Ameesha Patel reveals fans stopped Bobby Deol from hugging her on 'Humraaz' set
Synopsis
Ameesha Patel's latest anecdote is a perfect time capsule of 2001 India: fans at Jaipur Fort were so consumed by 'Gadar' that they heckled Bobby Deol — Sunny Deol's real brother — for daring to hug 'Sakeena' on the 'Humraaz' set. It is a story about a film shoot, but really it is about the kind of mass hysteria that only a handful of Indian films have ever generated.
Key Takeaways
Ameesha Patel shared the incident on 'India's Best Dancer Season 5' .
Fans at Jaipur Fort interrupted the climax shoot of 'Humraaz' (2002) , refusing to let Bobby Deol hug her on camera.
The crowd confused Patel's real identity with her 'Gadar' character Sakeena , shouting that she 'belongs to Tara Singh.' The shoot was paused until the crowd dispersed; the scene was eventually completed without incident.
Patel and Sunny Deol later reunited for 'Gadar 2' , another major box-office success.
Actress Ameesha Patel has shared a laugh-out-loud memory from the making of Abbas-Mustan's 2002 thriller 'Humraaz' — one that shows just how deeply 'Gadar: Ek Prem Katha' had gripped the Indian imagination. Speaking on the dance reality show 'India's Best Dancer Season 5', Patel revealed that an overenthusiastic crowd at Jaipur Fort nearly derailed the film's climax shoot by refusing to let co-star Bobby Deol hug her on camera.
What Happened at Jaipur Fort
The incident unfolded during the filming of 'Humraaz''s climax sequence at Jaipur Fort, where Bobby Deol was required to embrace Patel on cue. The moment 'action' was called, bystanders in the assembled crowd began shouting in protest — not at the filmmakers, but at Bobby Deol himself.
Recalling the scene, Ameesha said: 'Chhod de! Yeh toh tere bhai ki amanat hain! Tara Singh isko Pakistan se leke aaya hain, chhoona mat isse!' — which translates to: 'Leave her! She belongs to your brother! Tara Singh brought her back from Pakistan, don't touch her!'
The crowd, it turned out, had entirely conflated Patel's on-screen identity as Sakeena from 'Gadar' with her real presence on set. The shoot had to be paused until the crowd was dispersed. 'We kept telling them to calm down as it was only a film shoot,' Patel recalled. 'Eventually, after the crowd dispersed, we completed the scene without hurting anyone's sentiments.'
The 'Gadar' Phenomenon Behind the Confusion
The incident underscores the extraordinary cultural impact of 'Gadar: Ek Prem Katha', directed by Anil Sharma and released in 2001 — just a year before 'Humraaz'. Patel's portrayal of Sakeena opposite Sunny Deol's iconic Tara Singh had made her a household name almost overnight. The film became one of the biggest box-office hits in Indian cinema history and triggered an unprecedented wave of fan frenzy that, as this anecdote illustrates, outlasted the film's theatrical run.
Notably, the crowd's protest was directed at Bobby Deol — Sunny Deol's real-life brother — making the confusion all the more layered. Fans were, in effect, defending a fictional character's honour in front of the fictional villain's actual sibling.
About 'Humraaz'
'Humraaz', directed by the Abbas-Mustan duo and released in 2002, featured Bobby Deol, Akshaye Khanna, Ameesha Patel, Johnny Lever, and Suhasini Mulay. Even after more than 24 years, the thriller is remembered for its gripping storyline and chart-topping songs including 'Bardasht Nahi Kar Sakta' and 'Aankhein Band Karke'.
Patel and the Deols: Then and Now
Patel wrapped up her appearance on 'India's Best Dancer Season 5' with warm words for the family: 'It has always been wonderful working with the Deols. They are lovely people.' Her association with the Deol family did not end with 'Gadar' — she reunited with Sunny Deol more than two decades later for 'Gadar 2', which also emerged as a massive box-office success, proving that the franchise's hold on audiences remains as firm as ever.
Point of View
But Patel's anecdote captures something more revealing — the degree to which a film can colonise public consciousness so completely that audiences lose the boundary between screen and reality. The crowd's instinct to protect a fictional character from her real co-star's real brother speaks to a level of parasocial investment that modern streaming metrics simply cannot measure. It also, quietly, tells you why 'Gadar 2' was never really a risk — that audience was always there, waiting.
NationPress
3 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What incident did Ameesha Patel reveal about 'Humraaz'?
Ameesha Patel revealed that during the climax shoot of 'Humraaz' at Jaipur Fort, a crowd of fans refused to let Bobby Deol hug her, believing she was her 'Gadar' character Sakeena. The shoot had to be paused until the crowd dispersed.
Where did Ameesha Patel share this story?
She shared the anecdote as a special guest on the dance reality show 'India's Best Dancer Season 5'.
Why did the fans react that way on the 'Humraaz' set?
The fans had confused Ameesha Patel with her 'Gadar: Ek Prem Katha' character Sakeena, whose rescue by Sunny Deol's Tara Singh was central to the film's plot. They shouted that she 'belongs to your brother' — referring to Sunny Deol — and told Bobby Deol not to touch her.
What is 'Humraaz' and who starred in it?
'Humraaz' is a 2002 thriller directed by Abbas-Mustan, starring Bobby Deol, Akshaye Khanna, Ameesha Patel, Johnny Lever, and Suhasini Mulay. The film is remembered for its gripping storyline and hit songs like 'Bardasht Nahi Kar Sakta' and 'Aankhein Band Karke'.
Did Ameesha Patel and Sunny Deol work together again after 'Gadar'?
Yes. Ameesha Patel and Sunny Deol reunited more than two decades later for 'Gadar 2', which also turned out to be a major box-office success.
