‘Khuda Gawah’ was a superhit film of Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi released in 1992. This is Mukul S. Anand directed. It also had stars like Danny Dengzongpa, Shilpa Shirodkar, Nagarjuna. It also received Filmfare Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Danny) awards.
It was shot in Afghanistan. An interesting anecdote related to it was shared by Amitabh Bachchan in one of his blogs. Today we have brought that story for you.
Actually, these days Afghanistan is in the headlines. The Taliban has taken control there. There was a similar situation a few years back when the film ‘Khuda Gawah’ was shot in Afghanistan. Then the Soviet Union had just gone from there and the command of Afghanistan was in the hands of President Najibullah Ahmadzai.
He was a big fan of Hindi films. Therefore, when the unit of this film reached there, the government took up the responsibility of their security. The entire team including Amitabh was welcomed like a royal guest. After this, Amitabh has told how he shot this film under the shadow of the security forces.
There were tanks and security forces stationed everywhere. Despite all this, it is the most memorable trip of my life. We got a call from a place, so Danny Denzongappa, Mukul and I left for there in a chopper. There were 5 other helicopters flying with our chopper. The aerial view was so spectacular that don’t ask, the mountains were sometimes pink and sometimes purple, as seasonal flowers were in bloom all around. When the chopper landed in the valley, it seemed as if time had stopped. On seeing this, the chieftain lifted us on the shoulder, because according to their tradition, the feet of the guest should not fall on the ground. – Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh further told that he was kept in a small palace. where he was well cared for. A competition for the traditional game of Buzkashi was also kept for them. The Bujakashi tournament has also been shown in the film. The film was shot in the Mazar-e-Sharif area, where the threat of terrorists kept hovering over the head. But the former President had deployed his military force in the security of the film’s unit.
It was shot between tanks and armed soldiers. When the time came to return to India after the shooting of the film, Najibullah Ahmedzai invited the entire team to the royal banquet at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Here he discussed about the film and on his way back, loaded it with gifts. Amitabh says it was like a fairy tale. He did not get such hospitality on any trip. He wrote at the end of his blog that I do not know where our hosts will be.
