Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1942: A Love Story (1994) is one of the few out-and-out musical romances that Anil Kapoor has done across his 40-year-plus career. During a recent interview, the actor shared that he initially reluctant to do the role, which he thought should be taken on by someone younger. Anil also said that he felt “insecure” during the filming of its most popular track, “Ek Ladki Ko Dekha.”

Why Anil Kapoor felt ‘insecure’

In a conversation with Variety India, Anil Kapoor said, “We were doing the song Ek Ladki Ko Dekha. It’s a great, fantastic song, sung by Kumar Sanu. When the shooting of that song started, I noticed they’re not taking my shots at all. My character Narendra was singing it, but they weren’t taking my shots. After some time, I obviously got insecure.”

The song, composed by late legendary RD Burman and written by Javed Akhtar, mostly featured shots of the leading lady, Manisha Koirala. The song was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who was Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s assistant back then, and choreographed by Farah Khan. “I went up to Vinod, Sanjay, and Farah, and said, ‘The song is mine! I’m praising my girlfriend, but you’re not even taking my shots!”

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However, after watching the song, Anil Kapoor understood why Manisha Koirala was the focus. “Manisha was so beautiful in that song, and still is. She was the emotional thread of the film. Since it’s a love story, the girl has to look beautiful. The way it was picturised by Vinod and Binod Pradhan (cinematographer), the way Renu (Saluja, editor) cut it, and the way Farah and Sanjay did it, there were hardly any shots of mine. I was treated like the leading lady, and she was the leading man,” added Anil, laughing.

Why Anil Kapoor didn’t want to do 1942: A Love Story

During the interview, Anil Kapoor also opened up about his initial reluctance to do 1942: A Love Story, despite having previously worked with Vidhu Vinod Chopra on his 1989 seminal crime drama Parinda. “I just felt it needed a younger actor to play the role. But Vir (Chopra, producer) and Vinod thought I should do it,” said Anil.

He pointed out that the two younger actors who were considered for his role were Aamir Khan and Bobby Deol. Aamir had already established himself as a romantic hero with hit films like Mansoor Khan’s Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992). Meanwhile, Bobby was yet to make his Bollywood debut, and eventually did that with Rajkumar Santoshi’s 1995 action romance Barsaat.

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“A couple of songs had been recorded. When I listened to them, I told them only I’d lip-sync to them, no one else would,” recalled Anil. “Vinod and I always say that we should do films that our grandchildren don’t laugh at. So, the music was the turning point for me. I’m grateful to Vinod for convincing me that only I could do that part,” he added.