As Mahesh Bhatt's Zakhm turns 26 on December 25, Subhash K Jha digs up some little known facts about the film.
When Mahesh Bhatt decided to make a film on his troubled childhood, he was very particular about whom he would cast as himself. Kunal Kemmu, then 10, played the younger Bhatt. Ajay Devgan played the older Bhatt.
When Devgan was given the National award for Zakhm, Bhatt felt Kemmu should have shared the honour. A lot of Zakhm fans felt Pooja Bhatt, playing her own grandmother, deserved a National Award too.
Pooja Bhatt had never worn a sari in her life and now, she was required to go through the entire film wearing saris. She told her father she couldn't do it but the never-say-die Mahesh Bhatt told her to give it a try. Pooja did. After wearing it for the first time for Zakhm, Pooja felt she had worn it all her life.
Music Composer M M Kreem did not understand Hindi or Urdu. Yet, he came up with a song like Gali Mein Aaj Chand Nikla for Zakhm. Over years, the song has become an anthem for Eid.
Kreem wanted Chithra to sing the song but the producers preferred Alka Yagnik. These days, he is better known as M M Keeravani, an Oscar winner for his RRR song, Naatu Naatu.
Zakhm was awarded the National Award for the Best Film on National Integration and also acknowledged Devgn's stellar performance.
Zakhm embodies the essence of India's gift from its Founding Fathers -- the right to free speech and thought. Bringing to the screen a story that broke communal barriers, it achieved a synthesis of saffron and green in a way that seems impossible today.
Ashutosh Rana played a harsh right-winger who wouldn't allow Devgn's Ajay Desai bury his Muslim mother according to Islamic customs.