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When Aditya Chopra did not want to work with Saroj Khan in DDLJ
Aditya Chopra is revered by his contemporaries for his filmmaking skills and directorial vision. But Chopra can be quite strict on his sets as well. Yash Raj Films’ YouTube channel released a video recently on the making of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and in it, late choreographer Saroj Khan revealed that Chopra once wanted to throw her out of the film.
She recalled, “Adi was about to throw me out of the picture. I landed one day late, and they were about to take the first shot of the song, where Kajol is in a black gown, and she’s wearing a black suit. He was shouting and screaming and telling his father, ‘I’m going to throw out Saroj ji’. Anyhow, I landed on time, before he threw me out.”
His actor brother Uday Chopra then added, “Saroj ji was telling him, ‘Adi, what are you doing? You’re messing this song up’. Even parts of the climax, dad wasn’t very excited about the way he wanted to treat that climax. Saroj ji, Man ji (cinematographer Manmohan Singh), dad, they were all the best in their fields, and they were telling him he’s doing something wrong, and he still didn’t listen to them. He would just listen to his gut. It’s Saroj ji’s greatness that she came to the house one day and said, ‘I was wrong, you were right’.”
Karan Johar further said that Aditya Chopra is like a dictator, and it is either his way or the highway. “His clarity is something that I want to emulate and am inspired by,” said Karan who was an assistant director on the film.
