Johny Lever on working with both Mithun and his son
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 19, 2019)

After working together in the 2001 drama Lajja, Johny Lever and Rajkumar Santoshi are reuniting for Bad Boy, which marks the acting debut of Mithun Chakraborty’s son Namashi and producer Sajid Qureshi’s daughter Amrin. The marathon schedule in Ooty is still going on but the veteran comedian has completed his portions in a week’s time. “I play Amrin’s relative from a Bengali family and have a hilarious face-off with her love interest Namashi which will bring the house down with laughter,” Johny promises, saying that Namashi, whom he has known since his childhood, is a talented actor. “He was born for the movies and I’m not saying this because he is Mithun Chakraborty’s son. He as a learnt a lot from his father and done several acting courses.”

Johny and Mithun worked together in several films. The one he recalls is Yugandhar (right) in which both played dacoits. “I could not get a shot right despite 12 retakes so Mithun stopped the shoot and requested the director to leave me alone for some time and advised me not to overthink the scene and in the course of a conversation, diverted my attention. When I returned after a break, it was okayed in one shot,” he recounts.

Next up: The reincarnation comedy Housefull 4 in which he teams up with daughter Jamie for the first time. “Even though I don’t have any scenes with her, our roles are connected. Mine has a surprise twist, we shot mainly in Jaisalmer. The sets were amazing,” he exults.