Dharmendra hesitated against Bobby Deol being part of Abbas-Mustan’s Soldier.
Filmmaker duo Abbas-Mustan recalled Dharmendra’s hesitation to Bobby Deol doing the blockbuster film Soldier.
Following his initial success in ‘Barsaat’, Bobby’s career took off with the thriller ‘Soldier’ by Abbas-Mustan. In a recent interview, the director duo revealed that while Bobby was keen on joining the project, his father, the legendary actor Dharmendra, requested to review the script before giving his blessing.
Recounting the story, Abbas-Mustan shared, as quoted by the Indian Express, “Bobby signed the film with a lot of excitement. Dharmendra ji called us home and said, ‘Mera beta newcomer hai iske pehli film aachuke 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).”
The directors also shared an intriguing episode that occurred during the script narration to Dharmendra, when the veteran actor initially reacted strongly against Bobby’s role in the film, where his character is responsible for his father’s death. Nevertheless, after hearing the full narrative, Dharmendra consented to Bobby’s involvement in the project.
The duo recalled, “The film had a lot of turn and twists in the plotline. In the film, we projected Dilip 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 vala role mera beta nahi karege (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 bane hai apne (You have made a superb film).’”
Soldier was released in 1998 and became a massive hit, ranking as the second highest-grossing film of that year in India, only trailing behind ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.’
Meanwhile, Bobby Deol made a powerful comeback with Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal last year. In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha after Animal’s success, Bobby revealed that he felt extremely humbled and overwhelmed with all the love his family has been receiving. He said, “God has been kind. The love my family has received from fans and audiences is so genuine. They genuinely wish the best for us. When good things happen, people want to be a part of the celebration. We’re lucky and blessed for that. When my brother hosted a success party for Gadar 2, everybody from the industry came because they were genuinely happy for us. It doesn’t happen that to everyone.”
