Ameesha Patel on her film Yeh Hai Jalwa's failure: 'Salman Khan's accident had newly happened so the film got sidelined'

It is a deja vu moment for actress Ameesha Patel who is currently basking in the glory of Gadar 2. In a candid chat session recently, the 47-year-old revealed why her film Yeh Hai Jalwa failed in theaters. She also recalled enjoying the same popularity in 2001 with the release of Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. The Sunny Deol starrer film alongside Ameesha hit theatres soon after her debut with Hrithik Roshan in Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. As luck would have it, the Gadar star, who had just entered the industry, enjoyed massive success with her back-to-back hits.

As noted in an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Ameesha Patel revealed receiving a ‘complimentary’ letter from filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, praising her work. “After watching Gadar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali wrote a really beautiful letter, a complimentary letter to me. When I had a meeting with him, he said ‘Ameesha, you should retire now.’ I was like ‘why?’ I didn’t understand,” she shared.

The reason behind the move, as stated by Ameesha Patel was that, according to the Devdas director, she ‘had already achieved in two films which most people don’t achieve in their entire career.’ He further added, “Once in a lifetime (films like) Mughal-e-Azam, Mother India, Pakeezah, Sholay get made and you had it in your second film, so what next?”

Yeh Hai Jalwa – a 2002 film

According to Ameesha Patel, her film Yeh Hai Jalwa failed at the box-office as a result of her co-star Salman Khan. For the uninitiated, Khan was booked for the 2002 hit-and-run case and arrested on 28 September after his car ran into a Mumbai bakery, killing one person and injuring four others.

She said, “Yeh Hai Jalwa was one of David Dhawan’s best films. Salman has never looked more handsome and the music and everything was good. But I think because earlier the media gave news the audiences were not so open about accepting some negative news about their favourite actors. Salman’s accident had newly happened so Yeh Hai Jalwa got sidelined. Had the audience been open to it…that is one film that would have done really well.”

During the interview, when asked to name a film that could perform better, the actress mentioned this 2002-released movie. Aside from that, she said it was one of David Dhawan’s best films, but because of media’s earlier coverage, the audience was less open about accepting some negative news about their favourite actors at the time.

A series of unsuccessful films

As fate would have it, Ameesha Patel acknowledged being an entrant to the film industry. Therefore, she couldn’t understand what the veteran filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s letter meant. After enjoying massive success in two early films, she appeared in films like Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, Humraaz, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic among others. However, none of them succeeded like her first two.

Although she was offered leading parts with the Khans in movies like Shah Rukh Khan’s Chalte Chalte and Salman Khan’s Tere Naam, she had to turn down the roles due to date unavailability.

Work Front

After enjoying massive success with Gadar 2, Ameesha Patel is yet to announce her next project. As per reports, the film has crossed the Rs 400 crore mark domestically.