'Shah Rukh Khan has injured my soul': Manoj Kumar once filed Rs 100 crore defamation suit against SRK during Om Shanti Om, here's why

The late actor Manoj Kumar passed away recently at the age of 87. Many superstars, including Shah Rukh Khan, paid homage to the superstar who proved to be a legend of Hindi cinema. Today, we will tell you about a time when Manoj Kumar had an apparent rift with Shah Rukh Khan. DYK Manoj Kumar, the patriotic and romantic hero of many movies from the 1960s and 70s, had famously filed a defamation case against superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan for parodying him in their superhit film Om Shanti Om.

Manoj Kumar, who died on Tuesday due to age-related issues, was upset with a scene in the Farah Khan-directed movie, which featured cameos by many industry stalwarts, including Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra.

The scene sees Shah Rukh's character Om imitating Kumar's famous palm across-face gesture to gain entry to the premiere of a film featuring Shanti Priya, played by Deepika Padukone.

In the film, when the real Manoj Kumar turns up for the premiere, he is shooed away by the guards.

Kumar, at the time, had expressed his displeasure over the scene and requested the makers to remove the scene from the film. He went to a civil court, which ordered the makers to remove the objectionable scenes before the satellite screening.

The actor once said in a statement, "I am hurt. Shah Rukh Khan has injured my soul. It’s a conspiracy to humiliate and ridicule me. This is not filmmaking. My devotion to filmdom for the last 50 years has been insulted."

Shah Rukh personally apologised to the cinema veteran, and the scene was chopped from the movie. But the matter didn't end there.

The scene resurfaced in a print of the film when it was released in Japan six years later, prompting Kumar to file a defamation lawsuit of Rs 100 crores against Shah Rukh Khan and production banner Eros International in April 2013.

"The film was released in Japan without deleting those scenes. I had forgiven them twice, but not this time. They have disrespected me. They also face contempt of court, as in 2008, the court had asked them to forever and from all print and broadcast material, delete those scenes," Manoj Kumar had told PTI.

"I don't have any personal clash with Shah Rukh Khan. He is a nice person, but when it comes to my self-respect, I can't compromise on it," he had said.

Shah Rukh had commented on the matter, saying, "I don't know much about it... Very honestly, I had personally apologised to him then. My respect goes to all actors who are older and younger than me. Distributors have made a genuine mistake... old print was sent. He has done a legal thing. He is welcome to do that. I don't take it personally."

Manoj Kumar later withdrew the case.

(With PTI inputs)

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