The iconic collaboration between Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai almost materialized in 1987 with the movie Deva. Film historian Dilip Thakurin a dialog with ETimes, shared fascinating insights into the grand beginnings and unlucky shelving of this a lot-anticipated challenge.
On January 24, 1987, the mahurat of Deva was held on the Leela Centaur Hotel in Mumbai, coinciding with Subhash Ghai’s birthday. The occasion was the discuss of the city, with a costume code of formal fits talked about on the invitation card – an sudden requirement for a lot of center-class journalists of the time.
“Subhash Ghai was a Showman director of his time. Amitabh bachchan Donned a Pathani look for the mahurat event. He looked very attractive in that attire. After the much-talked-about mahurat, Deva’s first shooting schedule began at Filmistan Studio in Mumbai. Guests and the press were not allowed on the set. So, everyone was curious to know what Ghai was making with Bachchan,” Thakur recalled.
He continued, “After that, Pahlaj Nihalani cast Shatrughan Sinha in a film titled Deva O Deva and did its mahurat. The famous scene of Bachchan where he talks to God; Nihalani created a similar scene and shot it with Sinha. Nihalani arranged mahurats of Shakti Kapoor was playing the lead in one of those. That’s when people got to know about Bachchan’s look.
Meanwhile, the shooting of Deva stalled. Details about the film’s heroine, villain, or subsequent schedules remained undisclosed, fueling rumours. “One rumor was that Bachchan didn’t like Ghai’s approach of working. And Ghai did not like Bachchan giving him options. It was rumored that the movie was shelved due to the clashes of their egos. But neither of them ever talked about why the The movie bought shelved,” Thakur mentioned.
Despite the movie’s premature demise, a photograph of Bachchan and Ghai on the units of Deva was later included in a small e-book about Ghai’s directorial journey launched by Mukta Arts in the course of the success of Pardes.
Thakur additionally talked about that Deva wasn’t the one movie Bachchan misplaced throughout that interval. Tinnu Anand’s Shinaak and S. Ramanathan’s Rudra had been amongst different shelved tasks. Reflecting on these misplaced alternatives, Thakur mentioned, “I believe cinema’s historical past may have been totally different had these movies bought made. Ghai and Bachchan by no means labored collectively once more. If Ghai may direct Dilip Kumar in three movies – Vidhaata, Karma, Saudagar, why could not he direct Amitabh Bachchan even in one movie?”
