‘If something happens to Amitabh Bachchan, your wife will face consequences’: Khuda Gawah producer recalls shooting amid war in Afghanistan

Amitabh Bachchan in a still from Khuda Gawah.

Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi-starrer 1992 film Khuda Gawah was one of the most ambitious films of that era. So much so that the makers of the film decided to shoot in Afghanistan when the region was under threat from Taliban, and tensions were flaring up in the area. Manoj Desai, who produced the film, shared in a recent interview that Amitabh’s mother Teji Bachchan and Sridevi’s mother Rajeswari called him and told him that there would be consequences for him if their children did not come back safe and sound.

In a recent interview with CNN News18, Manoj recalled, “I had to meet Amitabh Bachchan’s mother, Teji Bachchan, and she told me very clearly that if Munna (Amitabh) does not come back, then you don’t cry. If something happens to Jaya then your wife will also suffer some consequences. Because why are you going to Afghanistan, because Munna wants to go there…”

Desai recalled that they had to shoot a sequence where the characters would play Buzkashi, a traditional sport played in Afghanistan. He shared that Danny had previously played this for Feroz Khan’s film Dharmatama. And here, Danny would be next to Bachchan while filming the sport.

He further recalled that family members of Sridevi and Danny also told him that nothing should happen to them. “Sridevi’s mother also called me, and told me that if something happens to her, then you don’t come back. I got threats from every corner,” he recalled and added, “Danny’s wife, she also gave me a warning that nothing should go wrong with Danny.”

He shared that they shot under military security as Amitabh Bachchan knew the then-president of the country, Mohammad Najibullah. “He gave a lot of support there. We had military support and we would have three tanks ahead of us, and three tanks following us. That’s how we shot,” he shared.

Sridevi and Amitabh Bachchan in Khuda Gawah. (Express archive photo)

In a previous chat with Bollywood Hungama, Manoj had shared, “If Amitabh Bachchan had gotten shot with one bullet, it would all have been over. If Sridevi would have been shot, it would be over. Because there was a war going on.”

In 2010, Amitabh spoke to PTI and recalled how they shot in Afghanistan. He shared, “Najibullah, the former President of Afghanistan was a great fan of Hindi films and he had urged Indian Government to arrange our visit to the country. When we were discussing the script of Khuda Gawah, I said let us go to Afghanistan to shoot. We went to Mazar-e-Sharif to shoot the sequence of traditional Afghan spot of Buzkashi. The President provided us excellent security when the shooting was on. Fighter Jet planes were keeping vigil in the sky and Army tanks were at the side of the sets. It just felt like a battlefield,” he said.