Actor Sunny Deol has always been hesitant in the matter of dance. During the shooting of the 1989 film Chaalbaaz, he disappeared from the set for two hours when he had to shoot a dance sequence with the late Sridevi for the song Na Jaane Kahan Se. The film’s director Pankaj Parashar shared this funny incident in a recent interview.

Pankaj recalled during an interview with YouTuber Siddharth Kannan, “Na jaane kahan se song – we only had three days to shoot it because the strike was going on.” The director had made a storyboard for the song, which impressed Sridevi but worried choreographer Saroj Khan. “Saroj ji called me and said, ‘Madam is happy, but now I have to take unique steps.’ I said, ‘We will make Sunny dance,'” Pankaj shared.

He further added, “So, we started shooting. We were all coming up with ideas on the spot. Then it was Sunny’s turn to dance. He looked towards the stairs and said, ‘I’ll just come from the bathroom.’ And then, he didn’t come back. There was no trace of him for two hours.”

When Sunny Deol was missing, Sridevi, Saroj Khan and the rest of the Chaalbaaz crew were waiting for him. Meanwhile, Sri (Sridevi) was standing there and asking, ‘Where is the hero?’ Then finally he came back and did it. To this day I don’t know where he went. But eventually he performed and the entire unit applauded,” said Pankaj.

The director also revealed that a portion of the song was shot while Sridevi was suffering from 101 degree fever. Despite the challenges, she was thrilled with the end result. “After the shoot, he said to me, ‘You shot a classic.’ I still remember his words,” the filmmaker recalled.

Before leaving the set, Sridevi gave a cash reward to the entire cast and crew and expressed her happiness over how the song turned out.

Chaalbaaz, which also starred Rajinikanth in the lead role, was a superhit upon its release in 1989.