Bobby Deol on 25 years of Gupt: My leg was broken, which led to my now famous ‘Bobby Deol dance’

25 years already for a film that surprised every viewer when it released, minted money, cemented it’s lead cast’s popularity… Gupt remains special to Bobby Deol for more reasons than one.

His co-star Kajol was the villain in the film, and it is still remembered because of this surprise which nobody saw coming. Ask Deol if he was apprehensive in the least knowing she will walk away with most attention, and he quips, “I don’t think so. When people see the work, music, I was dancing so much for the first time, the action was amazing. These kind of subjects were never made.”

The songs, especially Duniya Haseenon Ka Mela and Gupt Gupt were a rage. And the makers didn’t leave any stone unturned to capitalise on it. Deol reveals that director Rajiv Rai came up with a promotional strategy which no one before him, and after Gupt, has emulated.

“He booked a music channel for a day, and for 24 hours there would be no other commercial or film’s ads, besides Gupt. Only Gupt’s songs would keep playing. Can you believe that? It was amazing how he promoted the film, because it had so much material,” beams the actor.

Recalling more such nuggets from the film’s making, he remembers how his famous dance steps came about. Deol laughs, “I had to rehearse so much to get it right. We were shooting Duniya… na dthere used to be no air conditioning in studios those days. I would rehearse so much that I was drenched in sweat by the end of it. And then white patches would be visible because of it. I wore eight-nine pairs of black jeans for that one song. Then I broke my leg while shooting for Barsaat, my debut film, and Gupt was immediately after that. I had an accident on the former’s last day, so Chinni and Rekha Prakash ji made those hand movements of mine, which became popular as ‘Bobby Deol’s style’!”