Bollywood actress Nutan is known as one of the most versatile actresses of all time. In her illustrious career of four decades in Indian cinema, she appeared in more than 80 films. From unconventional roles in the golden era to setting a record for most Filmfare Best Actress awards, Nutan carved her niche as the first female superstar in the industry. But did you know that the late actress slapped her co-actor Sanjeev Kumar on the sets of Devi?
The actors made some headlines at that time for the incident. In Sanjeev’s biography, Sanjeev Kumar: The Actor We All Loved written by Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta and his nephew Uday Jariwala talked about several episodes of the actor’s life from the personal to professional and the incident has also found a mention there.
According to the book, Sanjeev Kumar first collaborated with Nutan in Gauri (1968), followed by Devi. Sanjeev was awestruck by her beauty and their reported relationship began. Nutan at that time was already married to Naval Lt Commander Rajnish Bahl in 1959.
The authors of the book wrote, “It is alleged that Nutan slapped Hari publicly during the shoot after she read the news about their affair in a magazine on the sets. It is believed that she did so upon the insistence of her husband.”
In 1972, Nutan clarified her stand to journalist Uma Rao in a fiery interview for the February issue of Stardust. She stated that she has always been friendly and straightforward, courteous and professional with Sanjeev but not more than that. “It was a bolt from the blue when I read a report linking me romantically with Sanjeev,” she said.
She claimed that she found from a close aide that Sanjeev Kumar had spread the news about their relationship and that she was living with him and had plans of getting married. She even mentioned that the actor also told people that they were wondering if they could get custody of her child (Mohnish Bahl).
“Utter rubbish! What did he think that I would ever leave my most wonderful husband for him? Sanjeev isn’t even worth his toenail!” Nutan thundered on the false information.
In the interview when she was asked whether she regretted her decision of slapping Sanjeev, the actress had given a clear No as her answer. She said, “I don’t regret my action. I had a clear conscience that I was justified in defending my reputation. He had no right to malign my name.”
The biography also threw some light on an article published in the January 1975 issue of Stardust where it was mentioned that the director of Devi, V Madhusudan Rao wanted to mediate a truce between the lead actors after the slap gate as the shooting of the film was at a halt after the incident.
Rajnish Bahl was also part of the meeting, Sanjeev Kumar agreed to shoot if Nutan apologized for assaulting him and the actress declined. However, it was Nutan’s husband who offered an apology but Sanjeev refused to accept it as he had not slapped him. Somehow, Sanjeev Kumar relented and the film was completed.
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