Tabu was two years in college and planning to more abroad when Shekhar Kapur convinced her to do Prem,
Some actors and directors try hard to unite for projects, but things always go the other way and everything falls apart. One such actor-director duo is Tabu and Shekhar Kapur, who have tried not once but twice to collaborate on projects that have gone nowhere. The second one did but not with Kapur in the director's chair. In a recent interview, Tabu spoke about her experience working on Prem a 1995 movie she starred in alongside Sanjay Kapoor. The actor recalled how she was roped in by Shekhar and how the filmmaker bailed out midway, leaving her abandoned. The actor regrets saying yes to the story back in the day. Read on to know everything about it.
For the unversed, Prem which was supposed to be directed by Shekhar Kapur, was later taken over by Satish Kaushik. The movie, starring Tabu alongside Sanjay Kapoor, is a very Shekhar Kapur-coded story. A man is hallucinating about a possible past life that takes him to a place where he meets a woman whom he recognizes from the past life. However, he now wants to make her realize the same, but she is engaged.
In her interview with Lallantop, Tabu recalled the times when she was a teenager and met Shekhar Kapur often at her aunt Shabana Azmi’s home. She revealed how he decided to cast her in his film Dushmani right after she had given her board exams. She recalled, “Shekhar Kapur cast me for Dushmani and I had barely given my 10th exam, but he was very sure that he wanted to cast me. So, I came back after taking my 10th exam, and he fixed me for the film. I didn’t want to do it at that time, but he convinced me, that film was shut down and couldn’t get made. I think it went through a lot of changes.”
Also Read: Deepika Padukone rejects The White Lotus 3 ahead of welcoming baby; won't resume work anytime soon
However, Dushmani went on to release in the same year as Prem in 1995, and starred Sunny Deol and Manisha Koirala in the leading roles. The film also suffered a similar fate, where it was partially directed by Shekhar Kapur but was later completed by Bunty Soorma. The second time Shekhar convinced Tabu to get on board for a film was for Prem when she was two years into college and planning to move abroad for studies. But Prem left her bound in India for half a decade, and Kapur left the project midway.
Tabu said, “I joined college. So, two years into my college, Shekhar saw me again and said, ‘You will star in Prem.’ I refused because I wanted to go abroad for higher studies, but he convinced me. I signed the film and said, ‘I will only do this one film.’ Shekhar convinced me and said, ‘Just do this one film,’ then I will let you go, but he himself left the film and ran away. The film went on for 5-6 years, and I regretted saying yes to it.”
You can watch Prem on Zee5 in India and also with your OTTplay Premium subscription. Stay tuned to OTTplay for more information on this and everything else from the world of streaming and films.
Also read: Vedaa aka Sharvari pens a heartfelt note for her ‘guru’ John Abraham
Share