You must have heard numerous tales of Bollywood stars pulling off the most bizarre of pranks on sets of their films. Here's our compilation of some hilarious ones, as Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani completes seven years of its release on May 31, 2020.
Updated On: 2018-04-01 06:53 PM IST
When Ranbir got Aditya, Kalki drunk: While shooting for one of the scenes in Yeh Jaawani Hai Deewani, Ranbir Kapoor replaced the water in a couple of shot glasses with real vodka. A song sequence required Kalki Koechlin and Aditya Roy Kapoor to drink from shot glasses. As is the usual norm, water was poured into the glasses. But Ranbir decided to replace the water with actual vodka. Both his co-stars were left quite shocked. But once they realised Ranbir's prank, Kalki and Aditya apparently doubled up in laughter.
Bloody Ajay: Ajay Devgn played a prank on Sajid Khan in the hotel where they were staying while shooting in Hyderabad for Himmatwala. Devgn managed to sneak into Sajid's bathroom and leave blood prints on the mirror and walls. And not for a moment did the director suspect that it was the actor's handiwork. Sajid was in the room watching a cricket match and had used the washroom. He then got busy with a phone call. When he entered the bathroom again, he was shocked to see the bloodstains.
Ajay-Rohit's spirited talk: The cast of Golmaal 3 decided to scare Kareena Kapoor while shooting at a hotel. They planned the whole prank in advance. When Bebo was on the set one day, Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty casually began discussing how a woman was killed in the hotel. They even told her that the lady's spirit roams around in a white saree late night and visits all the villas, suites and rooms at the hotel. To spook her further, they added that it is a very angry spirit that roamed the hotel and it even killed a guest staying at the hotel. The actor, who was staying in a suite, was naturally scared and kept shouting at them to stop discussing these ghastly details, but they mercilessly continued!
'Fan'cy this! A Jaipur-based fan was taken to the sets where Ajay Devgn was shooting. Poor guy, he was so excited till he came across director Rohit Shetty who raved and ranted about what he was doing on the sets. The unsuspecting fan started his rona-dhona till he saw Ajay standing right in front of him! Apparently, Ajay and Rohit wanted to do some prank!
Katrina's Omelette woes: Akshay Kumar's prank on MasterChef Indis almost left Katrina Kaif in tears. The judges spat the omelette that she had personally whipped up on the show after tasting it. It took Katrina a while to figure out the reason why her preparation turned out so badly. Akshay poured a whole cup of salt into the omelette, which made it unpalatable. Though Akshay cracked up in glee at his own prank, Katrina was not amused.
20 spoons for Kajal!: Kajal Aggarwal, who featured with Akshay Kumar in Special 26, had a hard time getting over her co-star's antics. During an event in Nagpur, Akshay put something heavy in her bag. Kajal didn't pay too much heed as the room was too crowded and the interactions with the media were on. Once the interactions were over, Kajal and the rest of the cast proceeded towards the exit where she was stopped by the security. The actress was taken aback but proceeded to open her bag. The security guard found 20 steel spoons. Onlookers couldn't stop laughing as the guard told Akshay, 'Sahab mil gaya!'
Akki, the journo: Akshay pulled another prank on the same actor. Akki told the publicity person to connect a journalist's call to Kajal for an interview and posed as the journalist himself! For 20 minutes, she was answering his questions, not even realising that it was Akshay sitting on the backseat in the same vehicle!
When Emraan got dirty: During the shoot of Ekta Kapoor's The Dirty Picture in Hyderabad, Emraan Hashmi played a 'dirty' prank on the film's leading lady, Vidya Balan. One day, photoshoots were happening with Vidya, Emraan and Tusshar Kapoor at the studio. While Vidya was shooting pictures in a complete Silk Smitha get up, with a plunging neckline and a short skirt, Emraan was fairly free and just hanging around. He held a glass of soft drink in his hands, pretended it was alcohol and started ogling at her. He even started winking and making faces at her. Vidya was baffled. Looking at the glass in Emraan's hand, she thought he was drunk and asked him not to distract her. To this, he quickly added, 'But what to do, you are looking very hot'. Vidya got really hassled with his behaviour and complained to the production managers. Seeing Vidya seething with rage, a production guy couldn't control himself and burst into laughter. Soon everyone on the sets, including Emraan, joined him. Vidya was bewildered to see everyone laughing but soon realised that she was made a 'bakra'.
Nana gets a chappal as a gift: Ajay Devgn struck again during Raajneeti, and this time the prankster's victim was co-star Katrina Kaif. Ajay took Arjun Rampal and Manoj Bajpayee into confidence. The trio walked up to Katrina and told her it was Nana's birthday and that they were throwing a party for him. They told her that she had to dress modestly in Indian attire, as Nana was very particular about how women dressed. Kat hurriedly dressed up in a salwar-kameez and walked up to Nana with a box given by Ajay. When Nana opened the box he was shocked to find old underwear, a single chappal and a fake moustache as a gift. Kat was horrified. She was embarrassed and turned beet red. Everyone including Ajay, Arjun and Manoj started laughing hysterically. Nana finally told her it was a prank and that she should be more careful with Ajay from now on.
Only boxers for Ali: Ali Zafar became a victim of a prank on the sets of Chashme Buddoor. One day before the shoot of the popular track Har Ek Friend Kamina Hota Hai, Ali was told by his notorious co-stars Siddharth and Divyendu Sharma that Davidji had included another sequence in the song where he would have to be in his boxers only. At first, Ali did not believe them and checked with David. The director too went along with them on the prank. During every rehearsal, Ali would strip to his boxers and everyone started laughing. He was really puzzled. It was much later he realised what his Kaminey friends had been up to
Anna's car-nama: Suniel Shetty was up to his usual pranks while shooting for Afra Tafri, he decided to con co-star Yuvika Chaudhary. He went to her vanity van and informed her that he had heard the action director discussing a car stunt which would feature her. As the then-starlet had no clue about it, she asked him for more details. But he pretended to be busy and later behaved as if he did not know what she was talking about. This went on for a while, leading an exasperated Yuvika to go marching to the director only to find that Anna had been playing the joker.
Jimmy's horror show: Jimmy Shergill's haunted tales kept the unit of Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster sequel on tenterhooks during the shoot in Gujarat. Just before the wrap-up, Jimmy decided to play a prank with his co-stars Soha Ali Khan and Anjana Sukhani. As they were holed up in a palace at Baria, near Vadodara, for a long schedule, Jimmy told the unit members that the surrounding areas were haunted and the presence of wildlife there further added to the eerie feeling. The unit members were used to the unusual sounds in the night of animals so they believed Jimmy's haunted tales. The whole unit had the habit of taking walks in the surrounding area after the shoot. But after hearing him they stayed indoors out of fear.
Vivek's pain in the back: On the sets of first-time director Jayantabhai Ki Luv Story, Vivek Oberoi decided to pull a fast one on Neha Sharma. For a particular sequence, Vivek was to carry Neha on his shoulders. Vivek kept complaining about a pain in the back. Neha was very careful not to exert pressure on his back. But Vivek started moaning in pain after a while. The actor even accused Neha of hurting his back. Neha was about to burst into tears when Vivek and the crew told her the truth.
Vivek's ghostly talk: On a night shift, between 10 pm and 5 am, at the Kamalistan Studios, Vivek Oberoi executed his plan of scaring Mallika Sherawat when the two were shooting together for a film. Vivek started discussing the marriage of Kamal Amrohi and Meena Kumari in front of all the crew members. He started narrating to the crew how Meena Kumari's ghost is still believed to roam through the halls of the studio and how many people have spotted her spirit. Mallika got really scared. Vivek even cooked up some story about a haunted tree on the sets to scare Mallika even further. So much so that the actress freaked out and even asked director Sachin Khanduri to remove the tree from the sets and replace it with a new one.
Shreyas and Rajeev's runaway act: When Shreyas Talpade, Muzammil Ibrahim and Rajeev Khandelwal were in New Delhi for an event for their film Will You Marry Me?, Shreyas and Rajeev played a prank on Muzammil. They drove off in their cars leaving him at the venue with the organisers. While they partied, Muzammil was left making arrangements for his pick-up from the venue.
Not so Charm(ee)ing: South actress Charmee was in for a shock on the sets of Zilla Ghaziabad in Wai, when she was told that one of the scenes requires her to shoot with a panther. Bewildered, she ran to the director to ask him how she would manage, when she caught her co-actors Vivek Oberoi and Arshad Warsi laughing. It was a prank they played to make her feel at ease on the sets.
Sanju lifts Rahul baba: Sanjay Dutt resorted to some dadagiri while shooting on the Hyderabad sets of Policegiri. The actor made the producer TP Aggarwal's son Rahul hang from a harness situated 40 feet above the ground as a joke. Sanjay had to jump off a harness high above the ground. The crew was sent to fix the cables and wait for the scene to be shot. Sanjay, who gets along quite well with Rahul, joked to the rest of the unit members how they should subject him too to the same fate. The team hoisted Rahul on the harness and apparently the poor guy had to beg the unit folk to bring him down.
When Prateik was interviewed: It doesn't take much to pull a prank on Prateik Babbar. RJ Siddharth Kannan recently had the honour of doing just that. When Prateik was on Siddharth's show, he mistook a staffer for singer Mohit Chauhan. Siddharth then cashed in and told the actor that 'Mohit' wanted to interview him. In the hilarious interview that followed, Prateik made many confessions, including telling the staffer that he was a big fan of his and loved his music. He even made Mohit's lookalike sing him a tune. When the joke had gone on for too long, Sid burst out laughing and told Prateik about the prank. A zapped Prateik couldn't believe what had just happened. But he was sporting enough to see the humour in the situation.
Anurag's party prank: Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap also pulled a prank on his friends along with the co-producer of Trishna, Guneet Monga. The duo called up all their friends for a surprise party in Madh Island, Mumbai. They did not reveal the venue but arranged transport from the Madh jetty. The message was sent to friends via Facebook. So when Anurag's friend's reached the venue they realised that it was basically the film set of Freida Pinto's Trishna and they were supposed to act as guests in the party scene for the film. Anurag's strategy helped to save some production money and added a lot of authenticity to the scene.