Remembering Amrish Puri: How the veteran actor tested Aditya Chopra on Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge sets

By Fenil Seta -

January 15, 2018 - 11:44 AM IST

For veteran actors, it can be quite challenging to surrender themselves to a debutant director. They agree to follow the demands of the director and go by his/her vision but at the same time, they have their own ways of confirming if the director is worth his/her salt. Talented actor Amrish Puri, whose 13th death anniversary was held last week, similarly tested Aditya Chopra on the first day of his shoot on the sets of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. This entire conversation has been documented in the book ‘Aditya Chopra Relives… Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, written by Nasreen Munni Kabir.

Remembering Amrish Puri: How the veteran actor tested Aditya Chopra on Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge sets

Aditya Chopra narrated that the first day shoot involved Amrish Puri doing pooja. Before he started filming, Amrish Puri asked Aditya Chopra what’s the time in the scene? At first, Aditya Chopra gave vague replies that it’s morning and that it’s around 6 or 7 am. But Amrish Puri remained adamant and wanted to know the exact time. To which Aditya Chopra replied that the time is 6:15 am. When asked the reason for that, Aditya Chopra, who had by then understood that he was being tested, elaborately replied that his character Chaudhary Baldev Singh wakes up at 5:30 am, has bath and at 6:15 am, he prays. At 6:30 am, he has his breakfast and at 7 am, he leaves the house. He takes an hour to reach Trafalgar Square where he feeds the pigeons. At 9 am, he opens his shop.

So convinced and satisfied was Amrish Puri with this reply that he never questioned Aditya Chopra again!