FILM · 2016 · INDIA
Wazir
30 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (30)
- #001
Amitabh Bachchan had read the original screenplay 12 years earlier.
- #002
The project went through many changes at the script stage. When Vidhu Vinod Chopra wanted to make it as an international film, it was initially titled Beşinci Hareket, and a few years later it was called 64 Kare. When it was finally ready to shoot in 2014, Vidhu Vinod Chopra decided to serve only as producer and, after working on the script with him for a year and a half, brought in Bejoy Nambiar as director. Filming began under the title Do, and it was eventually decided that Wazir would be the more suitable name for the film.
- #003
The film's first trailer was released on 18 December 2014 alongside PK (2014), which was made by the same production team. It is a common strategy for Vinod Chopra Films to release the trailer of its upcoming film along with that of its current film.
- #004
Vidhu Vinod Chopra had prepared the script in the early 2000s and initially wanted to make the film as a Hollywood project with American actors, feeling that Indian audiences were not mature enough to understand a chess-driven plot. He was willing to cast Dustin Hoffman or Anthony Hopkins in the lead role, and a script meeting with Dustin Hoffman was arranged, but it never took place.
- #005
Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar act together for the first time. However, they had previously worked together on Farhan Akhtar's second directorial film Lakshya (2004), in which Amitabh Bachchan played a colonel.
- #006
Neil Nitin Mukesh worked with Amitabh Bachchan for the first time and said it was difficult to intimidate him on screen.
- #007
Even after filming, Farhan Akhtar still referred to Amitabh Bachchan as Panditji. In the film, everyone regards Amitabh Bachchan as Panditji.
- #008
The film's earlier tagline was "Two players. One alive. One dead. An unfinished game."
- #009
The earring on Pandit Ji's (Amitabh Bachchan) jacket was lent to him for the scene by Ruhana Ali (Aditi Rao Hydari), because the earring the unit had bought was lost.
- #010
Farhan Akhtar underwent intense training to play the role of an Anti-Terrorism Squad officer and gained eight kilos. He also changed his diet and met some friends who were ATS officers as preparation.
- #011
The film's first shot was filmed in Mumbai on 28 September 2014; before filming began, the producers held a full week of rehearsals with the entire cast and crew.
- #012
At a screening of Lakshya (2004), Vidhu Vinod Chopra told Farhan Akhtar about the script of Wazir and asked for his feedback on it. When they next met in 2014, Akhtar heard the script and agreed to do the film.
- #013
Aditi Rao Hydari was cast after Vidhu Vinod Chopra saw her dance.
- #014
Amitabh Bachchan's look in the film was designed by a team from Los Angeles.
- #015
The film became the first successful film of 2016.
- #016
A Mumbai police officer praised Farhan Akhtar's transformation as an ATS officer in the first trailer.
- #017
When filming began, its title was "Do".
- #018
Chess is a symbolic theme of the film.
- #019
The film Vidhu was to direct in 2003 was to be shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- #020
This was the third film in which Amitabh Bachchan played a character missing at least one limb. He played a one-armed soldier in both Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974) and Hindustan Ki Kasam (1999). In this film, he has no legs.
- #021
There were rumours online that Subhash Ghai was actually producing the film and that Vidhu would direct it, and the film's first draft was titled Satranç.
- #022
Amitabh Bachchan's character was named Omkar Nath Dhar, which was the real name of the late actor Jeevan Dhar.
- #023
Bejoy Nambiar worked with Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akthar for the first time.
- #024
The first shot was filmed on 28 September 2014 in Mumbai.
- #025
Shortly before Wazir's release, Bejoy married his longtime girlfriend Sheetal Menon.
- #026
The film was released in cinemas in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
- #027
The film's producers examined 40 to 50 wheelchairs to find one in which Bachchan could be comfortable during the long shoots.
- #028
The film's teaser was attached to Pk (2014).
- #029
It was the first Hindi release of 2016.
- #030
It was Vaidehi Parashurami's first Hindi debut.
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