Shah Rukh Khan’s Baazigar was saved from becoming a flop with this big change, one actor rescued team from failure, gave emotional crux
The first trial show of Baazigar met with a negative response, and few people told Abbas-Mustan that his film would flop as there is no emotional anchor to the film. That’s when the director-duo decided to add this actor, and his inclusion saved the film from becoming a box office disaster.
Shah Rukh Khan in Baazigar
Shah Rukh Khan rose to stardom in 1993 after leading the Abbas-Mustan romantic thriller Baazigar. The film was rejected by several top stars, including Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, and Anil Kapoor, due to its controversial grey-shade lead character. Baazigar was loosely based on Ira Levin’s 1953 novel A Kiss Before Dying and its 1991 film adaptation of the same name. The journey of Baazigar wasn’t simple as the film was not getting buyers as well before the release. When the movie was ready, a trial show was kept for selected audience members and distributors. After the movie ended, people came to Abbas-Mustan and expressed that the film was missing a ‘strong emotional quotient’. Shah Rukh Khan on a murderous spree lacked logic and justification. Abbas-Mustan realised that the audience wouldn’t connect with Shah Rukh or with the film, and then they called their favourite actor to the rescue.
Abbas Mustan’s favourite actor who saved Baazigar is…
Anant Mahadevan, the actor-filmmaker was considered a ‘lucky charm’ for Abbas-Mustan. Anant played the main antogonist in Abbas-Mustan’s blockbuster Khiladi, and since then, the director called him their ‘lucky mascot’. When the director duo were in crisis, they called Anant and then developed the role of Ajay Sharma’s (Shah Rukh) father. After Anant’s entry, they wrote the character Vishwanath Sharma, Ajay’s father, who gets betrayed by his colleague Madan Chopra (Dilip Tahil), leads to Ajay taking revenge for causing grave loss to him and his mother, Shobha Sharma (Rakhee).
Watch Vishwanath Anand getting betrayed by Madan Chopra
With Anant’s character, Ajay Mehra’s killing spree was justified, and it gave a strong emotional backing to the narrative as well. If the movie didn’t have Vishwanath Sharma’s character, the film would have failed to connect with the audience.
Box office collection of Baazigar
Baazigar marks the debut of Shilpa Shetty and it also stars Kajol opposite Khan. The movie was released in cinemas on November 12, 1993. Made in the reported budget of Rs 4 crores, the movie went on to earn Rs 32 crores.
