Choli ke Peeche was initially conceived as a folks tune and the brouhaha over its lyrics was surprising, says filmmaker Subhash Ghai as he remembered his 1993 movie Khal Nayak, which turned 30 on Sunday. The movie, remembered as one of many largest hits of the Nineteen Nineties, has attained cult standing over time. Also learn: Alka Yagnik says she was initially shy about singing Madhuri Dixit’s iconic tune Choli Ke Peeche
Choli ke Peeche was a folks tune
“My closest memory of Khal Nayak is when people labelled Choli ke Peeche as vulgar. It was a tragedy for me… a major shock. We treated it as a folk song and presented it in an artistic way. But when the film was released, there were protests,” Subhash Ghai instructed PTI in an interview.
“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.
About Choli ke Peeche
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 Madhuri Dixit, whereas Ila Arun sang the folks model filmed on Neena Gupta.
Khal Nayak controversy
Khal Nayak was a trademark Subhash Ghai film – stuffed with leisure, elaborate musical items, and a star-studded solid in Sanjay Dutt because the anti-hero Ballu, Jackie Shroff as police officer Ram and Madhuri Dixit as undercover police officer Ganga.
The protests over Choli ke Peeche lyrics was not the one controversy that Khal Nayak confronted as Sanjay Dutt, who performed a terrorist within the film, was arrested underneath the TADA and the Arms Act months earlier than the movie’s theatrical premiere leaving many to attract parallels between the true and the reel.
Subhash on Sanjay Dutt’s arrest
“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 mentioned.
About Khal Nayak
Khal Nayak was an anti-hero story, an idea that was not much-explored by the Hindi movie trade until that point. The story revolved round Dutt’s Ballu, who escapes from jail, and law enforcement officials Ram and Ganga’s quest to seize him. As Ganga goes undercover to carry him behind the bars, she realises the great in Ballu and tries to rehabilitate him.
Subhash Ghai, who had collaborated with Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff on separate initiatives earlier than Khal Nayak, mentioned he by no means writes characters retaining a star in thoughts and the method was the identical for this movie.
“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 mentioned.
Ballu was an advanced character, and the director recalled what number of of his trade colleagues had been stunned by his selection of actor for the position.
“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.
Khal Nayak, the writer-director mentioned, was presupposed to be a mother-son story, however the entertaining features of the film form of overshadowed his intent. Veteran actor Rakhee performed Dutt’s mom Aarti within the movie. Khal Nayak additionally featured Anupam Kher, Siddharth Randeria, Aloka Mukherjee, Ramya Krishnan and Pramod Moutho.
Source web site: www.hindustantimes.com
