Dinesh Kamath's column 'Movie World: Salman Khan had rejected the movie ‘Baazigar’, Shah Rukh Khan accepted it, the movie became a big hit' that was published in Newsband

Movie World

Salman Khan had rejected the movie ‘Baazigar’, Shah Rukh Khan accepted it

The movie became a big hit

By Dinesh Kamath

Salman Khan had refused to act in the film ‘Baazigar’. The role then went to Shah Rukh Khan. The movie went on to become a big hit. Here are some information about the film:

Baazigar (English: Juggler) is a 1993 Indian crime thriller film directed by Abbas–Mustan starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in the lead roles. It is a contemporary thriller about a young man who stops at nothing to get what he wants. The story is inspired from a 1991 British movie A Kiss Before Dying. This was Shah Rukh Khan's breakthrough role as the sole lead and Kajol's first commercial success. Actress Shilpa Shetty was supposed to debut with Gaata Rahe Mera Dil, but it remained unreleased, and this became her debut film. Baazigar was the first film in which Shah Rukh Khan played the role of an anti-hero and the first which earned Khan a Filmfare Award for Best Actor. Initially this movie was offered to Armaan Kohli and Salman Khan to play the lead role, but they all rejected it as the role had negative shades.

Baazigar was a major commercial success upon release, and the first film of the famous Shahrukh Khan-Kajol pair. In addition to box office success, the film's soundtrack album composed by Anu Malik was also a success, selling 10 million units. The film brought actors Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, and Shilpa Shetty, and composer Anu Malik, to the limelight. It was remade in Telugu as Vetagadu with Rajasekhar, in Tamil as Samrat and in Kannada as Nagarahavu with Upendra.

The film's premise is a subversion of a concept loosely inspired by a Hollywood film, A Kiss Before Dying (1991), which itself was based on a novel of the same name. While it borrows the basic premise, Baazigar tells a different, subversive story. While Matt Dillon's character in A Kiss Before Dying is a villain who murders for money, Baazigar subverts this, with Shah Rukh Khan's character instead being a sympathetic anti-hero seeking vengeance for the brutal injustices done to his family.

Several A-list Bollywood stars were approached for the lead role, but they turned it down, due to the character being a murderous, negative anti-hero. Salman Khan was the first choice, but he turned it down, with his father Salim Khan saying Salman was not ready for such a gamble. Anil Kapoor was the next choice, but he also rejected the offer, as it went against his "heroic" on-screen image. Shah Rukh Khan eventually convinced producer Ratan Jain that only he could pull off the role; Jain liked his confidence, and cast him in the role. However, his casting was criticized by trade pundits who incorrectly predicted that "a boy with cute dimples" would never be accepted as an anti-hero. Sridevi was supposed to play both female roles (twin sisters) as did Sean Young in original film, but the director realized that because of her popularity, the audience will not be able to sympathize with the hero if he kills the character played by Sridevi, hence they decided to cast different actresses.

Baazigar was a commercial success and the third highest-grossing Indian film of 1993, below another Shah Rukh Khan film, Darr. Baazigar's collections in India were ₹7.75 crore nett and ₹14 crore gross, equivalent to ₹250 crore (US$36 million) adjusted for inflation.

Awards and Nominations

Award	Category	Recipients and Nominees	Results
39th Filmfare Awards	Best Actor	Shah Rukh Khan	Won
	Best Music Direction	Anu Malik
	Best Male Playback Singer	Kumar Sanu for "Yeh Kali Kali Aankhein"
	Best Screenplay	Robin Bhatt, Javed Siddiqui, Akash Khurana
	Lux New Face	Shilpa Shetty	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Shilpa Shetty
	Best Performance in a Comic Role	Johnny Lever
	Best Lyricist	Dev Kholi for "Yeh Kali Kali Aankhein"
	Best Male Playback Singer	Kumar Sanu for "Baazigar, O Baazigar"
	Best Female Playback Singer	Alka Yagnik for "Baazigar, O Baazigar"

Trivia

The later Hollywood films Almost Famous (2000) and Baywatch (2017) feature strikingly similar covers to Baazigar. Covers of Almost Famous and Baywatch feature Kate Hudson and Priyanka Chopra, respectively, wearing sunglasses that reflect other cast members, similar to the sunglasses Shah Rukh Khan wears on the Baazigar cover.

Day-Wise Box Office Collections

First Day        ₹0.11 crores

Saturday       ₹0.08 crores

Sunday          ₹0.14 crores

First Weekend         ₹0.34 crores

First Week    ₹0.52 crores

Lifetime India (net) ₹7.7 crores

Worldwide Gross    ₹14 crores

Fun Facts & Triva about the film:

This was the remake of a Hollywood film, A Kiss Before Dying.

Shilpa Shetty made her debut in Bollywood with this film.

Initially, the makers wanted to cast Sridevi for the dual role but later, Shilpa Shetty & Kajol got the role.

SRK won his first Filmfare award for acting in his film.

SRK was not the first choice. Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan & Anil Kapoor were approached first.

For the first time, SRK portrayed the role of a villain.

It was the fourth highest grossing film of 1993.

This was the first film of SRK & Kajol together.

Also, Abbas Mastaan second superhit directorial.

The music composer of this film, Anu Malik made his special appearance in a song.