Khuda Gawah
Khuda Gawah (lit. 'With God as Witness', also translated and released as God Is My Witness[1]) is a 1992 Indian Hindi-language drama film, written and directed by Mukul S. Anand. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi. Nagarjuna, Shilpa Shirodkar, and Danny Denzongpa are featured in supporting roles. The original score was composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal. The film marked Sridevi and Bachchan's third collaboration. In the film Badshah Khan travels from Afghanistan to India to find the killer of Benazir's father so that he can impress her. He succeeds but soon finds himself framed for a murder and trapped in an Indian prison.
Khuda Gawah | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Mukul S. Anand |
Produced by | Nazir Ahmed Manoj Desai |
Written by | Abdul Salam Shaikh |
Screenplay by | Mukul S. Anand |
Story by | Santosh Saroj |
Starring | Amitabh Bachchan Sridevi Nagarjuna Danny Denzongpa Shilpa Shirodkar |
Music by | Laxmikant–Pyarelal |
Cinematography | W. B. Rao |
Edited by | R. Rajendran |
Production company | Glamour Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 193 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Hindi |
Box office | ₹17.05 crore (equivalent to ₹106 crore or US$15 million in 2019) |
Khuda Gawah was released theatrically on May 7, 1992. The film was praised for its direction, screenplay, performances, music and production. It was a major commercial success, grossing ₹17.05 crore worldwide, becoming the second highest grossing Indian film of 1992.[2] It entered Limca Book of Records as the first Indian film to use surround sound technique. The film was dubbed in Telugu and was later adapted into a Pakistani television series, by the same name.[3] It is one of the most watched Indian films in Afghanistan's history.[4]
The film received nine nominations at the 38th Filmfare Awards, including Best Film and won three: Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Denzongpa) and Best Sound. Both Sridevi and Bachchan were honored by the Afghan government.
Plot
During a Buzkashi competition with a neighbouring tribe in Afghanistan, Badshah Khan (Amitabh Bachchan) falls in love with Benazir (Sridevi) and wants to marry her. Benazir agrees to marry him, on the condition that he must bring her the head of Habibullah, who killed her father. Badshah Khan goes to India to search for Habibullah. He finds Habibullah in a prison and breaks him out to take him back. He has the jailor Ranveer Singh (Vikram Gokhale) on his trail. He chops off Habibullah's head. When confronted by Ranveer, he tells him that he would be back in a month to receive punishment for taking Habibullah. Badshah goes back to Afghanistan and marries Benazir; after the time limit, he comes back to India and surrenders himself to Ranveer Singh, who he addresses as "Rajput Khan" and is jailed for five years. While Badshah Khan is away, his childhood friend Khuda Baksh (Danny Denzongpa) assumes the role of a guardian for Benazir.
To avenge Habibullah's death, his brother Pasha (Kiran Kumar) kidnaps Heena, the daughter of jailor Ranveer, ransoming her in return for Badshah. Badshah finds out about this and escapes from jail; he confronts Pasha, only to have Inspector Aziz Mirza (Bharat Kapoor) kill Ranveer Singh. With Ranveer Singh's daughter as a pawn in Pasha's hands, Badshah admits to killing Ranveer Singh and is sentenced to 15 years. When Aziz's wife (who thinks of Badshah as her brother) visits him, she ends up killing her husband to protect Badshah, but Badshah takes the blame for that murder as well, since he believes that her son Raja needs her.
At that time, Benazir sends Khuda Baksh to check on Badshah. Due to his very long stay in prison, Badshah makes Khuda Baksh promise to take care of his daughter Mehndi and tell his wife Benazir that he is now dead so that she can move on rather than wait for him. Benazir goes mad when she hears the news that her husband is dead.
On coming out of prison, Badshah meets with his now grown daughter, Mehndi (also Sridevi), who has found out that her father is still alive and has come to India to look for her father; the daughter of Ranveer Singh, Heena (Shilpa Shirodkar), who is also in the police force and knows all about Badshah's past and respects him as her uncle; and the son of Inspector Aziz Mirza, Inspector Raja Mirza (Nagarjuna), who has found out that it was Badshah who had killed his father and is out for vengeance. In a twist of fate, Raja is in love with Mehndi, even though he wants to kill her father.
Pasha, now a major crime lord, gets involved. Benazir and Khuda Baksh are kidnapped by him. The truth is eventually revealed to Raja about his father, and he joins of hands with Badshah and Heena to kill their mutual enemy. Badshah and Benazir grab one arm each of Pasha as they ride on separate horses like the beginning of the film and throw him into a huge rock, killing him. They ride off into the sunset, finally together.
Cast
- Amitabh Bachchan as Badshah Khan
- Sridevi as Benazir / Mehndi (Dual Role)
- Nagarjuna as inspector raja mirza
- Danny Denzongpa as Khuda Baksh
- Kiran Kumar as Pasha
- Ali Khan as Habibullah
- Bharat Kapoor as Aziz Mirza
- Shilpa Shirodkar as Heena
- Vikram Gokhale as Ranveer Singh
Filming
Khuda Gawah had lavish production values and was extensively shot in and around the cities of Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan as well as Nepal and India.[5][6] Then-Afghan President Mohammad Najibullah, a fan of Bachchan, provided security from the Afghan Air Force during the 18-day shooting of the film in 1991.[7]
Sanjay Dutt was originally cast in the movie, and filmed some scenes, but due to his highly published legal issues, he was unable to complete the film.
Soundtrack
Khuda Gawah | |
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Film score by | |
Released | 1992 |
Genre | Soundtrack |
Length | 56:40 |
Producer | Laxmikant–Pyarelal |
The music is composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal. Lyrics are penned by Anand Bakshi.
No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Tu Mujhe Kabool - 1" | Kavita Krishnamurthy, Mohammed Aziz | 08:05 |
2. | "Tu Na Ja Mere Badshah" | Alka Yagnik, Mohammed Aziz | 05:08 |
3. | "Rab Ko Yaad Karoon" | Kavita Krishnamurthy, Mohammed Aziz, Chorus | 09:02 |
4. | "Mere Watan Mein Maine" | Alka Yagnik, Suresh Wadkar, Chorus | 07:54 |
5. | "Main Aisi Cheez Nahin" | Kavita Krishnamurthy, Mohammed Aziz, Chorus | 08:41 |
6. | "Deewana Mujhe Kar Gaya" | Alka Yagnik, Mohammed Aziz, Chorus | 08:38 |
7. | "Sar Zameene Hindustan" | Amitabh Bachchan | 01:07 |
8. | "Tu Mujhe Kabool - 2" | Lata Mangeshkar, Kavita Krishnamurthy | 08:05 |
Total length: | 56:40 |
Reception
The film was the second-highest-grossing Indian film of 1992. The film won much acclaim for all its actors and especially the lead pair Sridevi and Amitabh Bachchan. Both stars won Filmfare nominations for their work. The film won three Filmfare awards, including Best Director. It entered India's Limca Book of Records as the first Bollywood film to use surround sound technique. BBC reported that "It ran to packed houses for 10 weeks in Kabul".[8] Khuda Gawah still remains popular in Afghanistan. Rediff reported that the film is "in great demand in the country" when cinemas reopened in 2001.
Awards
Won
- Best Director - Mukul S. Anand
- Best Supporting Actor - Danny Denzongpa
- Best Sound - Bhagat Singh Rathod & Kuldeep Sood
Nominated
- Best Film - Nazir Ahmed & Manoj Desai
- Best Actor - Amitabh Bachchan
- Best Actress - Sridevi
- Best Supporting Actress - Shilpa Shirodkar
- Best Villain - Kiran Kumar
- Best Female Singer - Kavita Krishnamurthy - "Main Tujhe Kabool"
References
- Holden, Stephen (20 August 1993). "Many Indian Movies in One (Published 1993)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 February 2021 – via NYTimes.com.
- http://www.ibosnetwork.com/asp/topgrossersbyyear.asp?year=1992
- Tfn, Team (17 September 2016). "Best Tollywood Dubbing Celebs". Telugu Filmnagar.
- Team, DNA Web. "Happy 76th Birthday Amitabh Bachchan: We bet you didn't know these interesting facts about the 'Star of the Millenium' | Latest News & Updates at DNAIndia.com". DNA India.
- "Amitabh Bachchan gets nostalgic as 'Khuda Gawah' clocks 23 years". 9 May 2015.
- "Amitabh Bachchan on shooting Khuda Gawah in Afghanistan - NDTV Movies". NDTVMovies.com.
- Ahuja, Shivani (15 January 2018). "When Afghanistan Deployed Half Of Its Air Force To Protect Amitabh Bachchan".
- "Bollywood eyes Afghan market". BBC News. 27 November 2001. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
External links
- Khuda Gawah at IMDb
Awards | ||
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Preceded by Saudagar |
Filmfare Award for Best Director 1992 |
Succeeded by Damini |