Hard as it may be to believe, Urmila Matondkar was even more sensuous in Ram Gopal Varma’s Daud than in Rangeela. She recalls Daud with fondness. “Absolutely smashing!!! A crazy, fun, whacky, sexy joyride. Full-on entertainer with horns out. Obviously ahead of its times. In short summarised in film’s lyrics Yeh jeena yaaro Daud hai.”
To this day Ram Gopal Varma can’t figure out why Daud bombed. “I have always done other films before and in middle of them too. Before Rangeela I made Drohi and after Rangeela I made Daud and after Daud I made Satya and after Satya I made Mast. The point I am trying to make is that whether people would choose to believe it or not I have always put the same passion in all my films, be it a Rangeela or a Daud. Now lot of people tell me that Daud was ahead of its times. But at the time it came out it was panned more than any of my films.”
A story doing the rounds claims Manoj Bajpai and Irrfan Khan were both being considered for the role of Paresh Rawal’s henchman in Ram Gopal Varma’s 1997 dud Daud. Manoj finally got the role.
According to Manoj, Ramu agreed to meet Manoj for a minor role in Daud. But when he reached for the meeting, Irrfan and actor Vineet Kumar were already there for the same role. Manoj claims he managed to wrangle the role away from his two competitors.
However, Ramu has a different take on what really happened. “No, Irrfan was never considered for Daud. I didn’t even know him when Daud was being made. I had seen Manoj in Shekhar Kapoor’s Bandit Queen and offered him the role in Daud.”
When did Ramu come to know Irrfan? “We were introduced long after Daud. We never worked together. I don’t know why! It’s just one of those things that never happened. I regret it now. We would have created a special magic together. I think he was an actor who could do anything.”
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