Nasir Husain came up with the title of this film based on director Mansoor Khan's English suggestion, "Winner Takes All".[MR14]
This was the last film produced by Nasir Husain. He went on to write the dialogues for "Akele Hum Akele Tum" (1995) before retiring for good.[1][MR14]
This film was delayed as it was plagued by casting issues. Director Mansoor Khan had to reshoot quite a bit to effect the casting changes. In the original casting, Ayesha Jhulka's role was to be played by Girija Shettar, Deepak Tijori's role by Milind Soman and Pooja Bedi's role by Nagma and later Karishma Pahuja.[MR14]
This film was adapted for the Telugu film, "Thammudu" (1999). "Thammudu" itself was remade in various other languages - in Tamil as "Badri" (2001), in Kannada as "Yuvaraja" (2001) and in Bengali as "Champion" (2003).
This film had some similarities with the American coming-of-age film, "Breaking Away" (1979). However, according to the writer and director, Mansoor Khan, he became aware of the film only when this resemblance was pointed out to him.[2]
Akshay Kumar had auditioned for Deepak Tijori's role in this film but was rejected.
This was the second film after "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak" (1988) in which actor Imran Khan played the younger version of the character played by his uncle, Aamir Khan.[3]
Ayesha Jhulka suffered a head injury while shooting the climax of the film. She underwent surgery and was asked to take rest. However, there was pressure to finish the film's shooting on schedule and Ayesha agreed to finish the sequence while wearing a cap to conceal the stitches on her head.[4]
Director Mansoor Khan had wanted this to be his debut film. In fact, Aamir Khan's character in this film was inspired by his own life. He had started working on its script but was not quite happy with its direction when his father, Nasir Husain, and sister, Nuzhat Khan, had asked him if he would consider directing "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak" (1988). Since his father wasn't well at the time and since his script for this film wasn't ready, Mansoor Khan agreed to do "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak" first.[5]
R.D. Burman had been chosen to compose music for this film and had even participated in a few sittings with director Mansoor Khan. He was subsequently replaced by Jatin - Lalit. Apparently, producer Nasir Husain wasn't satisfied with the songs recorded by Jatin - Lalit and asked his old partner, R.D. Burman, to listen to the songs and give his opinion. The songs were finalised only when Burman had approved them.[6][7]
Song
Yahan Ke Hum Sikandar - Portions of this song were adapted from the opening lines of the song "Pinball Wizard" (1969) by the rock band The Who.[8]
Yahan Ke Hum Sikandar - A recreated version of this song was used in a Dream 11 IPL ad that was first aired in 2021.
Pehla Nasha Pehla Khumar (Chahe Tum Kuch Naa Kaho) - This was one of the earliest Hindi film songs to be shot completely in slow motion. Prior to this, the Hindi film song, "Jogi O Jogi Pyar Mein Kya Hoga" ("Lakhon Me Ek", 1971), had used slow motion in some sections of the song.[9]
Pehla Nasha Pehla Khumar (Chahe Tum Kuch Naa Kaho) - This song was Farah Khan's big break as a choreographer. According to her, this opportunity came to her completely by accident. She was assisting Mansoor Khan for the film at the time. When the film's choreographer, Saroj Khan, did not report on set to shoot this song, Mansoor Khan asked Farah to step in and choreograph it. Saroj disputed Farah Khan's account of these events. She said that she could not work for the film since she had become busy with other projects after it was delayed. Saroj clarified this while expressing her unhappiness over the scene in Farah Khan's "Happy New Year" (2014) that parodied her.[10][11][12]
Pehla Nasha Pehla Khumar (Chahe Tum Kuch Naa Kaho) - Lalit Pandit, who had worked very hard to finalise the instrumentation of this song before its recording, had a big disagreement with the song's music arranger on the day of its recording. His brother Jatin Pandit, who was elder than him, pacified him and asked him not to lose his temper given the fact that they were rank newcomers. Cooler heads prevailed and the recording was rescheduled to the next day. When the song was finally recorded, the duo got a standing ovation from everyone present there, including director Mansoor Khan.[13]
Are Yaaro Mere Pyaro (Jawan Ho Yaaron Ye Tumko Hua Kya) - The dancer in the red dress in this song was Girija Shettar, the original heroine of the film, who was later replaced by Ayesha Jhulka.
Humse Hai Saara Jahan - Lalit Pandit appeared on screen for this song as the bass guitar player. Jatin Pandit not only sang this song but also appeared on screen to sing and dance for it.
