Kumar Gaurav became an overnight sensation with the film, Love Story in 1981. A few years later, such sensational stardom was achieved by Mandakini with her debut film, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, in 1985. While overtly, there does not appear to be any parallels between these two massively successful actors. But it is a rather lesser-known fact that the former had once willingly refused a shining offer of work with the actress, which gradually led to his steady downfall from Bollywood. Well then, let us go down memory lane and learn what exactly had transpired between the two.
The release of his film, Love Story, opposite Vijayta Pandit, gave Kumar Gaurav all the befitting fame and stardom for a massively successful debut. He won hearts with his talented acting mettle, while his chemistry with Vijayta swooned many others. Riding high in success subsequently, Kumar Gaurav was offered back-to-back major films at this time, making him one of the highest box-office grosser of his time. Among these, he was offered a film titled, Shirin Farhad by eminent producer, Dinesh Bansal. But, sadly, Kumar Gaurav refused to sign the film when he learnt that Dinesh had planned to pair him with a new actress, Yasmeen Joseph. It was reported that he did not wish to tarnish his success opposite a novice talent.
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Like every other newcomer in the acting field, Yasmeen Joseph came down all the way to erstwhile Bombay from her hometown in Meerut. After Kumar Gaurav refused to be paired alongside her, she was further shattered to know that even the producer himself decided to shelve the film. Thus, with a broken heart, Yasmeen left the glamour world back to her own city.
However, little did Yasmeen know that fate had planned something entirely different for her. After her first rejection, she was noticed within a short while by the eminent filmmaker, Raj Kapoor, who was looking for a North Indian girl for his next film. Thus, he auditioned and selected Yasmeen as the perfect fit for the role. And with that, Yasmeen Joseph was made to change her name to Mandakini when she was launched in her iconic debut film, Ram Teri Ganga Maili.
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Mandakini became an overnight diva with her debut film and was hailed for her unparalleled acting skills. Her debut gave stiff competition to some of the other hit films at the box office, which was headed by more established superstars like Sunny Deol, Amitabh Bachchan and Mithun Chakraborty. Unfortunately, on the other hand, Kumar Gaurav’s career at this point had started to take an opposite declining slope. His career had reached a dead end where, he was in dire need of a hit film.
Ironically, Kumar Gaurav met with a déjà vu situation where he suggested Mandakini’s name to a producer of his films to be paired opposite to him. But this time, Mandakini, who was massively successful by then, took the upper hand and agreed to the movie on one condition, if Kumar Gaurav was removed from the film. Naturally, this was a massive blow to Kumar Gaurav, who was eyeing the film as a last straw to save his dying career. But Mandakini’s refusal made him take a long sabbatical from acting, which he eventually quit and became a businessman.
What do you think about this lesser-known tiff between Kumar Gaurav and Mandakini?
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