Aneez Bazmee Revised ‘Laadla’ Script To Convince Sridevi For Role After Divya Bharti’s Sudden Demise
Aneez Bazmee Revised ‘Laadla’ Script To Convince Sridevi For Role After Divya Bharti’s Sudden Demise
Divya Bharti’s sudden passing in 1993 sent tremors of shock through the industry as well as her many fans. The gorgeous and talented actress was only 19 years old when the tragedy took place. Not only that, but she had also been in the process of working on a couple of movies that lost their star overnight. One such film was Laadla, for which the shooting was almost completed. Recently, Anees Bazmee, who wrote the screenplay for the film, opened up about having to redo the script and reshoot it with Sridevi following Divya’s demise.
Anees Bazmee reveals Laadla was a remake of a South film, says Sridevi had rejected other remakes
Anees Bazmee recently sat down for an interview with Galatta India, during which he discussed several films from his long career in Bollywood. The director-cum-screenwriter shared a number of anecdotes about his movies, and Laadla was included in the mix. According to Anees, the film had been left in uncertainty when its lead actress, Divya Bharti, passed away suddenly after most of the film was shot.
The Laadla team then decided to approach Sridevi for the role. However, Laadla was a remake of a South film, and it turned out that the actress had already rejected its Tamil and Telugu remakes. So, Anees decided to change the script based on the issues Sridevi had with it to convince her to play the role.
Anees Bazmee says Boney Kapoor warned him that Sridevi might reject the Hindi remake, Laadla
Anees Bazmee further revealed that even Sridevi’s husband, Boney Kapoor, had warned him that she might reject the film. However, the screenwriter, who didn’t want to accept no for an answer, made changes to the script based on Sridevi’s reasons for rejecting the other two remakes. In his words:
“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.”
Anees Bazmee says producer, Nitin Manmohan, pushed on with work despite grief over Divya’s passing
Divya Bharti’s sudden demise severely affected the Laadla team, including producer, Nitin Manmohan. According to Anees, the producer was in a state of total shock. However, being the professional he is, Nitin decided to push forward with work and start shooting again despite his grief.
Anees also shared that at the time of Divya’s passing, only the climax of the film was left to be shot. So, reshooting the film took very little time as they had already made it once. Anees said:
“He (the producer) 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 super hit.”
Following Divya’s untimely demise, Laadla featured Sridevi and Anil Kapoor in the lead roles. The film also went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of the year 1994. 
What do you think about Anees Bazmee’s revelations about changing the script of Laadla for Sridevi and reshooting it?
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