Megastar Chiranjeevi once revealed that he had initially been unsure whether Juhi Chawla would be suitable for her role in the 1990 Hindi film Pratibandh, having primarily seen her as the bubbly young actor from Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.
In a throwback media interaction, Chiranjeevi recalled that the team was looking for an actor who could bring the innocence and sympathetic appearance required for the character of Shanti. His initial reservations about Juhi changed after the team saw her photograph in a look resembling the character.
“We had doubts whether she would be apt for this character or not. Once we happened to see her photograph which is similar to our getup. Then we thought it would be nice, ‘Definitely, why can’t we cast’. And she had a similar sympathetic face, so we tried Juhi. She was so nice, and she accepted,” Chiranjeevi recalled.
The actor said Juhi eventually proved to be a good choice and praised her work in the film. He particularly remembered her performance in a sequence involving the jail and court.
“I think we are very much happy with her performance, especially the court scene. That jail scene, near the jail, when I am trying to convince her. And she did very well,” he said.
Directed by Ravi Raja Pinisetty, Pratibandh also starred Rami Reddy in a key role, along with other members of the cast. The film marked Chiranjeevi’s Bollywood debut.
The movie was a remake of the 1989 Telugu film Ankusam and went on to become a commercial success at the box office.