Sunny Deol recalls old feud with Shah Rukh Khan during the making of Darr: 'I tore off my jeans'

Sunny Deol recently revisited his much-discussed fallout with Shah Rukh Khan during the making of the 1993 film Darr. The actor discussed the matter during a podcast and shared how emotions, ego and insecurity affected the atmosphere on the set. More than three decades ago, Sunny and SRK shared screen space in Yash Chopra’s Darr, with Sunny playing naval officer Sunil and Shah Rukh portraying Rahul, an obsessive lover fixated on Juhi Chawla’s Kiran.

Sunny Deol on feud with SRK

While discussing his experience of working on films during his younger years, Sunny recalled a moment from the making of Darr.

"I didn’t get mad at anyone else. I got mad at myself, and I tore off my jeans. At younger age, you have certain things and I am not an insecure person, I don’t have any insecurity, specially on set. But because many actors have insecurity and they do things which are absolutely unnecessary because we can only be the character we are, and we cannot be anything beyond that. But somehow quite a lot of actors feel very insecure. And because of this the vibes get messed up and things, go wrong," he said on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast.

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What was the feud?

The disagreement between Sunny and Shah Rukh happened during the filming of Darr. As per reports, Sunny objected to a sequence in which Rahul manages to stab Sunil during a face-to-face confrontation.

The actor had reportedly felt the scene did not fit Sunil's character because he was portrayed as an experienced naval commando. Sunny was also reportedly uncomfortable with the way the film generated sympathy and attention around Shah Rukh's obsessive character.

The argument surrounding the scene became heated, and Sunny later recalled that he became so frustrated that he ended up ripping his jeans.

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The fallout also led to Sunny and Shah Rukh maintaining their distance for years.

SRK is a colleague, not a friend

During his conversation with Shubhankar Mishra, Sunny was asked about his equation with Shah Rukh today. To which he replied, "We were not enemies at that time also. By friends, I mean, we are all colleagues in the film industries. We are all colleagues in the film industry rather than friends.”

Also Read: Batwara 1947 movie review: Sunny Deol, Shabana Azmi's film delivers a powerful message on secularism

How did the feud end

After years, in 2023, Shah Rukh reached out to Sunny after the success of Gadar 2 and congratulated him on the film's performance. "Shah Rukh Khan had seen the film. Before that, he had called me and wished me well. He was so happy, and he told me 'I'm so happy, you genuinely deserve it' and I said thank you. Then I spoke to his wife (Gauri Khan) and his son (Aryan Khan). And he said tonight we are going to be watching this film. And after that, he had seen it, and I think that is when he tweeted."

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Sunny also said that he was open to working with SRK again. "It would be nice because that was a different period, and now it’s a different period, so definitely.”

On the work front, Sunny Deol's Batwara 1947 is currently running in the theatres. It also stars Preity Zinta and Shabana Azmi. He will next appear as Lord Hanuman in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana.