Actors Who Regretted

In today’s weekend blog, I am back on Bollywood.

There are many actors who have made mistake in choosing the films.  But there are very few of them, who publicly declared that they were wrong in selecting these roles and films and regretted doing the same.

Here are a few actors, who in the recent past regretted:

1 Abhay Deol- Aisha

Not just us, but Abhay Deol also felt that Aisha was less about storytelling and more about clothes. In one of the interviews, he said “The film had nothing to do with Jane Austen’s Emma as it was reported. I realized the film was more about clothes than actual acting. I even read reviews of the movie that praised clothes.”

2 Saif Ali Khan –Humshakals

No one denies that Humshakals was an extremely regressive film. Saif Ali Khan himself said that ‘it was a mistake’. He further added that “the film did not have a script as such, it was all there in Sajid Khan’s (the director) mind. I did whatever he asked me to. I did the film thinking that it would help me expand my market, but obviously, that wasn’t a clever idea. In fact, while watching it, I asked myself what I was doing in it. I knew I had let my fans down and underestimated their intelligence.”

3 Shahid Kapoor- Shaandar

He mentioned how he wished he had not done films like Shaandar, Chup Chup Ke, Vaah, Life Ho To Aisi, while talking about the films he regretted doing. Shaandar was first on the list because I think we were trying to be an international and we did not have the kind of expertise to do that kind of computer graphics.

4 Emraan Hashmi- Good Boy Bad Boy

There are few actors, who have opened up about how actors sometimes need to do movies for financial stability. Talking about his movie- Good Boy Bad Boy- Emraan Hashmi openly said- ‘kuch filmein kitchen chalane ke liye bhi karni padti hain’. He further added: “ Good Boy Bad Boy toh aisi movie thi ki kitchen hamesha ke liye band ho jaye.”

5 Ajay Devgan-Himmatwala

Even talented actor like Ajay Devgn regret doing Sajid Khan’s Himmatwala. While sharing his disappointment, he critiqued Sajid Khan’s direction for Himmatwala. He said he already knew it would be a flop. He further added that he thought the film would be shot the way Once Upon A Time In Mumbai was shot in retro style. What Sajid did is he took 80s film and shot in 80s style only. Himmatwala would have worked if it had been made in today’s styling and punch lines but it went back in time.

6 Govinda- Kill Dil

He mentioned later that he took up the role in Kill Dil only because his family said he would be left behind. The kind of roles I wanted to do were not coming my way and I was not keen on the kind of offers I was getting, so I did not have much choice than to accept this film.

7 Katrina Kaif- Boom

She once regretted working in her debut film Boom. Today she is a big star, but her start in Bollywood was not ideal. As per her-the film was not planned it just happened, but I got to work with a legend like Amitabh Bachchan in my debut film. When I signed the film, I was not aware of Indian culture and tradition. Had I known, I would not have done the film.

8 Twinkle Khanna- Mela

This film is one disaster that no one wants to remember, not even Twinkle Khanna herself. She once wrote “ Certain things, I suppose are timeless! This popped in my message today and what can I say except Mela has certainly left a mark or scar, whichever way you look at it, on me and the rest of the nation.”

9 Amitabh Bachchan- Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag

Realising this film was a mistake, Amitabh said “ That you ask him (Ram Gopal Varma). Whenever a film is made and I am part of it. Whatever mistakes would have happened I take responsibility for that. I feel an actor and a director should be held responsible for the failure of a film. I won’t say I made a mistake. I worked on the film with all honesty. Maybe it was not the right decision, I accept that. In a way, it is like complimenting the original and in a way saying do not touch the original because that is the best.”

10 Priyanka Chopra- Zanjeer

After her career–defining performance in Barfi Priyanka signed this film. She was nothing more than a mere prop and eye candy in this movie. ( Compared to Jaya Bhaduri’s role in the original film Zanjeer). Talking about her experience of working in this film, she said “ Sometimes we make mistakes.”

Waiting for your feedback on this blog.

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

27^th January 2024