story has a twist).’ After hearing the whole story, he said, ‘Kya superb film banai hai apne (You have made a superb film).”
After its release in 1998, Soldier went on to become a superhit and the second-highest grossing movie of India for the year, behind Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
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