Kader Khan had enduring partnerships with '70s stalwarts Amitabh Bachchan, Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra

It might come as a surprise to many that Kader Khan always harboured dreams of becoming a director. He had even planned a film called Jaahil with his good friend Amitabh Bachchan in the lead. But unforeseen circumstances ensured that the film never reached the floors. Had the film released, audiences would have witnessed the superstar in the role of a sadist. But for the sake of trivia, though Khan never managed to direct a film in its entirety, he did direct a very small portion of two blockbusters. He called the shots during the the famous mirror scene from Manmohan Desai’s Amar Akbar Anthony and the ‘Saara Zamana’ song from Yaarana for director Rakesh Kumar. [caption id=“attachment_5805891” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Amitabh Bachchan (left) and Kader Khan. Images from Facebook[/caption] Khan was one of those from the industry from whom a certain bunch of directors and actors benefited a lot. Stalwarts Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra owed a part of their astronomical success to Khan. It was his dialogues which ensured that no stumbling blocks came before Amitabh Bachchan in earning the sobriquet of the Angry Young Man. In the twilight years of his career, both David Dhawan and Govinda who benefited the maximum because of the actor’s excellent comic timing. Khan joined the gang of Manmohan Desai’s team when chips were down for him. The blockbuster director was disillusioned with the existing lot of dialogue writers and was desperately looking for someone who could transform the climax of the Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz-starrer Roti. When the dialogue writer was introduced to Desai, the director harboured the notion that most of the Muslim writers were not aware of the basics of dialogue writing and believed more in the usage of shayari and muhawara in their dialogues. When he met Khan for the first time, without mincing his words, he informed him that if the dialogues did not appeal to him, he would tear down the pages in front of him. After Khan was assigned the task, he returned the next day with a bunch of papers. Desai was least prepared for the meeting as he was expecting him to see after a month. It was a moment which turned around the career of both. The director felt so happy with the dialogues that he immediately went to his other room and unplugged his Toshiba mini TV as a present for him, apart from a gold bracelet. He also rewarded him with a handsome amount of Rs 1,21,000 for his work. But this was not the end, Desai made sure that he called up his fellow colleagues and industry friends, and inform them about the arrival of a new talent. The association saw films like Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish, Dharam Veer, Suhaag, Naseeb, Coolie and Mard – all bonafide superhits. There was also an unwritten rule in the ’70s that those working for Desai were not allowed to work for films made under Prakash Mehra’s banner and vice versa. Once when Khan was asked about which camp he belonged to, his candid reply was that he belonged to none and both the directors belonged to his camp. The situation when he met Mehra was similar to when he had met Desai for the first time. This time, the SOS call came from Mehra. While shooting for Haseena Maan Jayegi, Mehra was not happy with the dialogues that were given to him. It was also the time when Khan was making a living by teaching civil engineering at a polytechnic college. Another ace director was saved by dialogues of Khan. But Khan’s actual association with the director started only a decade after the release of Haseena Maan Jayegi when he wrote the dialogues for Muqaddar Ka Sikandar. The contribution of Khan in the mega success of Bachchan simply cannot be ignored. Khan’s association with the actor started with Khoon Pasina and after its success, there there was no looking back. If Salim-Javed managed the engine called Amitabh Bachchan, the coal for the same was provided by Khan. The friendship took a beating when Bachchan entered politics. When Bachchan joined the film industry again after his stint in politics, in one of his interviews, Khan had stated that he was not the same person again. The scene in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar when Amitabh narrates his life journey on a stage was actually the story of Kader Khan. The actual scene ran for 16 pages, which made the superstar jittery initially, but when Khan narrated the entire scene in his own inimitable style, it proved to be a clincher. The negative roles that Khan played in the initial phase of his career took a toll on his kids. His kids were subjected to constant rebukes in school because of his father’s reel persona. He was on the lookout for a change and fate came knocking on is door. While shooting at RK Studios, Jitendra informed him that a producer from South had been desperately trying to meet him in order to sign him for his film. The film was Meri Awaz Suno,  which also fetched him his first Filmfare Award. But more than that, it also marked his entry into South films. Himmatwala marked his foray into comedy and he virtually bid goodbye to negative roles. He reached a crescendo in his comedy career when director David Dhawan signed him for Bol Radha Bol in 1992. The association delivered as many as 15 films, most of which were superhits, including Aankhen, Coolie No 1, Saajan Chale Sasural and Haseena Maan Jaayegi. It will not be an exaggeration to say that the combination of David, Kader and Govinda dominated the box office in the ’90s.