Padmaavat: Shahid reveals the connect between Dilip Kumar’s ‘Mughal-E-Azam’ and his character

Undoubtedly, actor Shahid Kapoor is on cloud nine after the release of his much-anticipated epic period drama ‘Padmaavat’. The actor is winning praises for delivering such a controlled performance as Rajput king Maharawal Ratan Singh.

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Recently, the actor gave an exclusive interview to Hindustan Times where he revealed an interesting connection between his performance with that of K. Asif’s epic historical drama ‘Mughal-E-Azam’ (1960). The actor said that he would not have known what to do with Maharawal’s character if he hadn’t seen Dilip Kumar’s performance as Salim in ‘Mughal-E-Azam’ which further became like a Bible in his head.

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“Something very karmic happened when I started shooting the film. It was December and we were doing night shifts. Due to some issues with the costume, I was informed that it may take more than two hours (to fix the problem). So, I went back (in my vanity van) and watched ‘Mughal-E-Azam’. I had asked my manager to upload the film on my laptop for reference. After watching it, I only kept thinking about Dilip (Kumar) sir’s performance. There was so much dignity and power in his silences, his character was not loud, aggressive and he wasn’t very verbose too. But still he had so much presence and character, and I realised that Rawal Ratan Singh needs that.”

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“That performance (of Dilip Kumar) became like Bible in my head. I feel if I hadn’t seen that performance at that time, maybe, I would have not known what to do. It was Godsend,” added the actor.

Further, in this interview, Shahid even shared his wife Mira Kapoor’s reaction to his performance. He said, “I remember after watching the film, Mira hugged me and said, ‘I am proud of you. The character is so understated and underplayed. It was so difficult but I loved what you did in the film and this is your best performance.'”

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Indeed, Mira’s proud reaction on ‘Padmaavat’ and the connection between Dilip Kumar from ‘Mughal-E-Azam’ and Maharawal’s character is certainly something interesting to know.

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Amod Pandit

Quiet, resonant, and creative, he can be seen immersed in his own world, and puts in his heart and soul into the one passion that he has, Bollywood. His line for survival? Feel happy to be a part of it.