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With Divya’s demise, the team had to reshoot the entire movie with Sridevi. The reshoot wasn’t just an artistic challenge, it was also emotionally draining for everyone involved.
Anees Bazmee, who wrote Laadla, revealed the hurdles in reshaping the film after the loss. (Photo Credits: Instagram)
1994 film Laadla writer Anees Bazmee opened up about a lesser-known fact regarding the film. The superhit film had been shot primarily with Divya Bharti before her tragic and untimely death in 1993. The young star’s passing, reportedly due to a fall from her fifth-floor apartment, left her fans, friends and colleagues in shock. For those involved in her ongoing projects, it was a particularly challenging time. Anees Bazmee, who had penned Laadla, revealed the hurdles they faced in reshaping the film after the loss. With Divya gone, the team had to reshoot the entire movie, this time with Sridevi, which was no small feat considering she had previously turned down the film’s Tamil and Telugu versions.
During a chat with Galatta India, Anees reflected, “We had already shot a major portion of the film with Divya Bharti. After her passing, we had to reshoot the entire film with Sridevi. Laadla was a remake of a South film, and Sridevi had turned down the project in both Tamil and Telugu. Boney Kapoor warned me that she might refuse the film in Hindi too, but I insisted he arrange a meeting. Before meeting her, I reflected on the reasons behind her rejection of the first two versions and made some adjustments accordingly. When I narrated my revised version of the story to her, she got excited.”
The reshoot wasn’t just an artistic challenge; it was also emotionally draining for everyone involved, especially producer Nitin Manmohan, who was profoundly affected by Divya’s sudden passing. Anees shared that Nitin was understandably shaken. “When someone close to you passes away, there’s grief, but there’s also worry about the project and the financial loss it might incur. I was concerned for Nitin Manmohan, the producer of Laadla. He was quite shaken because only the film’s climax was left; the entire film had already been shot with her. But he showed courage, despite his grief. He picked himself up, and we began shooting again. The second time, the film was shot very quickly because we had already made it once. It went on to be a superhit,” he explained.
Today, Anees Bazmee is relishing the success of his latest movie, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, starring Kartik Aaryan, which has already collected about Rs 150 crore within just six days of its release.