When Swaroop Sampat Asked Paresh Rawal To Join Her For The Exorcist

Paresh Rawal, one of the most versatile actors in Bollywood, has consistently left a mark with his performances. Whether it is our beloved Babu Bhaiya in the comedy classic Hera Pheri or taking on intense roles in Uri: The Surgical Strike, Rawal always stands out. Recently, his wife, actress Swaroop Sampat, shared a fun anecdote in an interview with The Lallantop. Sampat shared how Rawal invited her for a movie because he had “an extra ticket,” which she later discovered was actually a black ticket. They went to Liberty Cinema in Mumbai to watch Manmohan Desai’s 1977 comedy, Amar Akbar Anthony. Upon arriving at the theatre, Sampat found that the booked seats were far apart from each other. Despite this, she sat next to Rawal.

Sampat humorously said, “But Paresh is a real gentleman and it was too much stress for me. So, he’d always sit like this (cross armed) in the film and I’d think, ‘Is he going to hold my hand?’ I mean I’m talking of a 17-year-old girl, right?”

“I was not watching the film as I was like, ‘When he is going to hold my hand,’ it was such a tension,” she added.

For their second date, Sampat decided to break the ice by choosing William Friedkin’s 1973 horror classic film, The Exorcist. “It was not at all scary, but I was terrified. ’Paresh, I need to hold your hand!’ At least break the ice, man! That tension is too much, kab hoga wo haath pakadne ka silsila (when will that saga of holding hands start),” she added, laughing about the experience.

Swaroop also shared that she first met Rawal at a play. She was so impressed by his acting that she went backstage after the show to tell Rawal that she was a fan. “It was an incredible performance,” she said. Sampat further revealed that Rawal used to distribute free cigarettes to strangers while commuting across the city.

During the conversation, Sampat expressed her admiration for Rawal’s acting. She said, “What an actor. I mean he literally took my breath away. I don’t think I have ever seen such a great performance by anybody. I don’t think he has ever performed better than that.”

Paresh Rawal and Swaroop Sampat got married in 1987. They have two sons, Aditya and Anirudh.