Shatrughan Sinha

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MSc from America. Among his four sons, he wanted two to become scientists and two to become doctors. As per his desire two of his brothers became scientists and another doctor. But Shatrugha Sinha, his youngest son, was not interested in studies and wanted to become a film star! Recalling his early days Shatrugha Sinha in an interview said, “I had seen Raj Kapoor’s film 420 as a child and since then I dreamt of becoming a film star. My father was against my choice hence when I joined FTII (Film & Television Institute of India, Pune), my father in protest did not sign the form, instead, my elder brother signed."

"Bollywood discarded Shatrugha Sinha for the ugly scars on his face After graduating from FTII when Shatrugha Sinha began his struggle in Bollywood. He had to face many rejections due to his dark complexion and umpteen scars on his face. Another hurdle was the pronunciation of his difficult name Shatrughan but Sinha did not lose hope. Dev Anand first recognized Shatrughan Sinha’s talent The first filmmaker who showed confidence in Shatrughan Sinha’s talent was an evergreen actor and film-maker Dev Anand He gave Sinha his first break as a Pakistani Army Officer in his home production Prem Pujari (1970) but alas the censor board chopped his role. Also, the film got delayed hence despite a good break; Dev Anand’s Prem Pujari did not help Shatrughan Sinha to make his presence felt Shatrughan Sinha made an impact with his cameo in Khilona In L.V.Prasad’s family drama Khilona staring Sanjeev Kumar and Mumtaz, Shatrughan Sinha got a cameo thanks to the recommendation of Sinha’s best friend Mumtaz. Though the role was not more than 3 or 4 scenes Shatrughan Sinha garbed the opportunity with open hands as he was aware that the film was being made by the South film industry’s top film company. To make an impact on the silver screen and opposite traffic actors like Sanjeev Kumar and Mumtaz, Shatrughan Sinha adopted a unique smoking style and a snobbish attitude that later became his trademark style and made him a star overnight. Interestingly down South an upcoming actor was inspired by his style and mannerisms so much that he went on to become South Cinema’s No.1 star and is still ruling thanks to Shatrughan Sinha! Any guess? Yes, he is Rajinikanth! Shatrughan Sinha becomes the most highly paid villain With Mere Apne doing well at the box office Shatrughan Sinha was signed by top filmmakers like Manmohan Desai, who signed him in many films like Raampur Ka Lakshman, Bhai Ho To Aisa and Aa Gale Lag Jaa etc. His other hit films include Heera, Bombay to Goa, Blackmail, Gambler, etc. Soon Shatrughan Sinha overtook all the leading villains of that era like Ajit, Prem Chopra, Premnath, Madan Puri etc. and became the most highly paid villain of his time. The reason why the filmmaker paid a huge amount to Shatrughan Sinha was due to his magnetic box office appeal. His charisma was such magnetizing that film buffs were drawn to cinema halls in huge numbers. The audience welcomed Shatrughan Sinha on screen with whistles and thundering applause. He was the first villain of Indian Cinema to get a reception as a hero! Rajesh Khanna feared working opposite Shatrughan Sinha The highlight of Shatrughan Sinha’s performance was his towering personality, dynamic dialogue style and his histrionic as an actor. Hence whenever he appeared on screen he would overpower his co-stars. As a result, superstar Rajesh Khanna did not dare to share space with Sinha. But this proved fatal to both Khanna and Sinha as due to their ego they both declined two great films Deewaar and Sholay, originally written for them. In their rivalry, Amitabh Bachchan took away the cake. Filmmakers turn Shatrughan Sinha into a hero on public demand Astounded at the amazing popularity of Shatrughan Sinha among film buffs some filmmakers turned Shatrughan Sinha into a hero. His first film as a hero was Milap (1972) but failed miserably. After this came Sabak (1973), Badla (1974, and Jaggu (1975) but none could create the magic until Subhash Ghai made Kalicharan (1976), which was his first solo hit film as a hero. The famous Shatrughan Sinha / Amitabh Bachchan rivalry Unlike Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan was not an actor who would run away from Shatrughan Sinha. Hence despite the best of the lines penned for Shatrughan Sinha in Kaala Patthar, Amitabh Bachchan gave a nod. The movie had many fiery conflict scenes between Amitabh Bachchan and Sinha. What is interesting is that Sinha was given the best dialogue while Amitabh Bachchan had to display his anger through his eyes, which he did brilliantly and won applause from his fans. In their second film together Dostana (again written by Salim-Javed), it is reported Shaturgha Sinha charged, one rupee more than Amitabh Bachchan, film producer obliged because the Bachchan –Sinha Jodi was loved by movie buffs. Later they did many more films together like Naseeb, Shaan etc. "