Actress Deepshikha Nagpal recently looked back on her early career, including turning down a role in Rakesh Roshan’s Karan Arjun and eventually sharing screen space with Shah Rukh Khan in Koyla. She also shared fond memories of working with the superstar.
In the latest episode of SCREEN’s Dear Me Season 2, Deepshikha clarified that she never rejected Karan Arjun. Sharing what happened, Deepshikha said, “I cannot say I rejected the role. I am too small to say that. I didn’t reject the role. I was new and didn’t want to do films. One day my mother took both the sisters to Rakesh Roshanji when he was casting for Karan Arjun. Rakeshji said he wanted to cast me, and I said no. My sister wanted to be an actress, so I thought if I said no, he would cast my sister. That didn’t happen, and I forgot about it.”
She added, “I was doing a serial for Bobby Kent, and Rakeshji had come for the muhurat where he told me, ‘I offered you a film, and you are here doing TV.’ I realized later why he wanted to cast me, because Mamta Kulkarni’s role was very tomboyish. I wish I could have done that. It all hit me after the lockdown that I have missed so much. Life would have been so different.”
‘Rakesh Roshan was told not to sign me for Koyla’
Deepshikha Nagpal later worked with Rakesh Roshan in Koyla. Talking about bagging the role in Koyla, Deepshikha said, “Bagging a role in Koyla is also thanks to Rakeshji. Earlier films would be made in five years and only Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna were considered A-listers. Shah Rukh Khan, Salman, everyone was new. So when I was doing films, I was saying yes to every film I was offered. I didn’t consider it as a B grade film or anything. I did a few films like those that appeared in the trade magazines, and because of that, others stopped signing me, saying that I was doing small films.”
“I was doing a serial called Scandal, which was produced by Satish Kaushik. He wanted to launch me, but didn’t have any film, so he took me in the show. The first episode froze on my frame, and Rakeshji saw that. He called Satish and said he wanted to meet me. That’s how I was in his office. He narrated the entire script of Koyla, and I said yes. In Koyla, he never made me feel like I was a small actress or less than Shah Rukh or Madhuri. He had once told me that when he signed me, people told him not to do so. He was told that the project’s value would fall, as I was a new girl who had signed a few small films, so it wouldn’t look good. But because Rakeshji had his journey as an actor, he went ahead and signed me,” she added.
‘During Koyla, I did not talk to SRK, was very scared of him’
Talking about working with Shah Rukh Khan in Koyla, Deepshikha shared, “I was very nervous in the scene where I die in SRK’s arms. DDLJ had released, and I was in love with his character. That scene is not in the film anymore. It was the first day of the shoot. We had a 4 pm shoot, and SRK was shooting somewhere. He thought it was 4 am, so he came early morning. While we waited, they decided to take my silent shots, and I did those. When Shah Rukh came on set, Rakeshji made me meet him and praised me, saying she is a very good actress. Shah Rukh was smoking, and he said, ‘Let’s see.’ I found that very insulting.”
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She added, “Then we did our scene, and I got up and walked away. I would not talk to him. I was very scared of SRK. We were staying in the same building, but I would not talk, even though I loved him. One day, I went to his room to say hi. He asked me to sit, and I didn’t. I told him what he had done with me, and he apologized, saying that he believes in giving space. SRK is a very quiet person; he doesn’t talk too much. He has his gestures.”
Deepshikha Nagpal also recalled shooting Koyla song “Ghunghte Mein Chanda Hai” and Baadshah with Shah Rukh Khan. Deepshikha said, “My film Ajnabee was a hit, and one day in the evening, after packing up, there was a crowd hooting for me. Everybody had left, but SRK waited for me, and he gave me his hand because he saw that a girl was alone. He then asked me why they were hooting for me. He was very respectful and a thorough gentleman. Then we used to talk about each other’s lives. I was doing the song ‘Ghungte main chanda hai.’ The shoot went on for 10 days, and SRK is very naughty. He would joke, asking me that when I am sitting with my face covered, why do I need to put makeup.”
“He recommended my name in Baadshah. I got to know about it once the film was over. When we met on the sets of Baadshah, he used to keep joking, but I would never reciprocate. He was newly married to Gauri, so he would keep inviting me home, and I used to not go because of my complex. I used to think they were big stars,” she added.
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‘Before Koyla was released, I met with a car accident’
Deepshikha Nagpal lastly recalled being involved in a car crash right after Koyla shoot finished. “Koyla was not as big a hit as Karan Arjun. It released first from my other films, but I was typecast because of the negative role. However, the entire industry was talking about me. I was shooting for another film when I met with an accident, a car crash, and had 27 stitches on my shoulder. This was right after Koyla’s shoot was completed. So when trials happened, I was told everyone was praising me, and I was sitting there with my problems and a broken hand. By the time Koyla was released, I had gotten married. Because Koyla flopped, I was not getting films. The roles that came were not something I wanted to do, and I thought I was a one-movie wonder.”
