Vikram Bhatt’s Ghulam has been titled as one of the iconic films of the Hindi film industry. Starring Aamir Khan as ‘Siddharth Marathe’ and Rani Mukerji as ‘Alisha,’ the 1998 release was backed by the director’s brother and renowned filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt. Rani, who was just two films old when Ghulam was released, rose to fame with her performance, and Aamir was already an established star. After the release of the film, the lead actor and producer had a fallout.
For the unversed, the superstar wanted Ghulam to be the most important thing in Mahesh Bhatt’s life, which the filmmaker clearly didn’t agree to, leading to a spat between the two. Now, in the latest interview, Vikram Bhatt spilled the beans on the same and stated that if Aamir tells him the same thing today, he would disagree, too. Scroll down.
Speaking to Siddharth Kannan, Vikram Bhatt revealed, “When Aamir Khan and Bhatt saab parted ways on the sets of Ghulam, Aamir said, ‘I want Ghulam to be the most important thing in your life’. Bhatt saab said, ‘It cannot be. This is not the most important thing for me.’ Both of them were very honest. For me it was (important) because I only had Fareeb at that time and so I had a lot of fun. If today Aamir says, ‘I want you to do Ghulam and I want it to be the most important thing,’ I will say it cannot be.”
Further, when asked if he is in touch with Aamir Khan, the filmmaker confirmed that they are very much in touch. The superstar even came to his daughter’s wedding, and they often speak on the phone.
In the same interview, Vikram Bhatt was also asked about the controversy behind Rani Mukerji’s dubbed voice in the film. Reacting to the same, he told the host that he finally would like to address it once for all. Spilling the beans on the same, the filmmaker revealed that he had himself suggested Rani’s name for Ghulam after watching her act in ‘Raja Ki Ayegi Baraat.’ While he wanted to give her a chance someone told him that ‘her film hadn’t worked as people didn’t like the her voice.’
“I said, ‘Voice can be dubbed. The girl is a good actor and even looks good.’ So sometimes these things stick and no one thinks a lot. What we thought before casting, we did it. There was no conscious effort behind this. We laugh about it. She knows I would not do anything like that to her,” said Vikram Bhatt. Ghulam was a box office hit and its song ‘Aati Kya Khandala?’ became cult classic.
Coming back, how many of you have watched Ghulam and didn’t realize that Rani Mukerji’s voice was dubbed in the film? Well, many didn’t when they were young (including me (wink wink)).
