More than three decades after Darr, actor Sunny Deol has once again spoken about his long-standing fallout with Shah Rukh Khan during the making of the 1993 film.
The two actors reportedly stopped speaking to each other after an argument on the sets, but eventually ended their cold war years later. In a recent podcast interview, Sunny reflected on what went wrong during the filming of Darr and said that insecurity among actors can sometimes create tension on sets.
Sunny Deol says actors can feel insecure
Speaking to Shubhankar Mishra, Sunny recalled that he was frustrated during the shooting of Darr but said his anger was directed more at himself than anyone else. “I didn’t get mad at anyone else. I got mad at myself, and I tore off my jeans. At younger age, you have certain things and I am not an insecure person, I don’t have any insecurity, specially on set. But because many actors have insecurity and they do things which are absolutely unnecessary because we can only be the character we are, and we cannot be anything beyond that. But somehow quite a lot of actors feel very insecure. And because of this the vibes get messed up and things, go wrong.”
Sunny Deol calls Shah Rukh Khan a ‘colleague’
When Sunny was asked whether he considers Shah Rukh a friend today, he gave a measured response. He said they were never enemies, even during the period when they were not speaking to each other. However, Sunny explained that he prefers to describe people he has worked with as colleagues rather than friends. Deol said, “We were not enemies at that time also. By friends, I mean, we are all colleagues in the film industries. We are all colleagues in the film industry rather than friends.”
What happened between Sunny Deol and Shah Rukh Khan?
In Yash Chopra’s Darr, Sunny Deol played Sunil, a naval officer, while Shah Rukh Khan played Rahul, an obsessive lover who becomes fixated on the female lead, Kiran, played by Juhi Chawla. During the shoot, Sunny reportedly disagreed with a scene in which Khan’s character manages to stab his character. He felt that the scene did not make sense because his character was an experienced naval commando.
The disagreement with director Yash Chopra reportedly left Sunny extremely angry. He later recalled that he had become so frustrated that he put his hands inside his pockets and ended up tearing his jeans.
Sunny was also unhappy with the way the film’s story appeared to give some sympathy to Shah Rukh’s character despite his actions. Following the experience, Sunny said he would not work with Yash Chopra again.
Sunny Deol and Shah Rukh Khan ended their cold war
The long-standing tension between Sunny and Shah Rukh eventually came to an end in 2023, when Shah Rukh called Sunny and congratulated him on the success of Gadar 2. Sunny later revealed that Shah Rukh told him he was genuinely happy about the film’s success and felt that Sunny deserved it. The two also spoke about their families during the conversation.
In an interview with Zoom, Deol spoke about patching things up with SRK and said, “Shah Rukh had seen the film. Before that, he had called me and wished me well. He was so happy, and he told me ‘I’m so happy, you genuinely deserve it’ and I said thank you. Then I spoke to his wife Gauri and his son Aryan. And he said tonight we are going to be watching this film. And after that, he had seen it, and I think that is when he tweeted.”