EXCLUSIVE: Subhash Ghai calls Shatrughan Sinha an OVERCONFIDENT actor; recalls his unprofessionalism on set of Kalicharan, Vishwanath & more

Filmmaker Subhash Ghai – who is well known for films such as Kalicharan, Karz, Hero, Meri Jung, Ram Lakhan, Saudagar, Khalnayak, Pardes and Taal and more, recently graced the couch of The Invincibles season 2. While interacting with host Arbaaz Khan, Ghai got candid about his films, working with Shatrughan Sinha on Kalicharan, their friendship, Sinha never being punctual and more. Watch the full video below.

Subhash Ghai on narrating Kalicharan to Shatrughan Sinha

When asked about narrating Kalicharan to Shatrughan Sinha at 4 am, Subhash Ghai says, “Jab bhi humse galtiya hoti hai, tohh galtiya ki justification bhi humare pass hoti hai. Kuch na kch keh hi dete hai hum.” He continued saying in Hindi, “It wasn’t like that. When he heard the narration, he asked, ‘What kind of a subject is this? I’ve played an inspector in 4 films already. Why should I star in this film?’ I understood that when he heard the narration, he picked up on DSP Prabhakar not Kalicharan. Which perceptive is an actor hearing a story from matters a lot to filmmakers. They decide whether or not they should work with a director. He”s a newbie, will he be able to deliver or not? Should I do this picture or any film? Hearing the story is just 25-30% of the work. Only if you are big name director then only actor agree to everything you say. Even if the story is bad, they will yet say yes to the film.”

Ghai on his friendship with Sinha

Shedding light on his and Sinha’s friendship and the actor saying yes to Kalicharan, SG added, “We’ve been friends since our FTI days. We were and still are good friends. We struggled together also – we used to travel in busses together.” He continued, “He did a big favour on me and I’ll never forget that. When I shared the script of Kalicharan with producer N N Sippy and he asked me to direct the film, I told him I narrated it to Shatrughan Sinha and he didn’t like it. So let’s think of another actor to play the role. He said okay. After 3 days I get his call and he says, ‘I’ve just met Shatrughan and told him I’ve signed you as the director. He very happily asked, ‘You signed Shubhas? He’s going to be a big director one day.’ He praised you. When I spoke about Kalicharan, he said, ‘I heard the narration. It’s a superhit topic.'”

When asked why Sinha did such a 180, Ghai stated, “He wanted to help a friend in need.” He continued, “Then I called and asked him that when I narrated the film you rejected it but when a big producer approached you with the same script you said yes.”

Subhash: Shatrughan was never punctual

Talking about why they didn’t do many films together despite having a successful association, the filmmaker said, “The biggest shortcoming of Shatrughan was he was never punctual. He would come around 12-1 pm for a 9:30 am shift, 4 pm for a 1 pm shift. This lead to the unit being ready but waiting for the actor and it caused trouble. I once confronted him about the same saying we are friends and have done 3 films together, but because of this lateness of yours we may not be able to work again. Unfortunately, after that we never came across any script that we both could work on.”

Watch the full interview here:

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Subhash Ghai calls Jackie Shroff a ‘bad actor’, bestows Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan & Anil Kapoor these tags