Kamal Haasan’s Redemption Arc: Earning More Than Double (1000 Crore+) In The Same Year Of Getting Replaced By Sunny Deol For Ghatak, It’s An Epic Box Office Tale!
A Sunny Deol film was earlier envisioned with Kamal Haasan but couldn't be finalized & instead, KH went ahead to deliver a movie so big that its sequel is being awaited even today
Kamal Haasan’s Redemption Arc: Earning More Than Double (1000 Crore+) In The Same Year Of Getting Replaced By Sunny Deol For Ghatak… ( Photo Credit – Instagram; YouTube )
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Kamal Haasan and his unfinished/rejected projects could form their own little universe. Without building up things, you should know we’re talking about Rajkumar Santoshi’s Ghatak. If you know even a little about Sunny Deol & Rajkumar Santoshi, you must be aware of the dramatic rise and fall of their epic friendship.
Back in 2010 (yes, we’re that old & serving entertainment forever), we did this ‘relationship timeline’ kinda article on both of them and even today, it serves as a fresh read if you want to know in detail what actually transpired between both of them.
Deol’s family’s production house, Vijaya Films, was producing Ghayal, and Sunny Deol was the one who introduced Raj Kumar Santoshi’s talent to the world. The production house had previously tasted super-success in Betaab (also starring Sunny Paaji), and even Ghayal went on to do fantastic business at the box office.
Vijaya Films’ next film, Damini, also went on to become a success, and Sunny Deol turned into a brand, a trustworthy star for the producers. On the other hand, there was Kamal Haasan, who was a renowned star down south and, even in Hindi cinema, was trying to build his base. Though, at the time of Ghatak’s announcement, it was over ten years since Kamal Haasan, who didn’t release a single film in the Hindi markets.
Makers of Ghatak. bought a full-page advertisement to announce the return of Kamal Haasan to the Hindi film industry. The advert read, “Welcome back to the Hindi screen, many happy returns. Kamal Haasan In Ghatak.”
It further said, “Writer-producer-director Rajkumar Santoshi has signed Kamal Haasan to play the title role in Santoshi Productions’ Ghatak. Music R.D. Burman. Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri. The film will be shot on a start-to-finish schedule in May. Other cast and credits are being finalized.”
Sunny Deol Replaced Kamal Haasan, But Why?
The news was out, and everything was falling into place for the film, but suddenly, Kamal Haasan was out of the project, and Sunny Deol replaced him. The reason that was given was the film being set to a more significant financial canvas, and hence, the makers wanted to ‘play safe,’ so KH wasn’t the right choice to back this film on.
Yes, Sunny Deol came in and delivered one of his most memorable performances, making the film a super hit as it collected a little over 25 crores back in 1996 (approximately 400 crores in 2023, post adding inflation).
The Kamal Haasan Redemption Arc!
But, do you know, Kamal Haasan, the same actor who probably was shown the back door because he wasn’t considered a ‘safe star,’ delivered a movie in the same year (1996) that earned more than double (worldwide gross) of what Ghatak collected. The film was Indian, and it made 60 crore+ (worldwide), which is equivalent to 1000 crore+ in today’s time (inflation-adjusted), and this was Kamal Haasan’s redemption arc.
