Today marks 32 years of Subhash Ghai’s Khalnayak, released in 1993. This film, which released on 6 August 1993, was a blockbuster at the box office and became the second highest grossing film of the year.
Made on a budget of about Rs 2.5 crore, Khalnayak had a net collection of 12.5 crores. The trio of Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit and Jackie Shroff brought Subhash Ghai’s vision to the big screen very well. Sanjay Dutt’s grey-shaded Ballu, Madhuri Dixit’s Ganga and Jackie Shroff’s honest police officer – all three made the film memorable with their performances.
But did you know that Nana Patekar was the director’s first choice for the role of villain Ballu. He also liked the story. Anil Kapoor also wanted to become a Khalnayak.
Nana Patekar was the first choice for…
Very few people know that Anil Kapoor wanted to play the role of Ballu. On hearing about the script, Anil reached Subhash Ghai’s house and even said that he was ready even if he had to go bald for the role. But Subhash Ghai felt that this role did not match Anil’s personality. Actually, Subhash Ghai’s first choice in the first draft of the film was Nana Patekar. Nana also liked the story and was ready, but the director’s close friends explained to him that now this script has become completely commercial, so it would be better to take a star whose box office value is high.
Sanjay Dutt left a mark playing…
After this, Subhash Ghai’s eyes fell on Sanjay Dutt, with whom he had previously worked in ‘Vidaata’. Sanjay’s innocent eyes, a truth on his face and his grip in action, all these made him perfect for Ballu. Ghai narrated the story to Sanjay and said that he would have to work hard for this role. Sanjay liked the character so much that he immediately said yes. Later, Ballu’s character not only became the biggest highlight of the film, but also got recorded in the history of Bollywood as a unique and effective face of a villain. Even today, Sanjay Dutt is known by the name of Khalnayak for this character.