Deepak Tijori Reveals How Aamir Khan And Shah Rukh Khan Came Onboard For Pehla Nasha – News18

Last Updated:November 27, 2024, 11:55 IST

Deepak Tijori recalled how he first began working on Pehla Nasha with Ashutosh Gowariker and shared insights into how Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan were eventually brought into the project.

The 1993 film Pehla Nasha marked the directorial debut of Ashutosh Gowariker. In the film, Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan were seen in cameos, making it one of the most anticipated releases at that time. Moving forward to 2024, the protagonist of the film Deepak Tijori recently sat down for an interview, recalling how Gowariker managed to bring Aamir and Shah Rukh together for his debut project. During the interaction, the actor revealed that Ashutosh first shared the idea of the film with him during the shoot of Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. Recollecting further, he even confirmed that Ashutosh, at that time, was constantly pitching ideas to Aamir and Shah Rukh, trying to get his first film as a director.

In a conversation with Manju Ramanan on her YouTube channel, Deepak Tijori fondly reminisced about the time he and Ashutosh Gowariker were working together as she narrated, “Ashutosh Gowariker and all of us were friends, and we were in Goa shooting for Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, and Ashu was going through a phase and he was trying through Shah Rukh also to make a film, through Aamir also… Then finally, we gelled. He narrated something, I liked it so we decided let’s make it.”

Starring Pooja Bhatt and Raveena Tandon besides Deepak Tijori in the lead roles, Pehla Nasha brought together many stars, including the ones in cameos. Highlighting how they bonded on sets, the actor added, “We were all friends who got together. Pooja was close to me, Raveena was close to me. Then Ashu brought in Shah Rukh, Aamir for that one scene which is a unique moment of life. So that is how we started making that film for fun. We would play dumb charades on set and would reach two hours prior to just have fun.”

For his next collaboration with the Khan duo, Ashutosh Gowariker later directed Baazi and Lagaan, both starring Aamir Khan in the lead. As for Shah Rukh Khan, he reunited with him for Swades.

Coming back to Deepak Tijori, the actor shot to popularity for playing important supporting roles in several films. The 1990 cult film Aashiqui garnered him immense popularity, making him the first choice of the archetypal hero’s best friend throughout the 90s. Later, Deepak also forayed into direction, helming films like Oops and Tom, Dick and Harry, but none of them worked.