On May 21, 1994, Sushmita Sen became the first Indian woman to win Miss Universe. She was only 18 when she was crowned with one of the world’s most revered honour. Today, 31 years later, we don’t just remember the crown. We remember the confidence. The answer. The unshakable presence.
As Sushmita Sen celebrates 31 years of her winning the Miss Universe crown, let’s take a look back at her Bollywood journey. Do you know Sushmita Sen nearly said no to her first Bollywood movie director Mahesh Bhatt for Dastak?
Let’s uncover how Mahesh Bhatt managed to get Sen say yes to Dastak and brought the actor out of her.
Sushmita Sen first Bollywood movie Dastak
For Sen, acting in movies was never a plan. She was well settled in the USA with a modelling career ahead of her after winning Miss Universe. However, fate had something else for her. While she was visiting her parents in New Delhi, Mahesh Bhatt contacted her and Sushmita said, “If it’s for a role, I’m not interested. I can’t lie. It’ll show on camera.”
When they met, Bhatt told her to only play herself, that she wouldn’t have to act. “You don’t have to act. You have to play yourself, that is Sushmita Sen. Also, when did I say you’re a good actor, I’m a damn good director.”
Read This: Did Siddhant Chaturvedi and Sara Tendulkar breakup?
What happened at the set of Dastak
After Bhatt convinced Sushmita for this one film, she arrived on the set of Dastak, unprepared, with no prior acting training or classes. She was surprised to see 30-40 people from the press holding cameras and microphones (who were actually the junior artists pretending to be press). She got nervous and anxious. On top of that, Mahesh Bhatt had changed the entire scene for which she wasn’t prepared.
“It became about a woman dealing with a man lunching at a morgue, from whom she has to collect a dead body. I was 22. No acting experience. For two years, I’d been professionally trained to be a lady. Here, I was to show aggression, that I don’t understand, throwing my earrings at the morgue man. I wasn’t getting it right. Bhatt Saab began to tell [brother-partner] Mukesh, ‘Yeh kisko leke aaye ho? She doesn’t know anything,” recalled Sen in an interview.
Sen felt insulted, “I told you I can’t act. I’m done. You can’t insult me, in front of all these people.” Bhatt retorted, “That’s the anger I was looking for. Now show it in the film.”
And that’s how a star was born in the Universe.
Dastak Movie 1996
Dastak (1996) is a story of a Miss Universe Sushmita Sen played by herself who is stalked by an obsessed fan. Dastak also starred Mukul Dev in lead role opposite Sushmita. The film was a box office failure but it opened the doors for Sen. It led her to some of her iconic movies like Biwi No 1, Sirf Tum and more.
Mahesh Bhatt directed the movie. Interestingly, Sushmita Sen and Vikram Bhatt fell in love with each other on the sets of Dastak. It became a ‘thing’ since Vikram was married and had a kid.
Read More: Ajay Devgn Raveena Tandon and Karishma Kapoor: Wildest love triangle of Bollywood
