Subhash Ghai reveals Anil Kapoor was ‘ready to go bald’ for Khalnayak, Sanjay Dutt ‘copied’ the director while performing: ‘He said you act and…’

Subhash Ghai’s 1993 film Khalnayak might not be one of the best movies of his career but it was certainly one of the most popular films of its time. With Sanjay Dutt in the title role of the anti-hero while he was behind bars in real life, the timing of Subhash’s film landed it in the zeitgeist of the 1990s. However, when Sanjay landed this role, he was miles away from the controversy of the 1993 Mumbai blasts and was “thrilled” when he got the opportunity. In a recent interview, the filmmaker revealed that many popular leading stars came to him to plead for that role but he had made up his mind already.

In a chat with ANI, Subhash said that at one point, Anil Kapoor offered that he would go bald, if needed, to play Ballu. “Five or six heroes came to me saying they want to do Khalnayak. Anil Kapoor came and said I am ready to go bald. I said I will only cast the person who fits the role and the only guy who fit the bill here was Sanjay Dutt,” he said. Subhash added that Sanjay’s face can be “dangerous” but he can also play an “innocent” man when the role demands, and this was the kind of quality he needed for the character.

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Subhash Ghai, however, said that Sanjay Dutt asked him to perform every scene and the actor would just copy the director when the cameras started rolling. “I told him you do what I tell you to do. He said ‘You act and I will copy you’ and he copied me exactly. All the scenes of Khalnayak, he copied,” he said.

It was immediately after the shoot of Khalnayak that Sanjay was arrested for possession of arms and his alleged role in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. He was sentenced to five years in prison and eventually completed his prison sentence in 2016.