Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan’s FORGOTTEN cameos from this anti-drugs movie

Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan played cameos in this 1996 movie, although they didn't have scenes together.

By Keyur Seta -

March 10, 2023 - 1:51 PM IST

Salman Khan’s cameo in the recently-released blockbuster Pathaan got the crowd crazy and how. The sequence of Salman helping Shah Rukh Khan as Tiger in the Siddharth Anand directorial became one of the most shared videos on the internet and social media. SRK and Salman have played cameos in each other’s films a number of times in movies like Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega, Tubelight, Zero, etc.

Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan’s FORGOTTEN cameos from this anti-drugs movie

But there is a film where both the actors played cameos in some other actor’s film and it happens to be Jeetendra. Shah Rukh and Salman played small roles in his film titled Dushman Duniya Ka, which released in 1996.

The film was directed by the late veteran actor Mehmood and its aim was to give a message against the usage of drugs. The film saw the launch of his son Manzoor Ali. Mehmood himself played Bakrewala Baba, who used to sell drugs to school and college students.

It is said that the film’s story was inspired from Mehmood’s other son Lucky Ali’s (the renowned singer) drug addiction. Hence, his plan was to cast Lucky in this anti-drug movie. Even the central character in the film is named Lucky. But as Lucky refused to star in the film, Mehmood cast his younger son Manzoor Ali and launched him through the film. But Lucky did sing the song ‘Nasha Nasha’ in the film.

Dushman Duniya Ka told the story of a youngster, Lucky (Manzoor), the son of Mahesh (Jeetendra) and Reshma (Sumalatha). He falls in love with Lata (Laila). His life takes a massive turn when he gets addicted to drugs. The film ends on a tragic note while giving the message against the usage of drugs.

Now, you must be wondering where SRK and Salman feature here. Shah Rukh played an auto-rickshaw driver called Badru, who is Mahesh’s best friend and as good as his family. He gets Mahesh introduced to Reshma and they get married. He also helps Jeetendra financially when the latter was jobless. Jeetendra was shown as a young bachelor at the age of 50 plus.

Interestingly, SRK’s character was modelled after Mehmood’s character from the iconic mystery film Gumnaam (1965). He had a get-up of a lungi and that little Charlie Chaplin moustache. But what was weirder was his Hyderabadi accent while speaking Hindi. Due to some reason, Shah Rukh’s character dies abruptly in an accident.

Salman makes an entry in the film in the second half. Contrary to SRK, he plays his own self in the film. The main hero Lucky and his friends come across Salman one day when he is shooting a film. His get-up in the film was as weird as that SRK’s. Mehmood did the unthinkable by making Salman mimic Kishore Kumar’s character from Padosan and also made him dress like him. His hairstyle reminds us of his famous hairdo from his iconic film Tere Naam, which happened years later.

If this wasn’t enough, he is also made to sing another version of ‘Meri Pyari Bindu’ from Padosan. The song is sung by Kishore Kumar’s son Amit Kumar. You might be taken aback to know that Amit also dubbed Salman’s dialogues in the film. It is easy to make out that someone else has dubbed for the latter right when he utters the very first word. Like SRK, Salman’s character also abruptly exits the film, although he isn’t shown dying.

Despite SRK and Salman playing cameos in Dushman Duniya Ka, they appeared prominently on the poster of the film.

Also Read: Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan’s scene in Tiger 3 took 6 months of planning