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Shah Rukh Khan was just in the second year of his Bollywood career when he signed on to play an anti-hero in Abbas Mustan’s Baazigar (1993). The film changed his career trajectory and became a blockbuster hit at the box office. But he was not always the first choice for the film. Baazigar was first offered to Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan, but they refused to take up the film, which eventually landed with Shah Rukh Khan.
Robin Bhatt, the younger half-brother of Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt, recently recalled stepping out of the Bhatt clan to try his hands on a new subject unlike his previous films like Aashiqui, Sadak, and Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin. Recalling how he happened to write Baazigar, Robin shared with Friday Talkies, “One day I received this call and was asked if I have watched the film ‘A Kiss Before Dying’. I said, it is originally a novel, and I have read it and we can surely make a film on it. Then I was told to write a screenplay as Abbas Mustan wanted to direct it. That’s how Baazigar was born.”
Baazigar, which is an adaption of a 1953 novel, A Kiss Before Dying, had a twisted plot where the hero was the villain. This character was against the moralistic heroes of those times but this created a problem for the makers, as no hero was willing to star in it. Robin shared, “I finished writing, but we didn’t know who to cast. We went to Akshay, he refused. Then we approached Salim Khan, and he said ‘Why would Salman do this film?’ He too refused it.” At this time, it occurred to Robin that only one man will willingly take up this role without any hesitation and it was none other than Shah Rukh Khan.
“I remember we often stayed in this hotel called Villa. He would come there for Raju Bangaya Gentleman sittings. I would be there to work on my subjects. Sometimes he used to meet me. During these meetings, I had understood that he is different and thinks differently. So one day, I narrated the story to him and just when we arrived at the interval, Shah Rukh happily agreed to do the film. He didn’t even care to hear the second half.”
Shah Rukh Khan didn’t just agree to do the film but also put a condition before the makers. “I will do the film if only you will leave the script as it is. You will not try and justify the character or make him grey.”
This approach of Shah Rukh Khan instilled confidence in director duo Abbas-Mustan, who went ahead with the script as it is and rest it history. It also starred actors Shilpa Shetty, Kajol, Raakhee and Johhny Lever.
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