Mandira Bedi has made a name for herself on TV with her hit, iconic show, Shanti. She made her acting debut in Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol’s movie, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ). Her role in the film was short, but it was pretty impactful. Mandira, in a recent interview, shared how late choreographer, Saroj Khan compared her to Sunny Deol during the shooting of Mehendi Laga Ke Rakhna, which left her traumatised.
Mandira Bedi reveals Saroj Khan compared her dancing to Sunny Deol
Mandira does not require any form of introduction. She has been an important figure in the entertainment industry for decades and has done many roles. Apart from motivating fans with her workout clips, one of her most loved performances has been in the Mehendi Laga Ke Rakhna song from DDLJ. During a recent interview with Zoom, she shared that she was told to shake her hips in the Mehendi Laga Ke Rakhna song, which she never did in her life. Saroj Khan then told her not to dance like Sunny Deol and revealed:
“I was asked to put my hand on my head and shake my hips and I told her, ‘This body movement I don’t understand. Saroj ji said to me, ‘You are shaking your shoulders like Sunny Deol. You need to shake your hips, women shake hips.’ So I was traumatised. I don’t know how I got over the 4 days of that song.”
Late Saroj Khan was a strict choreographer who had sharp eyes and liked moves to be of utmost perfection. Mandira was so shocked by Saroj’s comments that she did not know how she came out of the same and gave her best simpering and blinking of her eyes through the rest of her movie. For her, the experience was all things interesting. In her words:
“And when I saw myself, I thought, ‘Oh God, there is not very much of me in the film.’ But I have only seen the film once, during the premiere. I haven’t watched it since then. People send me pictures of when they’re watching Dilwale from their TVs or from Maratha Mandir or wherever, and they say, ‘Picture of you, what a classic!’ But I haven’t seen it since the premiere. And I look back and think, ‘It’s nice to be a part, as I said, a small part of a very big film and a part of history.'”
Mandira Bedi shared that she thought of getting a bigger role in DDLJ
Mandira, later in the interview, also revealed that she thought of bagging a bigger role in DDLJ. She reflected on the same and shared that she had given multiple takes for the movie. She revealed that it was amazing shooting with Shah Rukh Khan, a.k.a ‘Raj’, in the movie, as he made everyone feel very comfortable on the sets of the film. She shared that King Khan had a gem of a personality and noted:
“He is such a natural, he is so kind. Even with my retakes with the song, he was very accommodating and very nice. Kajol also, she didn’t take to me the first few days, but eventually she did, and we all got along really well. It was just a really nice experience, all told, in my 22 days. I look back at it with a lot of gratitude, it’s definitely one for the books.”
What are your views on Mandira Bedi being traumatised by Saroj Khan comparing her dance in DDLJ to Sunny Deol’s steps?
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