Ghayal (1990) marked the directorial debut of Rajkumar Santoshi. He’d previously assisted Govind Nihalani on Ardh Satya (1982).
Mithun Chakraborthy and Kamal Hassan were considered for the film. However, since Santoshi was Govind Nihalani’s assisant, producers were afraid he would make an ‘art house type’ film.Sanjay Dutt was considered for the role of Ajay Mehra, a boxer framed for his brother’s murder.The role finally went to Sunny Deol, after his father Dharmendra decided to produce the film through his banner Vijeta Films.Sunny had appeared in a number of films through the ‘80s, but it was Ghayal that swept him to popular success.Meenakshi Seshadri, one of the biggest stars of the era, played the female lead in GhayalRaj Babbar and Moushumi Chatterjee played Ajay’s brother and sister-in-law respectively.Both Sunny and Moushumi Chatterjee joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019. Raj Babbar, meanwhile, is a noted Congress member.Ajay’s boxing coach was played by Viju Khote, who passed away in 2019. Viju Khote had worked with Sunny’s father on the iconic Sholay.Santha Kumari, famously known as Disco Shanti, appears as a dancer in the song Pyasi Jawani HaiK.K. Raina was meant to do the film but was replaced by Sudesh Berry.The tune of Sochna Kya Jo Bhi Hoga Dekha Jayega is used in the song On the Floor by Jennifer Lopez.Cinematographer Rajen Kothari had used his own Fiat car while shooting a scene where Sunny Deol chases Amrish Puri in a crowded area.Ghayal was awarded 7 Filmfare awards, including Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director and Best CinematographerFor his performance, Sunny won a National Film Award - Special Jury AwardGhayal had clashed at the box-office with Aamir Khan’s Dil, one of many for the actors.Other famous Aamir-Sunny clashes include Raja Hindustani vs Ghatak and Lagaan vs GaddarGhayal was the second highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1990. It was beaten by Dil.Ghayal was remade in Tamil as Bharathan (1992), in Telugu as Gamyam (1998) and in Kannada as Vishwa (1999)A sequel, Ghayal: Once Again, was released in 2016. It was written and directed by Sunny, who reprised the character of Ajay Mehra.