Madhuri shares a funny throwback about her ‘Prem Deewane’ cutouts

Bollywood superstar Madhuri Dixit recalled an amusing incident from the sets of her film “Prem Deewane,” revealing how her lifelike cutouts from the movie once fooled both her friend and Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan. The actress shared the anecdote during a conversation on the reality game show “Kon Honar Crorepati,” where she revealed the fun incident. Sachin Pilgaonkar, who directed “Prem Deewane,” also recalled how the cutouts were created for the film.

Madhuri revealed that a friend who visited the sets once mistook one of the cutouts for the actress herself. Recalling the incident, she said, “Let me tell you something funny. A friend of mine had come to the set while we were shooting. She arrived a little late and went straight to the set while I was in my room. Suddenly, she came into my room running and said, ‘Madhuri, what are those cutouts you have put up there? I went up to one and started talking before realising it was a cutout!’”

Explaining the idea behind the cutouts, Sachin said they were an important part of the film’s narrative. In “Prem Deewane,” Jackie Shroff’s character lives surrounded by images of Madhuri’s character after their separation.

“There were some lovely scenes in the film featuring those cutouts. She is no longer in his life, but he lives in a house surrounded by her cutouts. That was my idea. I wanted them to look as lifelike as possible, so we measured Madhuri’s exact height and did a special photo shoot. We spent an entire day photographing her in different outfits and looks for those cutouts,” Sachin said.

He further revealed that Aamir Khan had also mistaken one of the cutouts for Madhuri when he visited the sets. The actor was shooting nearby and had dropped in to meet Sachin.

“The same thing happened with Aamir. He had come to meet me on the set because he was shooting nearby. The lights on our set hadn’t been switched on yet. He walked in, looked around and spotted one of the cutouts. For a moment, he thought it was Madhuri and waved to the cutout! I told him, ‘That’s a cutout.’ They had been made so beautifully. It was fun creating them and shooting those scenes. We really enjoyed ourselves,” he recalled.

Released in 1992, “Prem Deewane” was directed by Sachin Pilgaonkar and produced by Ashok Ghai. The romantic drama featured Jackie Shroff, Madhuri Dixit, Vivek Mushran and Pooja Bhatt in lead roles. Madhuri played Inspector Shivangi Mehra, while Jackie portrayed Ashutosh Singh. Vivek played Manohar, also known as Manu, and Pooja essayed the role of Radha. The supporting cast included Prem Chopra, Ashok Saraf, Reema Lagoo, Dara Singh, Manohar Singh and Ashalata.

The romantic comedy followed two young lovers, Radha and Manu, who runs away after facing opposition to their relationship. Their journey takes an unexpected turn when they become involved in a kidnapping plan, leading to a series of misunderstandings and comic situations.

Indo-Asian News Service