Mumbai. The past love affairs of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan and actress Aishwarya Rai are well known to the audience and the media. It is said that love blossomed between the two during the filming of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's superhit film 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' released in 1999.
Recently, veteran actress Smita Jaykar, who played the role of Aishwarya's mother in the same film, has revealed an interesting anecdote that happened on the shooting set.
In a conversation with Siddharth Kannan, Smita recalled an incident where director Bhansali scolded Salman Khan during the shooting of the film's famous song 'Aankhon Ki Gustakhiyan'. According to Smita, in one scene of the song, Salman had to walk around the table and Aishwarya had to stand there. As per the scene's direction, Salman was only supposed to stand there and look at Aishwarya, not touch her. But Salman suddenly held Aishwarya's hand. Seeing this, director Bhansali shouted and confronted Salman, saying, 'Salman, why did you touch her hand?'
Smita said, 'Salman did that because of his feelings for Aishwarya rather than following the direction. They were in love, so Salman's heart couldn't resist and he held her hand. After Bhansali shouted, the people on set started smiling, and Aishwarya was so embarrassed that her love was exposed in front of everyone.'
Smita revealed that both actors were so engrossed in each other's love that the shooting unit had to endure a lot of hardship and waiting because of them. 'Crew members used to complain, 'Our shift starts at 7 in the morning, we wait until 10, but these two still haven't arrived', Smita recalled, adding, 'They would arrive on set together at 11 in the morning. Unaware of the outside world, they had no concern that the entire set was waiting for them. But this is what happens when you are in love, what could anyone say?'
Although there were delays on set, Smita believes their real-life love greatly benefited the film. 'Their love was at its peak then. Aishwarya was looking very beautiful and both were very open with each other. The magic of their real love was also seen on screen, which is why the audience really liked their on-screen chemistry,' Smita said.
