Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has recently come up with the pain of his first film, Samjhauta Express, being stopped just a few months before it was supposed to start. The theme of the film was very sensitive hence its cancellation. Mehra shared this information on Shiv Talwar’s YouTube channel in an interview.
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra reveals Abhishek Bachchan’s shelved debut as a Pak terrorist: “Shoot was called off three months before it was supposed to start”
A Risky Subject: Abhishek Bachchan’s Role as a Pakistani Terrorist
Co-written by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Kamlesh Pandey, Samjhauta Express aimed at introducing Abhishek Bachchan to Bollywood. The storyline involved Abhishek playing a Pakistani terrorist who is full of hatred for India because his father, who is innocent, has been framed as a terrorist. This character sneaks into India to rescue his father from prison but ends up developing an accidental bond with an Indian police officer. In the climax of emotion, the policeman has no choice but kill Abhishek’s character whose corpse is then shipped back on Samjhauta Express.
Mehra elaborated on the film’s profound message: “Until there are these dark holes of hatred between our two nations, we will keep filling them up with the bodies of our children. But they will never get filled. The only way we can build a bridge is through love.” However, the industry deemed the subject too sensitive, especially for a debut film leading to it being called off three months before shooting was to begin.
Industry Backlash and Emotional Fallout
The film had some content which made insiders uncomfortable about this movie. According to Mehra, “The industry felt that for Abhishek Bachchan to play a Pakistani terrorist in his first film would be playing with fire so the intelligent minds decided… The shoot was called off just three months before it was supposed to start.” In his grief over the project’s cancellation, Mehra destroyed all the research material, including the script and photos from the look test.
Finally, Abhishek Bachchan debuted with JP Dutta’s Refugee. Thereafter, he worked with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra in Delhi-6.
