David Dhawan opens up on the success of Aankhen; says, “I had tears in my eyes”

David Dhawan talks about his blockbuster film Aankhen.

On April 9, 1993, when the year's biggest hit, Aankhen, was released, both Govinda and director David Dhawan were in Bangalore filming another movie. Dhawan then got a call from the producer to explain what he and the team had done, unaware of the uproar that the movie's popularity had caused.

David Dhawan opens up on the success of Aankhen; says, “I had tears in my eyes”

Dhawan recalled how Aankhen shot him to fame. He told Hindustan Times, “Pahlaj Nihalani called me and said, ‘You don’t know what this film has done. It has broken all the records. People were going crazy’. And back then, there were no mobile phones, so I started receiving telegrams from distributers”, he added, “Isse pehle aisa success dekha hi nahi tha. Shola Aur Shabnam did well but Aankhen’s success was enormous.”

Dhawan left for Bombay a week later. He said, “From the airport, I directly went to the theatre where my film was being screened, and I was taken by surprise to see people’s reaction. At the venue, there was chaos. The whole press was present, and everybody wanted a picture of me. I could not believe it, as I had never experienced stardom of this level. Later that evening, there was a party at Taj and every senior of mine...every big filmmaker was present. They congratulated me. I had tears in my eyes.”

He further added, “From the next day, I started getting so many offers to direct films and the whole game was turned around. People’s attitude towards me, the budget of my films, my whole dynamic with the industry changed. I brought a house. Usse pehle kya haalat thi meri, woh mujhe hi pata hai. I feel God is great and he gave me the right film at the right time.”

When he was asked who he gave the credit of his film’s success to, Dhawan said, “First one would be Pahlaj. He is one of those producers who would react the set even if the shoot starts at 6 am. Then comes Govinda — an unbelievable actor who creates magic on screen and Anees (Bazmee), who did an outstanding job on the script throughout. He used to write everyday and till the end, actively participated in the film. The film’s success was definitely a teamwork and everyone did amazing, but these three people, I believe, did exceptionally well.”

Aankhen is a Hindi-language comedy film released in 1993. The film was directed by David Dhawan and starred Govinda, Chunky Pandey, Raj Babbar, Kader Khan, and Shilpa Shirodkar in lead roles. The film was a huge commercial success and is still remembered for its memorable songs and comic performances by the lead actors.

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