When Sharmila Tagore ran her car into Shashi Kapoor, he joked: ‘Do that again and Jennifer will ask you money for milk’

Veteran actor Sharmila Tagore had once revealed actor Shashi Kapoor’s reaction after she lost control of her car during the shooting of their film Suhana Safar. She had revealed Shashi, who was standing close by, joked that his wife Jennifer Kapoor would come to her asking for money if she repeated it. Sharmila spoke about the incident with author Aseem Chhabra for his book Shashi Kapoor: The Householder, The Star.

Suhana Safar, released in 1970, was a drama directed by Vijay. The film featured Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore in the lead roles. The film also featured Lalita Pawar, David, Manmohan Krishna, Leela Mishra, KN Singh among others. The music for the film was composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Anand Bakshi was the lyricist.

In the book, Sharmila Tagore had said, “We were shooting Suhana Safar, and there was a scene where I was supposed to drive downhill, and Shashi was to jump out of the way. But something went wrong—I just could not control the clutch and brake and sped into a culvert. While the poor light man holding a reflector fell, Shashi remained unscathed. Later, he quipped, ‘Do that again, and Jennifer will come to you with three children and say she doesn’t have money for milk!’ He could always joke, and yet remain cordial and respectful.”

Sharmila also spoke about how Shashi Kapoor would tease her, “Shashi would constantly tease me because I would argue a lot with the directors on the sets. Each time, he’d remind me to get on with it—don’t bicker, just do it! This is what I’ve learnt from him. When you are doing a film for money or to help a friend out, be clear about the motives and then finish what needs to be done. When you come to the set, and are aware of the limitations of the script or the director, don’t expect pigs to fly.”

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Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore featured in several hit films such as Waqt (1965), Aamne Samne (1967), Suhana Safar (1970), Aa Gale Lag Jaa (1973), Vachan (1974), Paap Aur Punya (1974), Swati (1986), New Delhi Times (1985). They also starred in other films such as My Love (1970), Anari (1975), Gehri Chot (1983), Maa Beti (1986) and Ghar Bazar (1998).