Madhuri Dixit once had a few unexpected visitors fooled by her own photographs. The actor shared how lifelike cutouts made for her 1992 film Prem Deewane were so realistic that a friend mistook one for her and even started talking to it. Actor Aamir Khan also fell for the same trick when he visited the film's sets.
Madhuri shared the funny memory during an appearance on the reality game show Kon Honar Crorepati, a Marathi adaptation of Kaun Banega Crorepati. Director Sachin Pilgaonkar, who helmed Prem Deewane, was also present and explained how the team went about making the cutouts look as close to the real Madhuri as possible.
Recalling what happened when her friend visited the sets, Madhuri said, "Let me tell you something funny. A friend of mine had come to the set while we were shooting. She arrived a little late and went straight to the set while I was in my room. Suddenly, she came into my room running and said, 'Madhuri, what are those cutouts you have put up there? I went up to one and started talking before realising it was a cutout!"
The cutouts were not just props created for the film. They were part of the story, in which Jackie Shroff's character continues to live surrounded by pictures of Madhuri's character after their separation.
Sachin explained that he wanted the cutouts to look as real as possible. The team measured Madhuri's exact height and organised a special photo shoot to capture her in different outfits and looks. The process took an entire day.
"There were some lovely scenes in the film featuring those cutouts. She is no longer in his life, but he lives in a house surrounded by her cutouts. That was my idea. I wanted them to look as lifelike as possible, so we measured Madhuri's exact height and did a special photo shoot. We spent an entire day photographing her in different outfits and looks for those cutouts," Sachin said.
Madhuri's friend was not the only one who got confused. Sachin revealed that Aamir Khan had a similar experience when he dropped by the sets to meet the director while shooting at a nearby location.
Since the lights on the Prem Deewane set had not been switched on, Aamir spotted one of the cutouts and waved at it, thinking Madhuri was standing there.
"The same thing happened with Aamir. He had come to meet me on the set because he was shooting nearby. The lights on our set hadn't been switched on yet. He walked in, looked around and spotted one of the cutouts. For a moment, he thought it was Madhuri and waved to the cutout! I told him, 'That's a cutout.' They had been made so beautifully. It was fun creating them and shooting those scenes. We really enjoyed ourselves," he recalled.
Released in 1992, Prem Deewane was produced by Ashok Ghai and featured Jackie Shroff, Madhuri Dixit, Vivek Mushran and Pooja Bhatt.
