Dharmesh Darshan, known for his hit films ‘Dhadkan’ and ‘Raja Hindustani,’ briefly discussed his films and personal life with Lehren Retro. In this conversation, the director revealed his initial desire to cast Puru Raaj Kumar, the son of the veteran actor Raaj Kumar, in his movie ‘Dhadkan’ for the role of Dev, which was ultimately portrayed by Sunil Shetty. However, things didn’t go as planned, and Sunil Shetty was eventually offered the role.
Darshan shared, ‘The producer told me Raaj Kumar’s son is the new talent on the block. Prakash Mehra also signed him, and I decided to meet him. I like to meet actors without any preconceived notions. I prefer not to pitch roles to them when I meet them in person. I never pitch roles to actors. There’s nothing wrong with pitching, but I haven’t done it. He said to me that it’s a negative role. Instinctively, I said to him don’t do it, if you really don’t understand Dev don’t do it. Then certainly there was all top most superstars came because the Raja Hindustani, but I said that will disturb Akshay Kumar the whole equation changes. I had two individuals in mind; Mr. Ajay Devgn, he has the darkness of the role and the poverty of the role not of money but of sole and I had Sunil Shetty in mind.”
Nevertheless, as we all know, Sunil Shetty played the role of Dev and delivered a powerful performance. The movie, released in 2000, featured Akshay Kumar and Shilpa Shetty in lead roles, and it emerged as one of the top hits of its time.
The film’s music, composed by Nadeem – Shravan, went on to break records and was one of the most listened-to soundtracks during that era and it written by Dharmesh Darshan, Naseem Mukri and Raj Sinha.