28 Years of Ram Jaane: Writer Vinay Shukla reveals what went wrong with the film: “Shah Rukh Khan became a little indulgent; overused ‘halwa hai kya’ and ‘khallas’”

By Fenil Seta -

December 4, 2023 - 4:30 PM IST

Ram Jaane (1995), starring Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, completed 28 years on December 1. It was released around 1 ½ months after the release of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995). It benefited from the super-success of the Aditya Chopra-directorial. Ram Jaane was also action-oriented and hence, it was front-loaded. As a result, it opened better than Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge at the box office. Ram Jaane was a hit but didn’t enjoy positive word of mouth. On a podcast called ‘Love Of Cinema’ by Himanshu Joglekar, Ram Jaane’s writer Vinay Shukla explained, in April 2021, what went wrong with this film.

28 Years of Ram Jaane: Writer Vinay Shukla reveals what went wrong with the film: “Shah Rukh Khan became a little indulgent; overused ‘halwa hai kya’ and ‘khallas’”

Vinay Shukla began by saying, “(From the very start), it was decided that it has to be done with Shah Rukh. An outline was given to me by the makers which was from an English film (Angels With Dirty Faces; 1938). I liked it very much as it contained a very relevant message – if you have bad models, then it can have a bad influence on impressionable minds.”

Vinay Shukla revealed to Himanshu that he wrote the script which was loved by Shah Rukh Khan, producer Pravesh C Mehra and director Rajiv Mehra. He stated, “Shah Rukh was hugely impressed by the whole thing. Unfortunately, he became a little indulgent. There are two phrases which he kept using in the film, which I had kept very judiciously. But he got so carried away that he overused ‘halwa hai kya’ and ‘khallas’.” He added, “In some places, the dialogues lost its punch.”

To add to it, Vinay Shukla admitted that Puneet Issar (Inspector Chewte), too, decided to talk in the tapori language, which Vinay Shukla hadn’t envisioned. He revealed, “Actors are a very clever lot. He told Rajiv that since only Shah Rukh is speaking the (tapori) lingo, it won’t look good, and another person should also do the same. Hence, he also spoke the Bambaiya language. The harm of it was that the uniqueness of the Ram Jaane character was lost.”

He added, “I was shocked (when I reached the set). I told Rajiv that he shouldn’t have allowed (Puneet Issar to speak in the tapori lingo). I was very upset.”