30 Years Of Khal Nayak: Subhash Ghai Reveals Why He Chose Sanjay Dutt

The director Subhash Ghai discusses the difficulty of casting the movie and the decision to select Sanjay Dutt in the lead role.

Subhash Ghai's 'Khal Nayak' clocks in 30 years.

Source : PR Handout

New Delhi: The director Subhash Ghai discusses the difficulty of casting the movie and the decision to select Sanjay Dutt in the lead role.

Remember the hit song Naayak Nahi Khal Nayak Hu Main? These words from the 1993 film's title track, Khal Nayak, were the inspiration for the cult classic. "Every villain in the movie knows what a good man looks like, which is how the entire movie was scripted. For this reason, I refer to the antagonist as the film's tragic hero. And casting was the hardest part because I wanted to portray this concept well on screen," says Subhash Ghai as the movie completes its 30th anniversary.

Back then, every star yearned to be in the movie.
Subhash Ghai discusses how back then, every star wanted to work on Khal Nayak. He has collaborated with performers like Jackie Shroff, Rishi Kapoor, and Anil Kapoor. The director explains why he ultimately chose Sanjay Dutt above the other actors, saying, "It was very challenging for me to find the right fit." "When Sanju once questioned why I choose him for the part, I said that it was because of his eyes. Ek bachpana hai, ek bholapan hai, uski aankhon mein. But right after that, a man enraged by something appears. He portrays the son while also justifying the villain's role as a kidnapper and murderer," he said. 

However, it wasn't all. The 78-year-old goes on to state that finding an actor "who would completely surrender to the director" was another crucial consideration while casting for the role of Khal Nayak. In contrast to today, when stars and studios govern the industry, back then, the director held the highest authority.

Sanjay Dutt was selected by Subhash
Subhash continues, "I wanted to do it right because it was the 'main character'. For Sanju, I performed every scene in its entirety. That character was supposed to appear incredibly unpredictable, right? Whether he would fight or fall in love, you never know. Yeh abhi pyaar karega, yeh maar dega, ye pata nahi lagta. He played the part just how I instructed him to, which is fortunate.

Subhash Ghai had to create several scenes in the movie, and that was done at the very last minute, in an effort to make Sanjay Dutt seem unpredictable. "There's a scene where he visits a man in jail and strikes up a pleasant conversation with him. However, woh uska gala daba kar maar deta hai as Sanju's character gives him a hug. They were astonished because not many people on the set were aware that this would happen. In truth, I told them to let it happen because I had improvised it when my assistant begged to cut the shot because he believed galti se kar dia Sanjay ne. Everyone enjoyed it because of how we shot it, he says.

Regarding the hit song Choli Ke Peeche
Another example of improvisation is Choli Ke Peeche, a well-known song. According to Subhash Ghai, Dutt was typically expected to watch Madhuri Dixit perform there. But then, in order to add drama to the situation, we decided to improvise and applied a patch to Sanjay's eye. And I believe that was successful because it appeared on the screen very nicely," he says.