When one thinks of crime action films, one always thinks of Khal Nayak. The 1993 film has Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit, and Jackie Shroff in lead roles. Last year, it marked its 30th anniversary. Recently, director Subhash Ghai spoke about the cult classic film in an interview with ANI. Ghai revealed that many actors approached him to play the lead role, and mentioned that actor Anil Kapoor even offered to go bald for the film’s negative role. Ghai recalled, “When news broke out in the market that I am making Khal Nayak, many heroes approached me as they wanted to be a part of the film. Anil Kapoor came and expressed his interest in doing the film. He even got ready to be bald. Sanjay Dutt was the right fit.”
When asked why he chose Sanjay Dutt over other eager actors, the National Award winning director said, “Sanjay Dutt has a typical face. He can be dangerous, he can be innocent. If you look at his face, there is an innocence to it but at the same time, if he becomes angry, he is truly dangerous. He operates in two shades and that is why he was the best choice for Khal Nayak. I told him to just follow me and he did exactly that. Every scene in Khal Nayak, he copied them as I wrote them in great detail. I was also a performer so that helped as well.”
In 1993, Khal Nayak became the second highest-grossing Hindi film, towering behind Govinda’s Aankhen. Khal Nayak also secured 11 nominations at the 39th Filmfare Awards in 1994 and won two of them – Best Female Playback Singer to Alka Yagnik and Ila Arun for Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai, and Best Choreography to Saroj Khan for Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai.
The song Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai was a superhit, but many people deemed it too ‘vulgar’. Additionally, the film got negative publicity after Sanjay Dutt was arrested under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention Act) and the Arms Act months before the film’s release.
Talking about these controversies, Ghai said, “Sanjay’s arrest did not majorly impact the making of the film but yes there was a lot of noise in the media. I felt bad that he went to jail. We had already finished the shooting part of the film when he got arrested, only the last court scene was in the making when all that happened.” He added, “The main hardship we faced was due to ‘Choli Ke Peeche’ song. People labelled it ‘vulgar’ and protests happened. Around 32 political units came and protested against me. They demanded a ban, many even claimed that I was promoting a terrorist.”
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