On June 22, 1990 Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Ghayal and Indra Kumar’s Dil released simultaneously, much against the advice of boxoffice experts who thought it was suicidal to release two potential blockbusters side by side.Miraculously both worked wonders at the boxoffice. One more than the other.Here are some facts about the two simultaneous blockbusters.
1. Ghayal was definitely a much better film than Dil. But Dil was a bigger hit. While Indra Kumar’s film occupied first position at the boxoffice, Raj Kumar Santoshi’s film was the second biggest hit of 1990. Ghayal received several popular and National awards. Dil didn’t get any awards.
2. Ghayal was Raj Santoshi’s directorial debut. It was a routine revenge saga carried to an unexpected level by the high quality of action. Santoshi went on to direct Sunny Deol in two other outstanding films Ghatak(which was to originally star Kamal Haasan) and Damini. After these they had a huge fall-out.
3. Like Ghayal, Dil too was a diectorial debut. Indra Kumar’s first film as director, he later collaborated with Aamir on Ishq and Mann. After which, Aamir moved on. The actor once told me he was proud of all the films he has done including those with Indra Kumar and Dharmesh Darshan as they are part of his journey as an actor.
4. During Dil Aamir and Madhuri had a fall-out when Aamir played a prank on her. He pretended to “read” her palm and then spat on it. During Indra Kumar’s Ishq Aamir played the same prank on Juhi Chawla. They didn’t speak for years. Is there a connection between Aamir, Indra Kumar and spitting?
5. The music of Dil by Anand-Milind ranks among the largest-selling albums of all times . The songs Mujhe need na aaye and Oh priya priya(originally composed by Ilayaraja) were chart smashers. Ghayal(music by Bappi Lahiri) didn’t have a single outstanding song. The music was the main factor for Dil racing ahead of Ghayal.
