Actor Sujata Mehta, known for her powerful performances in films like Pratighaat, Yateem, and Gunaah, has been away from the public eye for quite some time now. However, she is back in the news, thanks to a recent interview with Siddharth Kannan, where she opened up about a multitude of things, including her cinema journey, her strong base in theater, and matters of the heart.
When the conversation veered towards being signed for films, and later being replaced due to various unsaid and said reasons, Sujata reminisced about the time she was unceremoniously ousted from the ambitious Rajesh Khanna movie Jai Shiv Shankar. The film, which was backed by the yesteryear superstar, was directed by SA Chandrasekhar, who is the father of Tamil superstar Vijay.
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Despite boasting a stellar star cast of Rajesh Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Jeetendra, Poonam Dhillon, Chunky Panday, and Sangeeta Bijlani, the film never saw the light of day. “I was cast in the role of Dimple. I’m not sure if we signed on the dotted line or if it was just a verbal agreement. But then, I came to know that I was replaced by Dimple,” said Sujata, who shared that the blow felt lighter when she knew the real reason behind the change of cast. “I was told that the daughters of the now-estranged couple wanted to reunite the parents.”
Talking about her fascination for Rajesh Khanna, Sujata Mehta rued the missed opportunity, and revealed that she confronted her matinee idol about the same. “I met Kaka on a flight. I have been a fan since school, and I used to sport similar hairstyle, dressing sense, and spectacles like him. When I asked him about the change in the principal cast of Jai Shiv Shankar, he just said, ‘Hmmm…’” said Sujata, who revealed that she could feel Khanna was completely a different person in the late 80s and 90s. “I could see a lot of agony, depression etc… Imagine seeing the dizzying heights of success and the devastating despair of failures. His life was a mix of everything in extremes, right?”
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Notably, Jai Shiv Shankar was supposed to be only backed by Rajesh Khanna with a completely different star cast, including the likes of Vinod Khanna, Jackie Shroff and Mithun Chakraborty. However, production delays lead the film to have a cast overhaul with Khanna having to step into the lead role.
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