Published on: Dec 28, 2025 12:59 pm IST
During a recent interview, Khuda Gawah producer Manoj Desai looked back at the time when asked Amitabh Bachchan to buy an award for himself.
Khuda Gawah producer Manoj Desai has claimed that megastar Amitabh Bachchan was once offered to buy the Best Actor award, which he refused. He further claimed that the award organisers then approached Anil Kapoor, who went on to accept the honour.
Khuda Gawah producer reveals
During an interview with Vickey Lalwani on his YouTube channel, Manoj Desai, theatre owner and producer, revealed that Amitabh Bachchan was once offered an award but refused to accept it.
Manoj said, “Once Amitabh Bachchan and I were sitting together when the award function was going on. Rauf Ahmed (late film writer) came to me and asked me, ‘If I give the Best Actor award to Amitabh Bachchan, will you bear the whole expense of this party?’ I went to ask Amitabh Bachchan to ask about the same, and he told me that ‘Amitabh Bachchan doesn’t buy awards’. He also told me, ‘I know whom this award will go, it will go to Anil Kapoor and he has already organised a big party on the terrace of his house’. And Anil Kapoor did get the award of Best Actor that year, I think he got the award for Mr India. Anil Kapoor had agreed to pay for the Filmfare party and that’s why he got the award.”
However, contrary to Manoj’s claim, Anil did not win the Filmfare Best Actor award for Mr India in 1987. He bagged his first Best Actor honour in 1989 for Tezaab. It was the same year Amitabh Bachchan was also nominated in the category for Shahenshah.
Manoj further claimed that Dharmendra, much like Amitabh Bachchan, adhered to the principle of never buying awards. He added, “Dharmendra also 100% refused such offer. He said he won’t buy any award. He even talked about this when he got the Lifetime Achievement award, he said in the speech that he deserved awards for many of his previous films but those awards were not given to him.”
About Khuda Gawah
Khuda Gawah (1992) was extensively shot in and around the cities of Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan. The Mukul S Anand directorial had Sridevi in a double role – playing mom and daughter. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Shilpa Shirodkar, and Nagarjuna, the film was a box office hit. It tells the story of an Afghan warrior as he sets off on a dangerous mission after falling in love with a woman from a neighbouring clan.
