Suneel Darshan reflects on 19 or is it 25 years since the release of his Mere Jeevan Saathi which starred Akshay Kumar, Karisma Kapoor and Ameesha Patel.
Mera Jeevan Saathi which was your troublesome project completes nineteen years on February 3?
For me, Mere Jeevan Saathi completes 25 years of birth as it was planned closely after the release of JAANWAR in 1999… although it took almost 6 years to reach the screens. The veteran producer Mr. Suraj Prakash was himself a director, having made hits Jab Jab Phool Khile and Aamne Saamne in the 1960s besides having directed films for Rajshri Productions and Mr. Gulshan Kumar’s Aaja Sanam(1990s)… His son, Bobby Anand, was then an aggressive technician and film distributor of the 1990s and the initiator of the Mere Jeevan Saathi project.
You cast Akshay Kumar with Karisma Kapoor and Ameesha Patel?
Casting leading actress Karisma Kapoor was a forgone conclusion as I felt that she deserved to be featured in the central role of this movie, along with Akshay Kumar as the leading man and Ameesha Patel, who had emerged with the success of Kaho Na Pyaar Hai and Gadar joined in to complete the principal casting of the triangular love story.
The film suffered lengthy delays?
The filming commenced after the release of my Ek Rishtaa-The Bond Of Love in early 2002, and we were ready almost halfway when a major international outdoor schedule fell apart due to the production’s financial crisis and then came to a standstill for almost until two years when after the success of Andaaz and thereafter, the filming was resumed after a gap of two years.
This must have been a major setback?
This was a heartbreaking experience as I was keen to make this intensely passionate subject and gave it my best efforts… While the filming was completed in early 2005, MJS finally hit screens only a year later in February 2006. I still maintain that it was a movie made with great passion and sincerity of my entire team comprising of artists. While Karisma and Ameesha performed amazingly, Akshay looked really handsome in his prime.
