Khuda Gawah is a 1992 Indian epicdrama film, written and directed by Mukul S. Anand. The film stars Sridevi and Amitabh Bachchan in the lead roles. Akkineni 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 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. 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 Pakistanitelevision series, by the same name. It is one of the most watched Indian films in Afghanistan's history. The film received nine nominations at the 38th Filmfare Awards, including Best Film and won three: Best Director, Best Supporting Actor 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 falls in love with Benazir 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 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 assumes the role of a guardian for Benazir. To avenge Habibullah's death, his brother Pasha 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 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 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, 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, 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, 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.
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. 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. 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
The music is composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Lyrics are penned by Anand Bakshi.
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'sLimca 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". Khuda Gawah still remains popular in Afghanistan and Rediff reported that the film is "in great demand in the country" when cinemas reopened in 2001.
