While Amitabh Bachchan was in hospital post the ‘Coolie’ incident, ‘Khud-Daar’ released

The list of megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s iconic films is undoubtedly too long to mention. In a career that spans over four decades, the 1982 released ‘Khud-Daar’ is one such film where his performance is simply excellent. However, not many would be aware that this film was released during a very crucial time in the megastar’s life. ‘Khud-Daar’ had released within a few days after Amitabh Bachchan was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital, after he faced a near-fatal accident while shooting for an action sequence, for his film ‘Coolie’ (1983).

After this accident, the actor took several months to fully recover, but he continued to entertain his fans through this film and didn’t disappoint them. According to a senior critic and author, the black marketeers sold tickets of ‘Khud-Daar’ in double and triple rates and audience came in huge numbers to see their favourite Big B’s film on big screen. ‘Khud-Daar’ was directed by Ravi Tandon with whom the actor had earlier worked in ‘Majboor’ (1974). It was produced by Anwar Ali, who was comedian Mehmood’s brother and a very close friend of Big B. (Also Read: When Shashi Kapoor pulled Amitabh Bachchan back, from playing an ‘extra’)

The film featured an ensemble cast of actors like Sanjeev Kumar, Vinod Mehra, Parveen Babi, Tanuja, Bindiya Goswami and Prem Chopra. This film was the last time when Amitabh shared screen space with Sanjeev Kumar, his co-star in iconic films like ‘Sholay’, ‘Trishul’ and ‘Silsila’, as latter passed away in the year 1985.

‘Khud-Daar’ carried every ingredient to make it a blockbuster, especially the chartbuster songs that it had. Among them, ‘Mach Gaya Shor’ is still played during the celebrations of Janmashtami festival and ‘Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain’ is one of the best romantic songs that kept ruling the charts and witnessed the deadly combination of Amitabh Bachchan and singer Kishore Kumar.

There were films like ‘Satte Pe Satta’, ‘Desh Premee’ and ‘Namak Halaal’ that were released before ‘Khud-Daar’ and ‘Shakti’ that was the actor’s last release in that same year. But, ‘Khud-Daar’ was special for Big B’s fans and admirers who were praying to God for his good health and continued to shower their love on his movie too.

Amod Pandit

Quiet, resonant, and creative, he can be seen immersed in his own world, and puts in his heart and soul into the one passion that he has, Bollywood. His line for survival? Feel happy to be a part of it.