Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar (2000), the first theatrical release of Hansal Mehta, completed 25 years on October 6. The film starred Manoj Bajpayee, Tabu, Aditya Srivastava, Saurabh Shukla and others and was loved for its treatment, subject, performances and music. In 2011, Hansal Mehta wrote about the challenges that he faced while getting Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar on floors. In this article, we’ll focus on 8 fascinating trivia shared by the filmmaker in his blog.
25 Years of Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar: 8 INSANE behind-the-scenes secrets – Hansal Mehta diverted AD’s flat money to shoot first schedule; Manoj Bajpayee, Anurag Kashyap were initially signed for “HANDSOME amount of Re 1”; Aditya Srivastava invested in the project despite losing lead role!
1. Hansal Mehta narrated the idea for Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar with his closest friends, Manoj Bajpayee and Anurag Kashyap, probably while they were working on Satya (1998). Hansal said, “We got drunk that night. I gave Manoj and Anurag a handsome signing amount of One Rupee. We decided that we would make this film. And we continued drinking.”
2. Hansal kept the film on the backburner and was directing the segment ‘Ae Mote’ for the TV show Rishtey on Zee TV. It starred Saurabh Shukla. The final day was quite exhausting and moreover, Saurabh was depressed due to issues in writing Ram Gopal Varma’s Kaun (1999). Hansal revealed, “To keep Saurabh awake, I decided to take his attention away from the impending schedule and exhaustion. I sat him down and narrated my story to him. Suddenly, he was awake. I had pressed the right buttons. He offered to write the film – FREE. The only condition was that he would play the marriage videographer.”
3. Hansal opens up on the budget of the film, “Saurabh spoke to a friend who agreed to back the film. The budget of the film was Rs. 20 lakhs…The producer’s only condition was that Manoj Bajpayee should play Ram Saran.”
4. However, Manoj refused the film as “he wanted to be part of a bigger film”. This is when Hansal Mehta asked Aditya Srivastava to play the lead and he agreed. The producers were not happy with the choice and they backed out! Ultimately, Manoj Bajpayee came back to the project. Hansal added, “Aditya Srivastava showed no disappointment when I told him that Manoj would be doing the role offered to him.”
5. Signing Tabu was not an issue. He said, “Tabu and I met over another script that I wanted to make with her. That script never got made into a film. But I found a friend in Tabu. We became internet pals. She accepted the role without even asking for the script or her role.”
6. Making the film on a shoestring budget was a challenge and Hansal credits his assistant director Kanika Verma and shares an amusing trivia. He revealed, “Her father had sent her money from Muscat to book an apartment in Mumbai. That money helped us shoot the first schedule of the film.”
7. That’s not all. Despite Aditya Srivastava being removed from the main lead, he was passionate about the project. Hansal confessed, “He accepted the role of Tito for a pittance. He even contributed money towards making the film.”
8. Hansal Mehta showed his gratitude to Saurabh Shukla in his blog, “He was admitted to the hospital while we were writing the script. He went through the entire pain of making this film with me. He was a stranger to me before the film. I found a brother while making the film. Thank you, Saurabh. Without you, Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar would have been another unrealized dream gathering dust in my store-room.”
More Pages: Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar Box Office Collection , Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar Movie Review
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