Iconic Movie Scenes You Didn’t Know Were Unscripted

Movies gain popularity not only because of the actors who play the various characters or the film’s director but also because of their famous dialogues, action sequences and phenomenal storylines.

More often than not, scenes that you’ve grown to love were never a part of the film’s original script and were in fact improvised!

Here are some iconic movie scenes you didn’t know were unscripted.

1. Titanic (1997)

‘Titanic’, one of James Cameron’s most acclaimed movies, was an incredibly successful film when it released and has remained a beloved movie ever since. 

 In the movie, one surely remembers the iconic scene when Leonardo, as Jack, yells, “I’m the king of the world” from atop the ship. 

Unlike the usual cases of actors improvising on set, in this, James Cameron was actually the one who came up with the now-iconic line.

2. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) 

There are hardly any people who are unaware of the Marvel franchise and the craze and passion that the fans have for their favourite superheroes and their movies.

In the film Avengers: Infinity War, one of the most heartbreaking scenes was when Peter Parker (Tom Holland) held onto his mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and repeated the line, “I don’t wanna go”. 

This scene was entirely improvised by actor Tom Holland who was only given the scene’s context before the shooting commenced.

3. The Devil Wears Prada (2006) 

Apart from her many well-known roles, Meryl Streep is also lauded for playing the character Miranda Priestly in the movie ‘The Devil Wears Prada’.

In the scene where Miranda and Andy (Anne Hathaway) are having a heart-to-heart conversation in a car in Paris, Meryl Streep altered one of her lines in the monologue from “Everyone wants to be me” to “Everyone wants to be us”.

And there it was – another iconic line that made it to the final movie sequence!

4. Piku (2015) 

In the well-known movie Piku, the director, Shoojit Sircar,  wanted the actors, Irrfan Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone, to enact the ‘knife scene’ without a script and with their own dialogue delivery. 

From the banter between Amitabh Bachchan and Irrfan Khan to Deepika Padukone throwing the knife on the ground,  the entire scene was an improv.

5. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) 

While it is common knowledge that DDLJ is one of Bollywood’s most popular movies, what may be lesser known is that the pigeon-feeding scene in the movie had not been a part of the film’s original script. 

Shah Rukh Khan had begun feeding the pigeons earlier on set, following which Amrish Puri had imitated him, and this led to the iconic “Aao Aao” sequence.

Read More: People Are Cancelling Warner Bros. Movies And Here’s Why

6. The Dark Knight ( 2008)

Actor Heath Ledger, who popularised the well-known villain, The Joker in The Dark Knight Trilogy, was known for his incredible acting skills. The iconic scene in which The Joker blows up Gotham Hospital had not gone according to the movie’s script. 

When Heath Ledger pressed the button for the building to blow up, only a small explosion occurred. The actor looked visibly confused in the scene and then was startled when the bigger explosion took place.

The entire scene was supposed to be done in one take and was saved by Heath Ledger’s improvisation!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91TbwAmsIfU

7. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (2002)

In the second movie of the Harry Potter series, actor Tom Felton had actually improvised a line during the scene when Harry and Ron posed as Crabbe and Goyle after drinking the Polyjuice Potion.

Felton added the line “I didn’t know you could read” in the scene, which was unanimously agreed to be true to Malfoy’s character and thus it remained a part of the movie.

8. Gangs Of Wasseypur (2012)

In the popular Bollywood drama movie Gangs of Wasseypur, Huma Qureshi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui improvised a scene based on one of Nawazuddin’s real-life incidents. 

This particular scene was when the characters were seated next to a pond and were engaged in hilarious banter over Nawazuddin’s attempt to hold Qureshi’s hand without her permission.

It is interesting how these unplanned, spontaneous moments have become an intrinsic part of the movies, and also have found their way into pop culture.

Sources:  Insider, BookMyShow, YouTube

Image Credits: Google Images

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