2 weeks ago
Rajkumar Santoshi reveals hiding Aishwarya Rai's villainous twist in Khakee
A Hindi movie called Khakee was made in 2004.
The director was Rajkumar Santoshi.
In the movie, an actress named Aishwarya Rai plays a character called Mahalakshmi.
At one point, Mahalakshmi turns against the police officers she was working with and helps the person she loves instead.
That was a big surprise twist for the audience.
The director kept this secret from Aishwarya for a very long time while they were filming.
He did not tell her the whole story of her character.
The director said that usually movie villains have sad backstories that explain why they are bad.
But in Khakee, he said, Mahalakshmi is simply bad, with no excuses.
So the twist stayed a secret until the audience watched the movie.
Rajkumar Santoshi revealed he kept Aishwarya Rai's character arc hidden from her for most of the Khakee shoot.
In the 2004 film, Aishwarya Rai's Mahalakshmi betrays her police team to side with her love interest Yashwant Angre, played by Ajay Devgn.
Santoshi said that while negative lead roles usually have justifying backstories, Mahalakshmi has none — "She is bad. Period."
Santoshi described Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as "a very good family friend."
Santoshi shared the revelation in an interaction with Galatta Plus.
- Who
- Director Rajkumar Santoshi, actress Aishwarya Rai and actor Ajay Devgn.
- What
- Santoshi revealed that he hid Aishwarya Rai's villainous character twist from her during the filming of Khakee.
- Where
- In Hindi cinema; Santoshi discussed the matter in an interaction with Galatta Plus.
- When
- Santoshi made the revelation recently; the film Khakee was released in 2004.
- Why
- Santoshi believed the character needed no justification for being bad, unlike typical villains with backstories, so he kept the twist secret from the actress.
Key facts
- Film
- Khakee
- Director
- Rajkumar Santoshi
- Release year
- 2004
- Genre
- Neo-noir action thriller
- Actress
- Aishwarya Rai
- Character
- Mahalakshmi
- Co-star
- Ajay Devgn as Yashwant Angre
- Reveal source
- Galatta Plus interaction
Quotes
Rajkumar Santoshi
Indian film director and screenwriter of Khakee
“Whenever a lead character is portraying a negative role, they always have a backstory justifying them. Like their mother was cruel.”
indianexpress.com
“There’s no justification. She (Aishwarya’s character Mahalakshmi) is bad. Period.”
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