Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, and Madhuri Dixit-starrer Khal Nayak was the second highest-grossing film of 1993. Subhash Ghai-directed film is a perfect masala entertainer with a stellar star cast, chartbuster music, and terrific performances by the lead actors. This year, Khal Nayak completed 30 years, and the director revealed some unknown secrets about the film. Sanjay Dutt nailed the character Khal Nayak Ballu Balram, but he was never the first choice of the director. 

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Khal Nayak was originally made with...

As TOI reported, Subhash said that the idea of Khal Nayak was inspired by the life of Raavan. He further revealed that he started Khal Nayak with National Awardee Nana Patekar. Yes, Nana Patekar was the first choice for the titular character, and initially, he was making Khal Nayak an art cinema. Subhash said that his writer suggested him to make a commercial movie with a larger-than-life concept, and that's how the director went all out with his film

This superstar was also interested in playing the titular character...

In the same report, Subhash Ghai said that he always had Jackie Shroff for the character Ram. For the central character of Ballu Balram, Anil Kapoor showed his interest and tried to convince Subhash to cast him in the film. However, Subhash was persistent about not casting Anil in the film. Subhash said, "He was keen on the film. I told him, ‘Ye tujhe suit nahi karega. Tu jayega, main jaaunga, and film bhi jayengi'." 

Released on August 6, Khal Nayak received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its screenplay, soundtrack and performances of the cast. Khal Nayak received 11 nominations at the 39th Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, Best Director (Subhash Ghai), Best Actor (Sanjay Dutt), Best Actress (Madhuri Dixit) and Best Supporting Actor (Jackie Shroff), and won 2 awards – Best Female Playback Singer (Alka Yagnik and Ila Arun) and Best Choreography (Saroj Khan), for the song Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai.