Jugal Hansraj Reveals Why Shabana Azmi Was Cold Towards Him During Masoom Shoot: ‘Used To Keep A Distance…’

Actor Jugal Hansraj made his unforgettable debut as a child artist in Shekhar Kapur’s directorial debut Masoom, which was released in 1983. The film also starred Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, and Saeed Jaffrey. Recently, in an interview with Pinkvilla, Jugal Hansraj recalled Masoom days, and revealed that she avoided having any conversation with him during the film’s shoot. He recalled that she would keep a distance from him on the film’s set, as she is a ‘method actor’.

Jugal Hansraj Recalls Filming Masoom With Shabana Azmi

In a conversation with Pinkvilla, Jugal Hansraj said that he and Shabana Azmi would stay away from each other on Masoom set, as she is a ‘method actor’. He explained, “Woh dono bachchiyon ke saath bohot friendly thi, kyunki vo maa thi aur vo unke bachchey the film mein. Lekin

mujhse thoda doori rakhti thi Shabana Ji. (She was very friendly with the other two girls because she was playing their mom in the movie, but she used to keep a distance from me).”

However, Jugal Hansraj later realised that it was because the senior actress wanted to perfect her craft and make their troubled relationship in the movie seem real. “Baad mein pata laga that it was part of her process that she didn’t want us to become close because wo coldness jo hai wo screen pe dikhni chahiye. Sabko pata chala ke ek discomfort hai mujh mein aur maa mein bhi. Toh vo both khoobsurati se unhoney kiya tha.” (I later got to know that it was part of her process, and she didn’t want us to become close because the audience should feel the coldness between us on the screen. Everyone was able to see the discomfort between the two characters, Indu Malhotra (played by Shabana Azmi) and Rahul Malhotra (played by young Jugal Hansraj). That she did beautifully),” recalled Jugal Hansraj.

Jugal Hansraj’s Work Front

On the professional front, Jugal Hansraj was recently seen in The Family Man season 3. Before this, he starred in Ibrahim Ali Khan and Khushi Kapoor starrer Nadaaniyan, which released on Netflix in March 2025.