Anupam
Kher
could
have
been
one
of
the
actors
in
filmmaker
Kundan
Shah's
Jaane
Bhi
Do
Yaaro
but
his
scenes
ended
up
on
the
cutting
room
floor.
At
a
session
remembering
actor
Om
Puri
and
director
Kundan
Shah
at
the
ongoing
MAMI
19th
Mumbai
Film
Festival,
the
people
associated
with
the
cult
1983
film
revisited
memorable
behind-the-scene
stories.
Puri
died
in
January
this
year
while
Shah
passed
away
earlier
this
month.
Satish
Kaushik,
who
wrote
the
dialogues
and
also
featured
in
the
film,
revealed
Kher
played
a
villain,
'Disco
Killer',
but
the
part
was
not
included
in
the
final
edit
of
the
movie.
"There
was
a
character
called
'Disco
Killer'.
It
was
played
by
Anupam
Kher.
He
had
an
eye
sight
problem,
so
he
shoots
at
a
man
but
it
hits
a
mango.
When
he
is
told
that
a
mango
fell,
he
laughs
and
says,
'Next
time
when
I
aim
for
a
mango,
a
man
will
fall!'"
Filmmaker
Vidhu
Vinod
Chopra,
who
was
the
production
controller
on
the
film,
said
he
was
the
one
to
break
the
news
to
Kher.
"I
told
Anupam,
'Your
role
is
cut'.
He
said,
'Please,
don't
cut
it
too
much'.
I
said,
'No,
it
has
been
cut'.
He
asked,
'How
much
of
it
has
been
cut?'
I
told
him
'The
entire
role
has
gone
from
the
film'," Chopra
said.
Director
Vijay
Krishna
Acharya,
who
helmed
Dhoom
3,
began
his
career
as
an
assistant
to
Kundan
Shah
on
'Kabhi
Ha
Kabhi
Na'.
He
revealed
that
Kher
almost
cried
when
he
got
to
know
that
he
was
no
longer
a
part
of
'Jaane
Bhi
Do
Yaaro'.
Apart
from
Kher,
there
were
"several
other
things"
which
did
not
make
it
to
the
film,
such
as
a
"sentimental
song"
called
'Jaane
Bhi
Do
Yaaro',
out
of
which
the
title
was
born.
The
film
chronicled
the
story
of
two
photographers
(played
by
Naseeruddin
Shah
and
Ravi
Baswani),
employed
by
a
newspaper
editor
to
expose
the
scandalous
activities
of
a
rich
builder.
They
accidentally
end
up
photographing
a
murder.
Recalling
the
premiere
night,
Kaushik
said
they
thought
they
would
be
treated
like
"big
stars"
but
that
did
not
happen.
"On
the
premiere
night,
we
thought
we
will
be
big
stars.
We
went
to
Maratha
Mandir
the
first
NFDC
film
was
having
a
premiere
we
thought
we
will
be
welcomed
with
a
red
carpet,"
he
said.
"Instead,
Kundan
was
standing
outside
with
tickets
in
his
hands.
When
we
came
and
said,
'Let's
go,
he
was
like
first
pay
for
the
tickets
I
bought!',"
Kaushik
said.
Director
Sudhir
Mishra,
who
wrote
the
story
and
the
screenplay
of
the
film,
revealed
that
Om
Puri
accepted
his
role
without
even
reading
the
script.
"He
(Puri)
was
at
Bandra
station
going
for
a
shoot.
Kundan
narrated
him
the
script
on
the
train.
He
agreed
to
do
the
film
without
even
reading
the
script.
On
the
last
day
during
the
'Mahabharat' scene,
he
told
us,
'yaar
ye
toh
achchi
script
hai'
(Yaar,
this
is
a
good
script),"
Mishra
said.
Ranjit
Kapoor,
also
a
dialogue
writer
on
Jaane
Bhi
Do
Yaaro,
said
there
was
a
follow-up
scene
after
the
iconic
sequence
where
Puri
has
a
conversation
with
the
dead
body.
"There
was
another
scene
after
Puri
gives
the
dead
body
a
lift
where
he
plays
chess
with
the
dead
body!
The
funny
thing
is,
the
dead
body
wins!
It
was
our
favourite
scene," he
recalled.
Despite
being
a
part
of
the
script,
the
scene
was
never
shot.
Apart
from
being
the
production
controller,
Chopra
also
doubled
up
as
Dushaasan
in
the
Mahabharata
scene,
which
is
considered
to
be
one
of
the
major
highlights
of
the
movie.
Chopra
revealed
that
he
was
never
meant
to
be
in
the
film
and
it
was
purely
accidental.
"There
was
an
actor
I
selected
for
the
role
and
had
agreed
to
pay
him
Rs
500
for
the
four-day
shoot.
He
thought
it
was
Rs
500
per
day.
Just
before
shooting,
he
wanted
Rs
2,000.
I
tried
to
bargain,
that
take
1,500
or
1,000,
but
he
didn't
agree,"
Chopra
said.
"Then
the
costume
came
and
I
was
like,
'Give
it
to
me'."
When
Chopra
appeared
in
costume,
Shah
was
aghast.
"I
told
him,
just
shoot.
I
am
saving
you
Rs
2,000," Chopra
added.
It
has
been
over
three
decades
and
the
film
has
found
a
new
audience
but
Chopra
said
no
one
knew
that
they
were
making
a
cult
classic.
"We
all
talk
(about
the
film)
highly
now,
but
to
be
honest,
nobody
knew
what
was
being
made.
It
was
7-8
hours
long
when
it
came
to
the
edit
table.
We
all
thought
he
was
a
mad
man.
But
I
genuinely
miss
Kundan,"
Chopra
said.