Feb 07, 2025 09:32 AM IST
Mamta Kulkarni starred alongside Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan in the 1995 superhit Karan Arjun.
Mamta Kulkarni has given up acting and chosen the spiritual path for herself. The former actor was in the news recently for her controversial appointment – and subsequent dismissal – as the Mahamandaleshwar of the Kinnar Akhada. In a new interview, Mamta spoke about her acting career and memories from the 90s. (Also read: Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan ‘mocked, tormented’ Rakesh Roshan during Karan Arjun shoot: ‘We were very naughty’)
Mamta Kulkarni on Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan
In a conversation with India TV, Mamta addressed her Karan Arjun co-star Salman Khan’s claim that she shouted at him and Shah Rukh when they were on the film’s sets 30 years ago. Mamta denied shouting at them and said the episode began when the choreographer Chinni Prakash sent for her one day. The actor recalled, “Then I went up. There were stairs, when I was climbing up, both Salman and Shah Rukh passed by me and they sniggered. I was quiet. It was about 8 in the evening, and I went to the masterji. He told me, ‘This particular step, you will do it alone.’ I was like, ‘What are you saying?’”
Mamta realised the next morning during the shoot that Salman and Shah Rukh had mischievously convinced the choreographer to give her the more complex steps and then tried to mess up the song. “The next morning, the first shot was mine. My very first shot was approved. And I saw both Shah Rukh and Salman watching me from behind a bush. And they are laughing again. The next shot was theirs. They had to do a step on their knees in between 5,000 people. They took so many retakes. The director eventually shouted pack up. We all ran to our rooms. I knew last evening they played with me. I didn’t want to give them the opportunity to make the choreographer assign all the steps to me. So when they ran up, so did I. As soon as I came, Salman stopped me and shut the door on my face. This was it,” she recalled.
Mamta Kulkarni’s acting career
Karan Arjun, directed by Rakesh Roshan, was a huge box-office success. It reaffirmed Salman’s status as a lead star and established Shah Rukh as a major box-office draw. The film also marked the zenith in Mamta Kulkarni’s career. After that, she worked in films such as Ghatak, China Gate, and Censor but quit Bollywood by 2003. Mamta now lives as a monk.
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