The 1991 cult Bollywood film Saudagar is considered a milestone in Indian cinema. The Subhash Ghai directorial had a big ensemble cast and was known for two legends of Indian cinema, Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar uniting after years. Playing childhood friends turned foes in youth, the two stalwarts gave one of their career-best performances and the movie was a huge critical and commercial success. Among other industry veterans like Jackie Shroff, Mukesh Khanna, Anupam Kher and Amrish Puri, Saudagar was also the debut vehicle of Vivek Mushran and Manisha Koirala.
Both Vivek and Manisha became overnight stars after the film and although Manisha had a flourishing career as a leading Bollywood actress, Vivek Mushran could not do much with his cinematic career. Although he appeared in films like Saatwan Aasman, Aisi Bhi Kya Jaldi Hai and Anjaane, he could not replicate the success of his debut film. He soon settled for a television career and starred in Star Plus’s Sonpari, Zee TV’s Kitty Party and Doordarshan’s Dil-e-Nadaan.
However, do you know that the first choice for Vivek Mushran’s character in Saudagar was Aamir Khan? In an earlier interview, Subhash Ghai said that Aamir’s chocolate boy looks perfectly fit the bill of the character Vasu in the film and he was approached for the movie. However, Aamir was already a star by that time, having appeared in hits like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar and he felt that the character of Vasu was too insignificant in the film. Aamir rejected the film and the role landed to debutante Vivek Mushran. Hence Aamir’s rejection resulted in Vivek Mushran attaining stardom for some time.
Saudagar depicts a feud between two families headed by patriarchs Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar, who used to be friends in childhood. The movie has the popular song ILU ILU (I love u) which has over the years become part of popular culture.
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