Veteran actor Jeetendra delivered multiple films every year in his hay days. The actor saw 8-10 releases in a year and had earned the name of the ‘jumping jack of Bollywood’ for his dancing style. However, the actor suffered a massive loss of ₹2.5 crore in 1982 after his much anticipated film Deedar-E-Yaar flopped at the box office. But the actor forgot everything when his next film with Sridevi, Himmatwala, turned out to be one of the biggest blockbusters of his career.

“With the release of Himmatwala, I bounced back. I made so much money. I forget my loss. And life went on. Two things – Raghavendra Rao and Telugu brought me back to life. Himmatwala was a roaring success,” Jeetendra had said on K Raghavendra Rao’s talk show Soundarya Lahiri. Himmatwala was directed by Rao.

Directed by Harnam Singh Rawail and presented by Jeetendra, Deedar-E-Yaar was in the making for five years but when it eventually released, it flopped at the box office. Jeetendra went on to suffer a loss of ₹2.5 crore in those times. The film also starred Rishi Kapoor, Rekha and Tina Munim.

Fortunately, the tide soon turned to his favour as he was about to star in Himmatwala opposite Sridevi. “I was so happy when he (Raghavendra Rao) said Sridevi was going to star next to me. I used to call Sridevi and Jaya Prada my bread and butter,” he said. 

After Himmatwala released in 1983, all Jeetendra wanted was to work with Sridevi in every film, who became a star with her hit dance numbers and glamorous onscreen presence. The two went on to work in 16 films thereafter, 13 of which were successes.

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However, Sridevi, who became a star in Bollywood with Himmatwala, called it her ‘bad luck’. According to PTI, a book named Sridevi: Queen of Hearts had mentioned an excerpt from one of Sridevi’s interviews. The late actor had said, “In Tamil films, they love to see me act naturally. But in Hindi films they want a lot of glamour, richness and masala. My bad luck was that my first big hit in Hindi films turned out to be a commercial one (Himmatwala).” The actor was mostly offered glamourous roles post the film’s success and was given the title of ‘Thunder Thighs’ after the popularity of her dance number Naino Mein Sapna.