Mita Vashisht spoke about how ‘sensitive’ Shah Rukh Khan was on the set of Dil Se, ensuring that she doesn’t get injured during a fight scene, and hurting his own head instead.

Actor Mita Vashisht recalled memories of working on the film Dil Se, with actors Shah Rukh Khan, Manisha Koirala, and director Mani Ratnam. In an interview, she expressed her dissatisfaction with how things turned out for her character in the acclaimed film, and revealed that an intense six-minute fight sequence between her and Shah Rukh’s characters was filmed, but it was ultimately cut out of the film. She said that she was disappointed, and wondered if it was done to protect the hero’s invincible image.

She recalled SRK being ‘very sensitive’ with her on set, and made an effort to protect her head from injury while filming. Ironically, he got injured on the head himself. “He put his hand behind me head to protect me, that’s how sensitive he is… But he got injured himself. He got a cut on his head, and the whole unit was concerned, but he said, ‘It’s okay, don’t worry about it, get some ice’.” Mita recalled that Mani Ratnam wanted the fight scene to have a sexual undercurrent, and that he wanted their bodies to be intertwined, like a lioness and lion.

She revealed that she scene was shot at Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, and that a large crowd had gathered to see Shah Rukh, who had turned his back to them. When Mita asked him why he had his back to the crowd, he said that it was a problem. But just before they shot the scene, he turned around once and showed them his face, and the crowd erupted. He knew this would happen, and had waited before turning around. The scene was ultimately cut, and Mita wondered if Mani Ratnam did this because Hindi film heroes couldn’t appear vulnerable on screen back then.