Sunny Deol’s ‘Ghayal’ Turns 25!

Screenwriter Rajat Aroraa recalls the awe inspiring ‘Ghayal’, 25 years after its release

Sunny Deol’s awesome outrage scene in jail from Ghayal

(Rajat Aroraa, screenwriter of films like The Dirty Picture, Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai and Kick, remembers Rajkumar Santoshi and Sunny Deol’s most compelling collaboration)

I clearly remember the day Ghayal released, because it was also the same day Dil showed up in theatres. My friends wanted to watch Dil, so we decided to go to Paras cinema in Delhi, which was around 40 minutes ride from my house. But on my way, I managed to convince them that we should watch Ghayal. It was that eternal debate - romantic films against action films for youngsters and I was keener on watching Ghayal, first day first show. We went to the cinema, and sold our tickets in black. Since the film was high on demand, it wasn’t difficult for us to sell them. Then we went to a cinema hall that was playing Ghayal, bought tickets again in black and went in.

The opening credits of Ghayal

Though I saw Dil two weeks later, it was Ghayal that had a deep impact on my 14-year-old self. I remember the stunned reaction of the audience inside the auditorium as the film unfolded before their eyes. It was too powerful for them. The climactic scene when Ajay (Sunny Deol) is being bashed up while Balwant Rai (Amrish Puri ) is being taken to safety, it looks like a world of despair. But when Varsha (Meenakshi Seshadri) gives Ajay the gun, and he shoots Balwant Rai, people stood up and started clapping. That’s where I knew that the common man has won.

The way the film was structured, the way powerful dialogues were written and delivered; it channelized the rage of the common man so stunningly that there was no escape. Even Shiva which released a few months later achieved the theme of one man against the system very correctly, but what Ghayal brought to the table was unprecedented. It was bold, yet had its feet firmly in the uneasy reality of our corrupt system. It’s great writing at work and executed with firmer faith.

Sunny Deol goes all guns blazing in Ghayal

The film’s major success with striking a chord with the larger audiences lies with the fact that it took a very realistic approach despite being a mainstream film. Rajkumar Santoshi, the director of the film, previously worked with Govind Nihlani in Ardh Satya, a masterpiece of gritty matter-of-fact drama, and I think that realism came through in Ghayal. For example, look at the iconic police station scene, which has every possibility to use intense background score, but the monologue is delivered with the punch of Sunny’s voice, and what a terrific blow it makes.

I always believed that a good versus evil story must have a strong villain. As the villain gets stronger, the victory of the hero will be more phenomenal, and the dramatic sparks will fly even more. In Ghayal, Balwant Rai as a character has more recall value than Ajay, Varsha or Indu. By creating a powerful villain, Santoshi created a film so potent that audience had to applaud.

Amrish Puri as the evil Balwant Rai in Ghayal

In today’s times, whenever action films are made, there are two major reference points for dialogues. Either it’s Amitabh Bachchan in Deewar or Sunny Deol in Ghayal. The film’s dialogues were simple, and the repartee between characters made it work. It remains one of Sunny’s most remembered films (along with Arjun), and one of the most gratifying movie experiences of my life. I am a perennial fanboy of this film, and perhaps I do carry seeds of that experience in my screenwriting career.

(As told to Ranjib Mazumder)