Aamir Khan, Mansoor Khan recall making 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak', want to team up for another movie

Mumbai: From a happy ending to a tragic one, “Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak” underwent several changes during its making, the movie's leading man Aamir Khan and director Mansoor Khan have revealed.

Also starring Juhi Chawla, the romantic-drama, directed by Mansoor Khan, was a modern day take on the classic tragic love story Romeo and Juliet and became a huge hit upon its release in 1988.

The romantic musical, which marked Aamir's debut as a leading man in Hindi cinema, was screened on day one of the Red Lorry Film Festival here on Friday.

“Nasir (Hussain) sahab, Nuzhat (Hussain’s daughter), and I were writing the screenplay, and Mansoor was writing ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar’. Nasir sahab fell ill and he had to go through a bypass operation. He told Mansoor that his script was ready and he could direct it if he liked it.

"Mansoor liked the idea but when he came on board he changed about 80 per cent of what was written earlier. For Nuzhat and I, it was a relief because we used to find it difficult to fight with Nasir sahab. His thinking was different from ours. So, we were enjoying it as the script was heading the way we wanted to,” Aamir said post the screening of “Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak”.

Mansoor said he got the opportunity to make the film based purely on his talent and not because his father was a filmmaker.

“It was not nepotism. I would’ve never done it if my dad was practising nepotism. I had a sense (of making films). I had made a film, ‘Umberto’, it was shot in 1981 or 1982,” he said.

Mansoor further revealed that it was his late filmmaker father, known for “Baharon Ke Sapne”, “Caravan”, and “Yaadon Ki Baraat”, who coaxed him to have a happy ending in “Qayamat se Qayamat Tak”, which was even shot but not used.

“When I wrote the story, it flowed into a tragic ending. I was like, ‘dad will not accept this ending’. So, I went back to writing the ending and from one point in the film. I wrote both happy and sad endings. While we were shooting, my dad would often ask him, ‘How did the shoot go and if I shot the happy ending?’ I was like, ‘no’.

"We had shot a sad thing and I was done. But I had to shoot a happy ending, wherein Goga Kapoor (Chawla’s father) had to be killed,” Mansoor added.

According to Aamir, the movie was earlier called “Nafrat Ke Waris”. It was his uncle who suggested the title “Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak”.

“We had the title ‘Nafrat Ke Waris’ and we had even made a poster with the title in Lonavala, it meant like a love story with some danger. But it was not used,” Aamir said.

Mansoor added, “My father would often announce a prize reward for those who would come up with a title for a film. In the end, my dad would come up with the title. One day, dad came home, had his drink and called us saying, ‘I’ve got a title, ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’."

Both Aamir and Mansoor said they didn’t expect “Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak” would become one of the most successful Hindi films of all time. The movie later won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film.

“Before the release of the film, I was concerned, I would often think, ‘I’ve not done this or that scene properly’, and these things still keep circling in my head, which I felt even today while watching the film.

"I was not expecting it to be received so well and it just took off. The kind of love it got, and overnight people started recognising me. I was not prepared for it. I had not imagined it would be that successful and that so many years later we would be here and still watching the film,” Aamir said.

Mansoor said he was overwhelmed looking at the reception of the film first hand at a theatre back then.

“Two months or so after the release of the film, I went to Gaiety-Galaxy with my dad and Aamir, and I saw that the theatre was packed with young people and they knew all the dialogues. My dad would often say, ‘films don’t run on publicity but word-of-mouth’,” he said.

Mansoor, who later directed films like “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar”, “Akele Hum Akele Tum”, and “Josh”, stopped making movies.

But he now intends to team up with Aamir for a new movie.

He said he is toying with the idea of turning his book, “ONE: The Story of the Ultimate Myth”, published in 2023, into a movie.

“We are planning to work together on the screenplay in the coming months. It is a stunning book, it is an amazing book, and everyone should watch it,” Aamir said.