FILM · 1992 · INDIA
Khuda Gawah
50 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (50)
- #001
The president of Afghanistan provided air force security for the entire production unit. The film became the most-watched Indian film in Afghanistan's history.
- #002
Jackie Shroff, Chunky Pandey and Ajay Devgan were approached for the role of Nagarjuna, after Sanjay Dutt left the project. Sridevi rejected Ajay Devgan because he was a newcomer, and Jackie Shroff did not have the required dates. Sridevi was the person instrumental in bringing Nagarjuna into the film.
- #003
This was Amitabh Bachchan's last film before his self-imposed paid leave, during which he did not act in any film. Four years later he made his comeback with Mrityudaata (1997).
- #004
Amitabh Bachchan's role was initially a six-day guest appearance. However, producer Manoj Desai insisted that Amitabh's role be upgraded to a full-fledged one.
- #005
Amitabh Bachchan and Mukul Anand made three consecutive films together — Agneepath, Hum and Khuda Gawah — and the music for all three was composed by the legendary music director Laxmikant-Pyarelal.
- #006
The producers initially planned to fly musicians in from Afghanistan to record the film's background score pieces, but the plans were cancelled.
- #007
When Amitabh Bachchan arrived in Afghanistan, more than a million people came to see him.
- #008
The producers took the film's title from Khuda Gawah (1978), a shelved Manmohan Desai film that starred Amitabh Bachchan in a double role along with Parveen Babi and Rishi Kapoor, some of whose footage was later scrapped. The film was also dedicated to Manmohan Desai and was shown before the film began. It had been shelved because of its weak, absurd script and direction. The script was partly used in Allah Rakha, with Jackie Shroff in a double role.
- #009
This film was to be released in 1988, and at that time its title was Qaidi No.786. It was thought that Mukul Anand and Amitabh Bachchan would first make Agnepath, then Hum, and then Qaidi No.786. The title was changed to Khuda Gawah, the name of Amitabh Bachchan's shelved 1978 film. Shooting began in 1990.
- #010
Shaheen, Dilip Kumar's niece, signed on for the film in 1988. Mukul Anand decided to remove her from the film because Sridevi would now play a double role as mother and daughter.
- #011
At the film's climax there is a song titled "Deewana Mujhe Kar Gaya" (a sad version of Tuna Jaa Mere Baadshah). During the song, when Amitabh finally rises from the sand, there is a portion where the chorus sings the words "Oye Lohshe Oye Lohshe…". Bappi Lahiri took on exactly this task and created his own song. The song is titled "Bedardi Berdardi" and was filmed on Mithun in the film Rangbaaz. The song sounds very similar to the original.
- #012
Khuda Gawah was the first film to be eligible for the Filmfare award for best action. With the film, Tinnu Verma officially became a fight master. Because of the industry's rules and regulations, he had to stop working as a stuntman with Khuda Gawah.
- #013
In 1988, Khuda Gawah was the last film Amitabh Bachchan signed, and because he had announced his retirement he stopped signing films and was completing his pending projects.
- #014
At one point in 1988, the film's title was "Badshah Khan".
- #015
Subhash Ghai was angry with Amitabh when he saw the costumes in Khuda Gawah. After Devaa was shelved, he felt that Amitabh had gone and given the costume ideas from Devaa to producer Manoj Desai and director Mukul Anand. He claimed these were the same costumes Amitabh was to wear for his character in the shelved film Devaa.
- #016
While filming her first scene with Amitabh, Shilpa Shirodkar was so starstruck by the megastar that she completely forgot all her lines, even though she had memorized them properly the night before.
- #017
The film was shot in a war zone in Afghanistan while Amitabh Bachchan was away for the shoot. His mother, Teji Bachchan, told producer Manoj Desai that if her son were shot in that country and Jaya Bachchan were left a widow, he had better commit suicide there.
- #018
Sridevi became the first and only actress in the history of Indian cinema to play a double role opposite Amitabh Bachchan in a lead role. No other actress had played a double role opposite Amitabh Bachchan. Sridevi alone holds this unique achievement.
- #019
"Charlie Loses His Head", the theme song of the Hollywood film "Black Rain", was used as background music in Nagarjuna's introduction scene.
- #020
Yanni's "Butterfly Dance" was used in the airport scene featuring Sridevi and Nagarjuna.
- #021
"Helicopter Chase," track 12 from Brad Fiedel's score for Terminator 2: Judgment Day, was used as background music in an action scene featuring Sridevi and Nagarjuna.
- #022
In an interview, Ajay Devgan criticized Sridevi. Ajay claimed that Sridevi had him removed from the film in order to get the producers to sign Nagarjuna, stating that Sridevi did not want to work with newcomers, and added that he would never want to work with her in the future. Sridevi responded that the producers were in a difficult position and that she had helped them by recommending Nagarjuna, but also stated that she had not even known Ajay Devgan was being considered for the film; she told Manoj Desai that she had never said she would not work with any newcomer and that it was a misunderstanding.
- #023
According to producer Manoj Desai, Sanjay Dutt was removed from the film because Mukul Anand made a deal with Nagarjuna to use his studio, Annapurna Studios, free of charge for Anand's commercial shoots. Dutt was therefore shown the exit and Nagarjuna was signed. Desai said the producers were not aware of this decision until much later.
- #024
Farha was initially offered the role of Inspector Henna Ranveer Singh. Upon learning that Sridevi had a dual role, Farha left the film.
- #025
Because of the thick woolen costumes, the producers rented 20 air conditioners to keep the environment cool.
- #026
Danny Denzongpa appeared in two Indian films shot in Afghanistan: Khuda Gawah and Dharmatma.
- #027
The Afghanistan sets at the Bombay studio were also being used by Rajesh Khanna for his film Police Ke Peeche Police. Rajesh's film was shelved.
- #028
This was Mukul Anand's last film directing Amitabh Bachchan.
- #029
The film was sold for 1 crore per territory and performed best in Mumbai. It opened well in its first week, but collections dropped in the second week. The film had to be cut by 10 minutes, including the second version of the song "Tu Mujhe Kabool." Audiences felt that Amitabh was imprisoned most of the time and did not fight.
- #030
Neelam was offered Shilpa Shirodkar's role but turned it down.
- #031
Dimple Kapadia was the first choice for the lead role. Because she had to play an older character, she asked for more money. This displeased Manoj Desai, who decided to ask Sridevi instead.
- #032
Manoj Desai was reluctant to approach Sridevi because there were stories that Sridevi had turned down any film with Amitabh. Sridevi denied these claims.
- #033
Shilpa Shirodkar had a solo song that was shot. She was very disappointed with her costume in the song, claiming that Saroj Khan had a dirty outfit made for her that she did not want to wear. The song was ultimately removed from the film because of its length. It was also left off the film's released music.
- #034
In 1980, Amitabh Bachchan and Bharat Kapoor appeared in the film Ram Balram. Bharat Kapoor played Amitabh Bachchan's father, and the two actors did not share any screen space together, with Bharat Kapoor having no more than 10 minutes of screen time. For 12 years they were paired with each other as heroes.
- #035
Manoj Desai said, "Amitabh Bachchan's mother, Teji Bachchan ji, warned me: 'Agar Amit ko kuch bhi hota hai aur agar Jaya ne güvenli saare peheni, toh teri karısı Kalpana bhi güvenli saree pehengi. Tu idhar aana hi nahi wapis!' Sridevi's mother also warned: 'Manoj bhai, agar Sri ko kuch hua, toh Kabil se wapis mat aana. Tumhara khoon karwa dungi main idhar!' However, Amitabh Bachchan wanted a real location for the shoot. Fortunately, the cast and crew of Khuda Gawah said they were very well looked after by the then President of Afghanistan, Mohammad Najibullah."
- #036
For a Khuda Gawah song recorded on 17 June 1989, Amitabh Bachchan attended music sessions at his Juhu bungalow from 7 pm to 10 pm on 14, 15 and 16 June, together with music directors Laxmikant-Pyarelal.
- #037
On Funky Bijou's album The Soundtrack, Bsartek sampled the background music of Khuda Gawah.
- #038
The song Tu Mujhe Qabool was sampled by DJ Sanj in Karamel's song Dil Ki Baatein, which appeared on the album America's Most Wanted (AMW 3).
- #039
After Farha left the film, Ektaa Sohini was considered for the film.
- #040
The Khuda Gawah that was shelved in 1978 was directed by Surendra Mohan for producer Subhash Desai and starred Amitabh Bachchan (double role), Parveen Babi, Rishi Kapoor, Bindiya Goswami and Komilla Virk. Years later Manmohan Desai used part of the script for Allah Rakha; in the original Khuda Gawah Amitabh had an evil double role, and in Allah Rakha the same double role was given to Jackie Shroff. About 12 years later, the producers of the new Khuda Gawah used the same title for their Amitabh and Sridevi film, although the new Khuda Gawah had a different story.
- #041
Anjana Mumtaz shared the screen with Amitabh Bachchan for the first time since Bandhe Haath, 19 years earlier.
- #042
Sharad Saxena was making the film while Sanjay Dutt was part of the project; when Sanjay left the film, Sharad was removed from it without being informed.
- #043
Rikku Rakesh Nath claimed that Mukul Anand offered him the film as a package deal with Madhuri Dixit and Shilpa Shirodkar. Rikku considered it but realised he would have to compromise on Madhuri's price, so he turned the offer down.
- #044
The Mahurat took place on 1 October 1988.
- #045
Paresh Rawal was signed but was later replaced by Kiran Kumar.
- #046
The film was screened at the Robson Square Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, due to heavy public demand. Khuda Gawah had already been released on home video in May of that year. The film premiered at the Robson Square Theatre in November 1992, and films were to be shown there every weekend until May 1993; from May 1993, Indian films were shown in a renovated theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia.
- #047
After BETA and DEEWANA, it was the third highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1992. Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit and Aruna Irani won the Filmfare Awards for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively for their performances in the first film, while Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi and Shilpa Shirodkar were nominated in the same categories for this film. Incidentally, Sridevi was the first choice for Dixit's role in BETA, but she turned the offer down, citing that she had acted in too many films with Anil Kapoor, who was Boney Kapoor's brother and would soon become Sridevi's brother-in-law. Bachchan's Best Actor nomination for the film would be his last Filmfare nomination of the 1990s decade, during which he went on paid leave for the following 4 years.
- #048
"Tu Na Ja Mere Baadshah" was sampled from the traditional Afghan song "Bacha Jan Logari". Many cover versions were made by Farahnoz Sharafova, Farzana Khurshid, Seera Qasmie, Latif Rashidy, Ustad Daud Khan, Husna Enayat, Zabi Azimi, Mahboob Chabi, Farishta, Zarif Yusufi, Farzana Aman, Haider Salim, Sharafat Parwani, Ustad Mohammed Omar, Ustad Amani, Mina Nawbari, Habib Sharif, Nagma, Ustad Beltoon and Gheezal Enayat.
- #049
Nagarjuna signed for the film on 26 July 1991.
- #050
When the film was released, there was media speculation that Madhavi had replaced Sridevi. This turned out to be false.
Continue through the archive
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb kaydı
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work