It has been 30 years and people, whether in Delhi, London, Canada or Punjab, still know him as Kuljeet, the brash suitor from “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge”, says Parmeet Sethi.
An honour that feels good and sometimes bad.
Sethi, 58, made his debut with the film, which released on October 20, 1995, and is still being screened in Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir. Moving from Europe to Punjab, the Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol starrer epitomised romance unfolding in the backdrop of a joint family, neighbours and friends.
And Sethi’s role as Kuljeet Singh, the closest to negative character in the feel-good film, is one among the ensemble cast that is loved and remembered.
“Wherever I go, be it Delhi, UP, Punjab, London, Canada… They all know me as Kuljeet. My real name hardly anybody knows. And that is something which sometimes feels good, sometimes feels bad. You should know my real name by now. I have also spent 30 years in the industry. But yeah, it is an honour,” Sethi said.
He was then just 28, a young man from Punjab making his debut in what would go on to become one of India’s most loved Hindi films, a romance between two NRIs who love each other but won’t get married without parental consent. Kuljeet is the groom chosen by Baldev Singh, the crusty, traditional father played by Amrish Puri, to marry his daughter Simran.
Sethi, who went on to star in commercially successful movies such as “Diljale”, “Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain”, “Dhadkan”, “Lakshya”, “Rustom” and “Dil Dhadakne Do”. He also directed 2010’s “Badmaash Company” for Yash Raj.
The actor said he fought for the role in the movie that marked the debut of Yash Chopra’s son Aditya Chopra and continues to resonate 30 years later with its story of Raj and Simran. The film released on October 20, 1995.
“Very honestly, Yash Chopra’s son was making the film. In fact, I had fought for this role. I wanted this role. Why did I do this role? It was for Aditya Chopra. It was the fact that it’s the biggest production house in the country. And the biggest director’s son is making a film.” “I don’t think there can be anything bigger than this for a debutant. It is such a privilege and honour. It feels just like a miracle that has happened… Today, when I saw it, I felt blessed that in the very first film you were a part of the greatest film. As long as this film is known, my name will be associated with it,” Sethi said.
Sethi said Shah Rukh was already a star. They knew each other and were friends.
“He made me completely comfortable in front of the camera. Whenever we did any scenes together, whatever we did in the film, he never said, ‘Let’s do another take or let’s move on’. He always asked me, ‘Parmeet, is it okay? Till I gave my best, he kept going on. He is a very confident and a very giving actor. I realised this when I worked with him.”
Though he didn’t have many scenes with Kajol, he remembers her for her exuberant nature.
“Kajol is a completely giddy-headed, beautiful soul, very naughty. But I didn’t have much interaction with her very frankly because we didn’t have too many scenes. But whatever I experienced with her on set was very sweet and nice. Again a happy actor, very giving and honest about the craft.”
Sethi said he and the late and great Amrish Puri shared the same vanity van and being with the veteran cinema star was a learning experience.
“I was sharing the vanity van with him. So a vanity van is a room, an actor gets two rooms in a vanity van. He got one room and I got the other,” Sethi said, recalling how the veteran actor would rehearse his lines constantly.
“We didn’t have any shots during lunch time. But his rehearsal kept going. And I said, ‘When will you stop this. You still don’t remember your lines? He said, ‘I remember them’. But he kept rehearsing. When I saw him do the shot, I thought to myself, ‘This is the way a person becomes a good, no, a great actor. Because he was so focused on what he had to do, everything was okay in the first take. I learnt a lot that day.”
Producer Yash Chopra, the master of romance, never interfered in the way Aditya Chopra was working. But as a producer, he saw that everything ran like clockwork, Sethi recalled.
“I would look at Aditya and say, ‘Aditya, I also wanted to do my best’. Yash Chopra would say: ‘It was good, it was good’. And I would make a face at Aditya and he would say, ‘Dad, please’. And then Yashji would give me that one extra take. This happened a few times,” Sethi said.
He also remembers the grand lunches during the shoot.
“When it was lunchtime, Pam ji (Pamela Chopra), his wife, and Yash ji would be there hosting a party for us. Their food would come from home, sometimes lasagna, sometimes chicken biryani, sometimes something else. There used to be a spread. The normal unit food was there, but special food used to come from home, and they used to have a mini party every lunchtime. And the whole mood used to change. I still remember how much we used to enjoy during that lunch break.”
Sethi said nobody had the idea that the film will not only just be a huge hit, but become a film for the record books.
“Nobody says that I will make the greatest film… That greatness is made later. When it starts resonating, some things the youth like, some things old people like, there is something in the story which attracts them and becomes a part of their life, their understanding, their psyche. And that is what has happened with this film.”
Asked what impact the film had on his life as an artist and actor, Sethi said it opened many doors and brought a lot of work his way.