Baazigar's Original Ending Had Kajol Killing Shah Rukh Khan

News18

21-07-2025

Abbas-Mustan share how Baazigar almost had a different ending, and why Shah Rukh Khan's character needed emotional depth.
Before Shah Rukh Khan became the poster boy for romance, he shook up the '90s with a role few saw coming — a cold, calculating killer in Baazigar. Directors Abbas-Mustan recently reflected on how the thriller nearly turned out very differently.
Speaking about the film's early development, the duo recalled how new the idea felt at the time. Mustan said, as quoted in SCREEN, 'It was a new concept at that time. We thought of Shah Rukh's character as a hero; he was negative, but he was our hero, and also, you have to understand why he did what he did in the film. For instance, if some character is doing something negative, but in the background he has some good qualities or there is a reason for him to turn negative, then if his character turns negative, that is also okay."
But the original script was far more brutal. Mustan revealed that the early version of the film ended with the lead actress killing Shah Rukh's character. 'In the first draft of the film, the hero was an out-and-out negative character who saw a tough childhood as his father would be a drunk, and he would beat his mother, and the kid would grow up wishing that he would become rich one day. After growing up, the character decides to get into a relationship with both daughters of a millionaire and eventually kill one of the daughters to take over the millionaire's empire. Later, the second girl gets to know about the character's intention and kills him. This was the first draft of the film."
That ending was eventually scrapped. The filmmakers felt the story needed more than just revenge and shock value — it needed heart. 'We realised that the film would not work without emotions, and the biggest emotion is the mother and father's." So they rewrote the film, giving Shah Rukh's character a tragic backstory involving a murdered father, a wronged mother and a sister he loved dearly.
Abbas-Mustan took time from the producers to reshape the story. 'Screenplay was the most important aspect of Baazigar," Mustan said.
The result was a film that not only redefined what a Bollywood hero could be but also became a box office hit. Baazigar told the story of Ajay Sharma, a man driven by vengeance, who cons his way into the lives of a businessman's daughters, murders one, and falls in love with the other before dying in the end.
Even today, it stands as one of Shah Rukh Khan's most daring roles — one where he was the villain, but also the hero.
First Published:
July 21, 2025, 08:22 IST
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