The 1993 film Baazigar remains a fan favourite for many reasons. The Abbas Mustan directorial was a big critical and commercial success. It was Shah Rukh Khan’s breakthrough film and introduced Indian cinema to the concept of the anti-hero, something that had rarely been explored before. Apart from Shah Rukh Khan’s power-packed performance, Anu Malik’s music helped Baazigar receive its iconic status. However, the contribution of one actor that cannot be overlooked when it comes to the film’s success is Johnny Lever.
As was typical during the movies of the 90s, even serious films had a separate comedy track spearheaded by a notable comedian and in this case, it was the undisputed king of comedy Johnny Lever. He played a butler who has a bad memory and forgets things every few minutes, leading to comical situations.
His scene with fellow comedian Dinesh Hingoo where he accidentally makes the latter drink tea with salt is still considered one of the best comedy scenes in Hindi cinema. However, did you know that most of Johnny Lever’s acts in the film were his improvisation as nothing about his character was scripted? The veteran actor made this revelation on The Kapil Sharma Show.
He said, “The experience of working with Abbas Mastan was wonderful as I got to craft my scenes. My role in the film was not written on paper. I was simply told to decide on the scenes and dialogue myself. I spoke all the dialogues in the film impromptu without any script. Before shooting a scene, I was told, ‘Johnny Bhai, you prepare, we’ll come after lunch.’ During that time, I would prepare the scenes and act.accordingly.”
Johnny Lever’s comedy track added much-needed comic relief to the serious thriller film. This movie catapulted Shah Rukh Khan to the top league of actors. Baazigar earned more than Rs 10 crore with a budget of Rs 2 crore, becoming one of the biggest hits of that year.
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