‘Saudagar’ Turns 34: When director Ravi Dewan revealed on-set tension between Raaj Kumar and Dilip Kumar | Hindi Movie News
The waterfall incident that spoke volumes
One particularly memorable episode took place during a shoot at a hill station. While couples and fans flocked to click photos with Dilip Kumar, Raaj Kumar wandered off to a nearby waterfall. There, he pulled up a chair and sat knee-deep in the icy water. When director Subhash Ghai eventually asked why, Raaj quipped, “Yahan photo kheenchne koi nahi aayega” (“No one will come here to take photos”). For Dewan, this was Raaj in his element — unpredictable, calculated, and often aloof from the crowd’s attention.
Clashes, retakes, and an old grudge
Raaj Kumar’s quirks extended beyond avoiding fan interactions. Dewan revealed that in one rope-pulling scene with Amrish Puri, Raaj insisted on multiple retakes despite the first take going perfectly. In a punch scene, he delivered such force that it caused Puri genuine discomfort. Dilip and Raaj’s cold war reportedly began during ‘Paigham’ (1959), when Raaj allegedly struck Dilip too hard in a scene, prompting the latter to vow never to work with his contemporaries again. Fate, however, had other plans, reuniting them for ‘Saudagar’.Despite their personal distance, ‘Saudagar’ emerged as a commercial success.
