Bollywood Friendships: Rajkumar Santoshi – Sunny Deol

Rajkumar Santoshi and Sunny Deol were once the invincible action jodi of Bollywood delivering hits in succession and creating benchmarks with their films. It was an enviable give-take relationship which took both of them to the heights of their glory.

Rise: Sunny Deol a.k.a ‘Dhai Kilo Ka Hath‘ gained his comeback with Rajkumar Santoshi’s Ghayal. It would be unfair to say that ‘actor’ Sunny Deol was made by Santoshi. Where Rajkumar Santoshi used Sunny Deol’s raw and untamed talent, it is also true that movies like Ghayal, Ghatak and Damini are hard to imagine without Sunny.

In fact, it was Sunny who identified Santoshi’s talent and gave him a break with their first venture ‘Ghayal’. Sunny Deol’s acting was widely appreciated and Rajkumar Santoshi suddenly became the talk of town. Their next film, ‘Damini’ took the collaboration to a new level as it won Sunny a National Award and made Rajkumar Santoshi a brand name to reckon with. When Santoshi was planning ‘Ghatak’, his first choice was Kamal Haasan. Both the actor and director were quite forthcoming about it. But as the final script was drafted, it was clear that the film was set on a larger financial canvas. Santoshi and the producers decided to play it safe and called Sunny to the rescue. Of course Kamal Haasan was aware of the situation and bowed out in understanding. ‘Ghatak’ went on to become an extraordinary Bollywood action movie.

Fall: Soon enough, like most Bollywood friendships, fans were shocked to hear that Santoshi and Sunny were on the verge of a clash. It was rumoured that both of them wanted to make a movie on Bhagat Singh, which created problems between the two. Santoshi went on with The Legend Of Bhagat Singh while Sunny played Chandrashekhar Azad in 23rd March 1931: Shaheed. Such was the hostility between them that both movies released on the same day! It was a clash of the titans and the industry was at a loss. Even veteran actor and Sunny’s dad, Dharmendra, or the mighty Tauranis, who produced Santoshi’s film, couldn’t stop this from happening.

Koimoi Jodi Verdict:  There were reports of Santoshi and Sunny coming together for a new venture last year, but nothing has been confirmed yet. The friends-turned-foes continue to maintain a safe distance.

– By Koimoi.com Team