While many know directors Vinay Sapru and Radhika Rao for their romantic film Sanam Teri Kasam, not everyone would know that the duo has been instrumental in shaping the visual music scene in India from the 1990s to today. From working with Bollywood’s biggest stars to crafting some of the most memorable music videos of that era, their behind-the-scenes stories are as cinematic as their work. In a recent conversation on the Hindi Rush Podcast, the duo shared anecdotes from their decades-long career—one of the standout moments being how they discovered Shahid Kapoor, then just a young dancer, and cast him in the song “Aankhon Mein Tera Chehra.”
Vinay Sapru recalled how the casting for the song began. “We were looking for a sweet, little boy,” he said, and their search led them to the famous choreographer Shiamak Davar. “Shiamak told us, ‘This cute boy you’re looking for, he’s in my class. You must come and look.’ So I went to the class, and there was Shahid, dancing in the background,” Vinay remembered. Radhika Rao, who wasn’t initially involved in the casting, added, “Vinay came to the office and said, ‘We’ve found a cute, urban Archie. You have to come and see this boy.’ Then he told me, ‘He’s Pankaj ji’s son, Neelima ji’s son.’ And I was like, okay, let’s see.”
Radhika vividly remembers her first impression of the young Shahid. “My God, Shahid was so cute to look at, and an outstanding dancer. And when we started shooting… hum logon ke paas itni rushes aati thi… as a director, when you edit, you look for the correct take. Aap struggle karte ho ki iss expression ke baad aap cut do.” (We used to get so much footage… and as a director, when editing, you struggle to find that one perfect expression to cut the scene on.) She further added, “But Shahid was that one actor jiska har take kamaal ka tha. Hum log confuse ho jaate the ki ye take rakhein ya woh take rakhein.” (Shahid was that rare actor whose every take was brilliant. We were constantly confused about which one to keep.) She recalled that he always had a spark in him, and they could see he was destined to become a sensation in the future. “Even at the edit table, we realised he was a superstar. He didn’t even know his own potential at the time.”
Vinay added, “There’s a shot in the song where the alarm rings and he gets up… Radhika saw that edit and said, ‘This boy is a superstar. Look at that expression, he’s going to be unstoppable.’” Radhika elaborated on what makes an actor camera-friendly: “Kya hota hai jab aap shoot karte ho… kuch actors hote hain jinke chehre pe aap camera kahin bhi laga do, woh ache lagte hain.” (When you shoot, some actors are so photogenic that you can place the camera anywhere on their face, and they’ll still look great.) She gave an example of Salman Khan to illustrate her point, and said, “Like Bhai, Salman Sir, is like that. You can put the camera anywhere, and he looks amazing. He has that perfect proportion of features, so you don’t have to cheat the angles. With Shahid, it was the same. Any angle, he just looked like a star. Now, in hindsight, we feel he was meant for greater things. Even in his first appearance, he was phenomenal.”
Radhika also shared insights into working with Salman, someone they’ve collaborated with multiple times. “Salman sir ke saath kya hota hai… you have to be on your toes. You have to be smarter than him if you’re directing him, because he is very, very smart.” She explained how Salman grew up around stories, absorbing knowledge from an early age, making him a natural storyteller. “If anybody tells you Salman sir is careless, it’s the biggest lie on the surface of the earth. Woh apna poora din sirf observation mein spend karte hain… hum log phir bhi chook jaate hain, woh nahi chookte. Woh 24×7 sirf filmon, kahaniyon, gaanon, aur logon ke baare mein sochte hain.” (He spends his entire day observing… we might slip up, but he doesn’t. He’s constantly thinking about films, stories, music, and people.)
They added, “So if you want to give him an opinion or contribute to a scene, you better come prepared with logic and confidence because he’s already thought ten steps ahead. You can’t work with him in fear.” Radhika and Vinay directed Salman in the film Lucky: No Time for Love.
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