Juhi Chawla's friendship with Shah Rukh Khan dates back to the time when they had just started their acting careers. The two even started a production company together and are also the co-owners of Indian Premier League team Kolkatta Knight Riders.
They worked together in films such as 'Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman', 'Darr', 'Parmatma', 'Ram Jaane', 'Yes Boss' and 'Duplicate'. And with 19 years of 'Duplicate', Juhi recalls of a time when Shah Rukh stood by her like a rock. Revealing that it was shooting the shoot of 'Duplicate' that her friendship with Shah Rukh strengthened.
In an interview with a leading daily, Juhi revealed, "I was in two minds because my character was not really doing anything substantial in the film. It was a sweet role but there was nothing to make me jump at. I remember I was working with Shah Rukh in 'Yes Boss' (1997) at that time and after the shooting, we were at some bungalow in Mumbai when he sat me down and gave me a whole lecture for more than an hour on why I should be doing the film ['Duplicate']. After sitting and listening to him for so long, I was like ‘okay, fine, maybe it’s not so bad and I am not looking at it correctly’, so that’s how I agreed to then do the film."
However, that was a changing phase in Juhi's life as it is during the shoot of 'Duplicate' that the actress lost her mother. Juhi said, "I lost my mother while shooting for Duplicate. We had reached Prague and it was Karan’s [Johar] birthday the next day, so my mother and I bought a gift for him. Next morning, before I went for the shoot, she left for a walk and never came back. It was very traumatic because just a day before we had reached there and three days later, after she met with an accident, we were bringing her back in a coffin. It was devastating for me."
"He was the person who consoled me, as he had seen his parents pass away before that and knew the pain of losing a parent. So, he was trying to make me laugh and forget things," added Juhi further.
Talking about coping up with her mother's demise, Juhi said, "I went through the mourning period but then I realised that the only way to come back to life was to go back to work and I did go back for 'Duplicate' and 'Yes Boss' —both were with Shah Rukh. Soon, I would look forward to the day because I knew I’d see him [SRK] there and somehow he’ll be fun and I’ll forget for that while what has happened and be okay with it as a bad dream. So in a way, he was special because he could just help me through that very difficult time of my life. So I have bitter-sweet memories of this film."
Not many know that Shah Rukh took a salary cut for 'Duplicate', ask Juhi about the same, the actress asserts, "[Also] at that time, I was very young, so I didn’t go into all these things. I didn’t realise maybe, or he didn’t mention it to me. But he was a joy to work with."
"He would be very helpful. Even the director and producer would feel reassured that Shah Rukh is there, so things would go fine. He will work out the scenes, will help write and rehearse them," said the actress as she signed off.
Credits: Hindustan Times