Sanjay Dutt’s Khalnayak Failed To Get The National Award Due To This Song

Sanjay Dutt has done many hit films in his long career. Films like the Munna Bhai franchise, Agneepath, Khalnayak saw him at its best. Khalnayak, directed by Subhash Ghai, was an important project in his career. The movie completed 30 years of its release on June 15.

This film is majorly remembered for the immense controversy it generated due to one song Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai. Many organisations objected to this song and even demanded a ban on Khalnayak. However, the film was not banned and Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai became an instant hit with the audience.

Director Subhash Ghai was of the opinion that Khalnayak could not win the National Award due to this particular song. He had said this in an interview to Bollywood Hungama on May 6, 2020. Ghai said that the film was nominated for the National Award but could not win it as Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai song was extremely controversial. The director also added that 1 crore cassettes of the song were sold in just a week.

Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai is remembered as one of the timeless masterpieces sung by Alka Yagnik and Ila Arun. The audience also lauded the catchy beats composed by the duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Anand Bakshi had penned the lyrics for this song.

Despite the popularity attained by the song, Khalnayak couldn’t receive the same success initially. The audience was of the opinion that the director Subhash Ghai had tried to include too many things in the film which failed to hold the viewer’s attention for a long time.

Khalnayak’s storyline revolves around a prison guard Gangotri Devi (Madhuri Dixit) who goes undercover as a dancer to recapture a criminal Balaram Prasad (Sanjay Dutt).

It was dubbed as an average film by the critics. The film was in the news after Sanjay Dutt’s name cropped up in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blasts. Sanjay Dutt was in Mauritius shooting for the film and was arrested by the police, the moment he landed in Mumbai.

Kalnayak though ended up being second-highest grossing Bollywood movie of that year, only surpassed by Govinda’s Aankhen.