The iconic actor, Ashok Kumar is considered one of the greatest actors in the Hindi film industry. Not only for his legendary acting, but Ashok was also loved for the strict rules of his life that he used to follow. One such rule of his was not to work on New Years’ day, i.e. on January 1st of every year. Thus, despite having busy schedules and demanding work commitments, he used to maintain his rule.
However, during his shoot for the 1966 film, Mamta in Kolkata, with Bollywood actor, Dharmendra, Ashok Kumar had to change his rule. In a throwback radio show, Suhaana Safar With Annu Kapoor, the host revealed how Dharmendra had persuaded his co-star, Ashok to break his ‘no work’ rule on New Year.
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Annu in his show, mentioned that Dharmendra had to go to Ladakh as his shoot for his other film, Haqeeqat was scheduled over there. For this, Dharmendra had requested his co-star, Ashok by saying, “Dada, please adjust kar lijiye mujhe Ladakh pohnchna hai.” And after Ashok got convinced by Dharmendra’s request, he also mentioned his special request. Ashok cleared that since he is breaking the rule, Dharmendra must reach the shoot on time and also warned the latter to not party on New Year’s Eve. Ashok had said to Dharmendra:
“Main tere (Dharmendra) liye apna rule todd raha hun, kal (January 1) time pe aa jaana set par. Aaj raat (31st) ki party mein mat ulajh jaana. Koi daaru nahi piyega.”
Soon, Dharmendra agreed to Ashok’s request and returned to his hotel. As per Ashok’s request, he hadn’t partied at all and was all set to go to his bed, when he thought of looking at the celebrations which were going on at his hotel. Undoubtedly, with his one peek into the party, the attendees were able to recognise him and pulled him into the party. As a result, Dharmendra got extremely drunk and was unable to keep his eyes open. Explaining Dharmendra’s situation, Annu had mentioned:
“When the party got over, Dharam ji was drunk. He thought that if he would go to his hotel room now, he will not reach the set on time. That is when he decided to go and sleep in his makeup room at 4 in the morning.”
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Following this, the next day, when Ashok and Dharmendra started their shooting, the former could easily find out Dharmendra’s situation at that point of time. Not only that, Dharmendra also fell in Ashok’s lap while shooting a scene. Understanding Dharmendra’s situation and how he is a man of his word, Ashok asked him to take some rest. Afterwards, they completed the shoot by afternoon, and Dharmendra then left for Ladakh for his then-next film’s shoot.
Apart from Mamta, the duo was also seen together in iconic Hindi films, including Naya Zamana in 1971 and Satyakam in 1969.
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