As the iconic Suresh Krissna film completes 25 years, we take you on a trip back on the memory lane with some exciting trivia about the movie's making.

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Revisiting Baashha: A look-back at the film that cemented Rajinikanth's superstardom; 50+ lesser-known facts & rare stills

Team CE

Published:14th Jan, 2020 at 6:42 PM

During the making of Hum (1991), its director Mukul Anand had discussed with Rajini a potential scene, where Amitabh's character would help his brother (Govinda) get a seat in the Police Academy.

Anand discarded the scene, because he did not find it suitable. But Rajinikanth felt the scene had the potential to develop into a script for a possible feature film.

On the sets of Annamalai (1992), Rajinikanth and its director Suresh Krissna discussed the scene, which Krissna also found to be interesting.

The title Baashha was suggested by Rajinikanth to Krissna, who claimed that a Muslim connection to the script was needed.

Krissna brought up the subject again to Rajinikanth during the making of Veera (1994), but Rajinikanth wanted to discuss the script only after completing Veera.

The discarded scene became the foundation for Baashha where Rajini's character, Manikkam, helps his sister get admission in the medical college she had applied for, by invoking his past.

Krissna and his team wrote the rest of the film's script around this particular scene.

Though Manikkam was initially written as a bus conductor, Krissna suggested that 'the auto driver was the commonest man around. And Rajini liked the idea'.

RM Veerappan, who had earlier collaborated with Rajinikanth in Ranuva Veeran (1981), Moondru Mugam (1982), Thanga Magan (1983), Oorkavalan (1987) and Panakkaran (1990), was the film's producer.

Development regarding the film's script commenced in the Taj Banjara hotel in Hyderabad.

Eighty percent of the script, including the flashback portions of Rajinikanth as Baashha, were ready in ten days.

Balakumaran was selected to write the film's dialogues, after Rajini was impressed with his contribution to films like Nayakan and Gentleman.

The entire team of technicians, including music director Deva, who had worked with Krissna in Annamalai, returned to work with him for Baashha.

Nagma was the first and only choice for the heroine's role after Krissna was impressed with her performance in Kadhalan (1994).

Sathyapriya, who was seen with Rajini in Panakkaran, was cast as Baasha's mother, after Suresh Krissna recommended her.

The Kannada actor Shashikumar was signed up to play Manickam's cop brother. The scene where he questions him about his past became a pop-culture thing.

Suresh Krissna considered some Bollywood names for the role of the main antagonist Marc Antony, but nothing worked out for two months.

then thought Raghuvaran would be a good fit considering his tall height and deep voice. Rajinikanth also readily agreed to this proposal.

Suresh Krissna met Raghuvaran at his residence and narrated the whole script over 3 hours. Raghuvaran was excited and agreed to play Antony instantly.

Raghuvaran, according to Krissna, did a lot of homework to get Antony's voice perfectly during the film's dubbing.

Rajinikanth's look in Baasha was inspired by Mammootty's look in the Malayalam film Samrajyam (1990) and his own look in the film, Polladhavan (1980).

The film's Muhurat shot took place at AVM Studios at the venue which later came to be known as the Rajni Pillaiyar Temple. Fans of Rajini were invited for the first shot.

Choreography for the song 'Naan Autokaaran' was done by Tarun Kumar, whose father, Hiralal, choreographed the song 'Yaaradi Nee Mohini' from Uthama Puthiran (1958).

Rajinikanth recommended Tarun to Suresh Krissna, who had wanted Raghuram to choreograph the song.

Tarun completed the choreography in five days and the entire sequence was rehearsed at AVM Studios with fifty back-up dancers.

As in 'Vandhenda Paalkaaran' from Annamalai, the sequence was shot with Rajinikanth looking into the lens with a smile, which was intended to make the audience feel that he was breaking the 4th wall.

The gesture, which was already effective in Annamalai, prompted Krissna to extend the screen time of the shot

Krissna wanted Rajini to sport a dress that would make him look slightly unkempt in appearance, but Rajini wore a smartly-tailored uniform and said to Krissna that the audience won't mind it at all.

The filming of the Autokaran song took place at the open space at Vijaya Vauhini Studios in Chennai, the same area where Hotel Green Park is present

Autokaran was completed with a little more than 100 back-up dancers used for it in four days.

Choreographers Kalyan and Ashok Raj were part of the back-up dancers for the song.

The first half of the film was shot for 23 days at a stretch.

Regarding the dialogues, Rajini apparently requested them to be simple yet effective, as it would be used in a sequence where another side of the protagonist would be revealed.

The 'Oru Vaati sonna' dialogue was suggested by Rajini on the film's sets when the fight sequence was being shot.

The dialogue was originally spoken by him as 'Naan oru vaatti sonna, nooru vaatti sonna madhiri'.

Before the take, Rajinikanth, who repeatedly rehearsed the dialogue, told Krissna that the word 'thadava' sounded more effective than 'vaatti', and suggested Krissna use 'thadava' instead of 'vaatti'

Balakumaran initially did not agree with Rajinikanth and Krissna as he felt that the word 'vaatti' was 'fine' and that there was no need to change the dialogue.

Rajinikanth then spoke both the versions of the dialogue and somehow convinced Balakumaran to change the word 'vaatti' to 'thadava'.

The 'Oru Vaati sonna' dialogue had such an impact on everyone present at the set that, in the break that followed, everyone started using it one way or another

The dialogue was used for only five times in the film, as Krissna thought overusing it would reduce the line's intensity.

According to reports, the line was potentially inspired by a dialogue in Jane Austen's novel Emma, which read, 'If I've told you once, I've told you a 100 times.'

The scene where Rajiini gets bashed to protect his sibling and the following events where he beats up Anandraj in return, was suggested by Raju, the choreographer for both the stunt sequences.

When Krissna spoke to producer RM Veerappan about the action scene which he had shot, Veerappan wanted the scene to be deleted as he felt that people would not want to Rajini getting beaten up.

Rajini offered to show a sneak preview to Veerappan, and promised him that the scene would be re-shot if he didn't like it in the final cut. Rajini also offered to bear the costs for re-shooting it.

The shooting was stalled for five days after Suresh Krissna's meeting with Veerappan.

It was finally decided that the scene would be tweaked in such a way that it would be as if Mother Nature is angry at the treatment meted out. It was also agreed to use backlighting and a poignant BGM

It was also agreed that backlighting and a poignant background score would be used effectively to heighten the dramatic conflict, and justify Manickam's iconic rebuttal.

Twenty-five scenes, including those which show Rajinikanth's house and neighborhood were shot at Vijaya Vauhini Studios.

The set at the studio for 'Styleu Styleu Thaan' was designed by Magie, the film's art director.

The constructed sets for the film also included a tea stall, a cycle stand and a theatre.

The scenes featuring the comedy interludes featuring Nagma and the action sequences featuring Anandaraj were also filmed at Vijaya Vauhini Studios.

According to Suresh Krissna, filming for Baashha was completed in less than five months.

Due to the popularity of the rap genre at that time, Deva and Krissna wanted the introduction song to be in the Boney M. group style of music, but the method was not successful.

Then Deva tried the Gaana genre and sang a few lines to Krissna: 'Kappal paaru, kappal paaru, Kappal meledora paaru, Dora kezhey aaya paaru, Aaya kayila kozhandahai paaru'

This tune, originally done by Deva, laid the foundation for the song, 'Naan Autokaaran'

After Rajinikanth and Vairamuthu heard Deva's rendition, Vairamuthu composed the lyrics for the song in ten minutes. Recording for the song was done by Deva in collaboration with Sabesh-Murali.

The song 'Style Style Thaan' is partly based on the iconic James Bond Theme.

The song 'Azhagu' is based on the Hindi song 'Dilbar Dil Se Pyaare', composed by RD Burman for Caravan (1971).

The film's theme music is based on the theme of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).

A sample of Enigma's 'Carly's Song' was used as the theme of Mark Anthony by Deva.

The music rights for the film were acquired by AVM Audio for 25 lakhs, a huge sum at the time.

A special function was held at Hotel Chola Sheraton to celebrate the success of the film's soundtrack. Rajini was presented a platinum disc on the occasion.

Baashha, which was released on 12 January 1995, two days before Pongal, took nearly 15 months to complete its entire theatrical run. (368-day run)

At the time of its release, it became the highest grossing Tamil film, beating the collections of all previous blockbusters. The previous record at the BO had been created by Apoorva Sagotharargal.

Baasha was dubbed into Telugu with the same title and released in July 1995.

Baasha was remade in Kannada as Kotigobba , in Bengali as Guru and in Bangladeshi as Sultan.

The film also gave inspiration for the 1996 Kannada film Soma.

The Hindi-dubbed version of Baashha was released on 25 May 2012, after being digitally restored. A digitally restored version of the Tamil original was released on 3 March 2017.

In addition to the new opening credits score, Deva had rescored and inserted additional music for some scenes in the remastered version.

After the release of Padayappa (1999), Rajini and Krissna discussed the possibility of a sequel to Baashha. Ultimately, they felt that Baashha was inimitable and no sequel could do justice to it.