Mohnish Bahl didn’t know about Rajinikanth’s star status, reveals hilarious early reaction to HAHK: ‘Punjabi shaadi ka video hai’

After having a successful start in his career, Mohnish Bahl’s professional life underwent a negative change, where he started receiving fewer and fewer movie offers. However, later, Mohnish did make a comeback to the industry and was once again seen in filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya‘s family drama Vivah.
In a recent chat with Bollywood Hungama, Mohnish opened up about his journey in the industry and sharing screen space with cinema icons like Rajinikanth and Shah Rukh Khan.
Speaking about Shah Rukh, Mohnish showered a lot of praise on the superstar and said that SRK is a complete gentleman: “Shah Rukh is a thorough gentleman. We did quite a few films after that like Army (1996), Koyla (1997) and Duplicate (1998). He was a very warm person. We shot in Mauritius and I remember my wife Ekta and his wife Gauri got along really well. So yeah he’s a very nice person. And he’s a remarkable person.”

Another cinema legend Mohnish has collaborated with is superstar Rajinikanth. Mohnish and Rajinikanth shared screen space in Meri Adalat (1984). At the time, Mohnish was unaware of Rajinikanth’s star status, and said that his stature in society was revealed to him his driver.
“One day, I was being driven back from the sets of Meri Adalat to the hotel. The driver pointed at a structure on the road and told me in broken English, ‘Sir Rajini sir building’. I understood that he told me that it is Rajinikanth’s building. I asked, ‘So you mean to say that our film hero, Mr Rajinikanth, lives in this building?’. He replied, ‘No no…his building’. I told him that I didn’t understand. He informed me that he owns this building. We went a few meters ahead and again, ‘Sir Rajini building’. I was like, ‘Didn’t he own the building we saw previously?’. He said, ‘No, this building also’ (laughs)! He showed me three more buildings which were also owned him. I asked the driver, ‘Is Rajinikanth a big film star?’. He told me, ‘Sir, top film star. Superstar. You don’t know, sir?’.”
During the chat, Mohnish Bahl opened up about the most successful movie of his career, Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit-starrer Hum Aapke Hain Koun (HAHK). Stating that it is very difficult to predict what will work at the box office and strike a chord with the audience, Mohnish recounted a funny early reaction to HAHK.
“The film industry thinks in terms of what works. I don’t blame them. When Hum Aapke Hain Koun was released, some said that ‘Yeh toh Punjabi shaadi ka video hai,’” the actor mentioned lightly.
Mohnish Bahl was last seen in the 2019 release Panipat, which starred Arjun Kapoor and Kriti Sanon in lead roles.