30 Years of Khuda Gawah EXCLUSIVE: “Amitabh’s mother Teji Bachchan ji had warned me that ‘Agar Amit ko Afghanistan mein kuch bhi hota hai aur agar Jaya ne safed saree peheni, toh teri wife Kalpana bhi safed saree pehengi’ – Manoj Desai

By Fenil Seta -

May 10, 2022 - 4:00 PM IST

The grand saga, Khuda Gawah, completed 30 years on May 8. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi, Danny Denzongpa, Nagarjuna, Shilpa Shirodkar and Kiran Kumar, the Mukul Anand directorial was memorable for many reasons, including the fact that it was a rare film to be shot in Afghanistan. Interestingly, Khuda Gawah was filmed in the neighbouring country at a time when it was going through turmoil. And as expected, it was quite a challenging experience.

30 Years of Khuda Gawah EXCLUSIVE: “Amitabh’s mother Teji Bachchan ji had warned me that ‘Agar Amit ko Afghanistan mein kuch bhi hota hai aur agar Jaya ne safed saree peheni, toh teri wife Kalpana bhi safed saree pehengi’ – Manoj Desai

Bollywood Hungama recently spoke to Manoj Desai, the producer of this film. He’s also the executive director, G7 multiplex and Maratha Mandir Cinema. The producer-exhibitor revealed how the family members of the stars were worried. They were so scared of sending their children to the conflict zone that they ended up giving death threats to the producer!

Manoj Desai said, “Amitabh Bachchan’s mother Teji Bachchan ji had warned me that ‘Agar Amit ko kuch bhi hota hai aur agar Jaya ne safed saare peheni, toh teri wife Kalpana bhi safed saree pehengi. Tu idhar aana hi nahi wapis’! Even Sridevi’s mother gave a warning that ‘Manoj bhai, agar Sri ko kuch hua, toh Kabul se wapis mat aana. Tumhara khoon karwa dungi main idhar’! So, you can imagine how risky it was. However, Amitabh Bachchan wanted an authentic location for the shoot.”

Thankfully, the shoot was completed without a single untoward incident. Manoj Desai said that they were very well looked after by Mohammad Najibullah, the then President of Afghanistan. He even provided complete security and provided tanks to ensure the safety of the cast and crew of Khuda Gawah.

Before Khuda Gawah, Feroz Khan’s Dharmatma (1978) was also filmed in Afghanistan. Feroz Khan then went again to the country to shoot Fardeen Khan-starrer Janasheen (2003). The John Abraham-Arshad Warsi starrer Kabul Express (2006) was shot in tough conditions, with the unit members also getting threats. The entry scene in Agent Vinod (2012) was filmed in Dasht-e-Margo, Afghanistan. The last Bollywood film to be shot there was Torbaaz (2020). A few scenes of the Sanjay Dutt-Nargis Fakhri starrer were shot at the border of Afghanistan and in Kyrgyzstan.

Also Read: 30 Years of Khuda Gawah EXCLUSIVE: “Afghanistan mein hamare aage 4-5 tank hote the aur peeche bhi 4-5 tank hote the. Aur beech mein hamara 200 ka unit hota tha” – Manoj Desai