Sharmila Tagore shared an intriguing anecdote about Shatrughan Sinha and Amitabh Bachchan, who co-starred in Dostana (1980) in an interview with The Indian Express. While Amitabh Bachchan is known for his punctuality, Shatrughan Sinha used to be “very late” on sets, revealed Sharmila Tagore. Accomodating these two contrasting personalities, director Raj Khosla had “lost all his hair”, quipped Sharmila Tagore. Recalling days of shooting, Sharmila Tagore said, “After Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan was the only actor who came on time. So, Dostana starred Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, and Zeenat Aman. Shatrughan Sinha was notorious for being late-he was late to his own wedding, and as a parliamentarian, he was late. He is biologically incapable of being on time. For that film, the shift was from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and at exactly 2 p.m., Mr. Bachchan’s car would leave, and Shatrughan Sinha’s car would enter.”
Sharmila Tagore added, “You can imagine Raj Khosla lost all his hair during the making of the film. You won’t find all three-Amitabh, Shatrughan, and Zeenat-in one frame. Of course, Zeenat adjusted her schedule to accommodate both their timings. For most scenes, the director had to use a body double for shots, filming from behind with the duplicate’s head visible from the back. Shatrughan used to do it for fun; he wasn’t a tormentor-he was a wonderful person. He simply didn’t have the genes to be on time.”
Dostana was written by Salim-Javed, produced by Yash Johar, and directed by Raj Khosla. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Zeenat Aman in lead roles and Prem Chopra, Amrish Puri, Helen, Pran in supporting roles. The film was a superhit at the box-office and became the fourth highest-grosser of 1980.
