Actress Deepshikha Nagpal recently opened up about the stark contrast between Bollywood stars of the 90s and the current generation of actors. In an interview with Bollywood Bubble, she reflected on the simplicity and humility she witnessed on sets back in the day — particularly recalling her time shooting Koyla (1997) with Shah Rukh Khan .

Deepshikha pointed out how acting wasn’t considered a “respected” profession earlier, and the focus was purely on the craft. “Acting was not a profession before; it was not a respected job. Now, everybody wants to become an actor; they want vanity vans and staff. I have seen Shah Rukh Khan working in Koyla. There were no vanity vans back then. He would just sleep there in the midst of coal mine machinery and flashing lights. The focus was on work. That we need to finish this scene by this date,” she said.

Video

Salman Khan too had no entourage in the early days

Deepshikha also recalled the simplicity of Salman Khan during his earlier years in the industry. She said that both Shah Rukh and Salman were grounded and approachable on set.

“I’ve even seen how Salman once shot for films. Big stars would get a big makeup room. He would walk alone from the set to his makeup room without a bodyguard or security. They were so humble, we used to have lunch together,” she said. “After working for 30 years, they demand [entourages] today because they have such a fan following.”

What’s next for SRK and Salman?

On the work front, Shah Rukh Khan is gearing up for King, directed by Siddharth Anand, where he’ll share screen space with daughter Suhana Khan and actor Abhishek Bachchan. Meanwhile, Salman Khan is yet to announce his next project following this year’s release of Sikandar.