27 Years of Jeet: Salman Khan had surprised the makers with a RARE gesture; asked them to reduce his screen time and give prominence to Sunny Deol’s character 27 : Bollywood News

It is often heard that actors are insecure when doing two-hero films and resort to arm-twisting tactics to get prominent screen time. It is also not uncommon to hear of actors forcing producers to chop the role of the other actor. This was also a reason why two-hero films ceased to exist for a long time until the makers realized their power once the crossover era began. Yet, the fear always remains among actors that their co-star will take away the limelight or a major chunk of screen time. Hence, it was heartening to read about Salman Khan’s request to the makers of the super-hit Jeet, which was released 27 years ago, on August 23, 1996.

27 Years of Jeet: Salman Khan had surprised the makers with a RARE gesture; asked them to reduce his screen time and give prominence to Sunny Deol’s character

According to Komal Nahta’s Film Information Magazine’s July 4, 1998 issue, Salman Khan asked for his role to be cut down in Jeet, which also starred Sunny Deol and Karishma Kapoor. As per the article, producer Sajid Nadiadwala and director Raj Kanwar told Salman Khan that while his role is unnees, the role of Sunny was bees. Salman, however, disagreed and told them that his role was pandrah and Sunny’s role was bees! Yet, knowing that Sunny’s role was stronger, he signed the film as he was sure of its success.

And that’s not all. The article further states that when Salman Khan saw the rushes of Jeet, he realized that some of his scenes were not flowing well with the narrative. Hence, he asked the makers that those scenes be deleted, despite fully knowing that his screen time would be reduced! The article said, “His rationale behind it was simply that the main reason for him to sign the film was its gripping story and if certain scenes of his made the film’s structure appear loose, it was better that the scenes be deleted from the film.”

Jeet collected Rs. 16.13 crores and was the third highest grosser of 1996, after Raja Hindustani and Agni Sakshi. Despite Salman Khan’s limited screen time, he was highly appreciated in the movie.