Director Vidhu Vinod Chopra gifted Amitabh Bachchan a Rs 4.5 crore Rolls-Royce Phantom after wrapping up their 2007 film Eklavya: The Royal Guard. The gesture made headlines, with several fans praising the director.
However, one person was clearly not pleased with the gesture, and she was Vidhu Vinod Chopra's mother, who slapped him and even referred to him as "bewakoof" (stupid).
In a previous interview with Siddharth Kannan, the director noted that when Amitabh arrived on set, he was carrying very little luggage. He asked him the reason, and the actor replied, “Jaya told me that I wouldn’t be able to stand you for more than a week.”
Vidhu Vinod Chopra added, “We actually started fighting after a week or 10 days. But he stayed on and completed the film. I gifted him a car worth Rs 4.5 crore because he tolerated me. It was really humbling for a star of his stature to have to tolerate me; it was big of him.”
However, the director further recalled in a separate conversation with The Lallantop. He recalled the most memorable part of the incident and said, “I will never forget this incident. I took my mother with me when I was gifting the car to Amitabh.”
He continued, “She handed him the keys. She came back, sat in my car, which was a blue Maruti van. She called Big B ‘Lamboo.’ I didn’t have a driver at the time, so I was driving.”
The director further recalled, “She told me, ‘Tu Lamboo nu gaadi dedi?‘ I said, ‘Haan.’ She replied, ‘Tu khud kyun nahi leta gaadi? I told her I would buy a car; when it was time. She responded, saying, ‘11 lakh ki toh hogi.’ And I laughed because she didn’t know that it was Rs 4.5 crore. I told her the cost, and she slapped me, calling me ‘bewakoof.’ I will never forget that, because what is money if it can’t give you joy?"
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About Eklavya: The Royal Guard
Eklavya: The Royal Guard also starred Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Sharmila Tagore and Vidya Balan in the key roles. Despite the big names, it did not perform well at the box office.
The film revolves around Eklavya, a guard, who is entrusted with the responsibility of safeguarding the lives of the members of a royal family. He tries his best to do so and keep their secrets safe.
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