30 years of Khalnayak: Subhash Ghai says it was shocking when ‘Choli ke peeche’ was labelled vulgar

“Choli ke peeche”, penned by celebrated lyricist Anand Bakshi, was composed by veteran music director duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Singer Alka Yagnik did the playback for Dixit, while Ila Arun sang the folk version filmed on Neena Gupta.

“I remember, a leading newspaper wrote… ‘The song is a classical piece of Indian cinema’ and that was a relief. It was a folk song and now people understand that,” the 78-year-old director added.

The protests over “Choli ke peeche” lyrics was not the only controversy that Khalnayak faced as Dutt, who played a terrorist in the movie, was arrested under the TADA and the Arms Act months before the film’s theatrical premiere leaving many to draw parallels between the real and the reel.

Dutt’s arrest was something, Ghai said, the team never imagined.

“When Sanju (Dutt) got arrested none of us ever thought that something like this would happen. There was a lot of noise. Our film was supposed to arrive two months later… And it was in the making for a year before that… But people just joined the dots as he was playing a terrorist in the film. Media and people do a lot of things in excitement… but over a period of time they realised that it was wrong,” he said.

Khalnayak was an anti-hero story, a concept that was not much-explored by the Hindi film industry till that time. The story revolved around Dutt’s Ballu, who escapes from jail, and police officers Ram and Ganga’s quest to capture him. As Ganga goes undercover to bring him behind the bars, she realises the good in Ballu and tries to rehabilitate him.

Subhash Ghai, who had collaborated with Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff on separate projects before Khalnayak, said he never writes characters keeping a star in mind and the process was the same for this film.

“I wanted to cast somebody who had a face that can show shades of a son, lover, murderer, terrorist… I believe an actor’s real performance comes out when they are silent and it’s just their eyes that are expressing. So, Sanju was the only actor who had that. The combination of pain, innocence and anger in his eyes was perfect for this role,” the filmmaker said.

Ballu was a complicated character, and the director recalled how many of his industry colleagues were surprised by his choice of actor for the role.

“People were shocked. But I knew Sanju and I can pull this off together. I enacted a lot of scenes in front of him, and Sanju still acknowledges that,” he added.

Khalnayak, the writer-director said, was supposed to be a mother-son story, but the entertaining aspects of the movie sort of overshadowed his intent. Veteran actor Rakhee played Dutt’s mother Aarti in the film.

Quoting Jagjit Singh’s song “O Maa Tujhe Salam” from the film, Ghai said the lines “Jo bhi gaya iss jahan ki nazar se, dekho kabhi use maa ki nazar se” are the crux of the film.

“For me, it was the story of a mother and her son. The first shot of the film is of a mother waiting for her son and the last shot is of Ballu remembering his mother. I had huge hopes that ‘O Maa Tujhe Salaam’ would become a chartbuster, but the songs that became hits were ‘Choli ke peeche’ and ‘Nayak nahin khal nayak hoon main’. At times, mirch masala works more…

“This film was Ballu’s journey from being a ‘khalnayak’ (anti-hero) to becoming a ‘nayak’ (hero). I wanted to convey that every bad man has a good soul and they just need realisation. With love, there is always a possibility of change,” he said.

The film continues to enjoy frequent re-runs on television and Ghai believes the internal conflict of all its characters is the reason behind its long shelf life.

“To show the point of view and internal conflict of the character is very important. It is not about putting on a few peppy songs, or writing some punch lines. It can be a hit for a year or two.

“But if the film is alive for three decades, it is a result of a lot of hard work by everyone involved… From a director, writer, actor, music composer, to a lyricist. I feel happy the audience still appreciates all of us for our work,” he said.

Khalnayak also featured Anupam Kher, Siddharth Randeria, Aloka Mukherjee, Ramya Krishnan and Pramod Moutho.