Darr was directed by Yash Chopra through the studio Yash Raj Films.
Sunny Deol, who was a more popular star than Shah Rukh Khan in 1993, was given a choice by Yash Chopra of either the role of Sunil Malhotra or the role of Rahul Mehra.
Deol chose to play Malhotra, believing it would improve his career, but instead the reverse occurred: Shah Rukh Khan's performance was more acclaimed than Deol's.
Sanjay Dutt was the original choice of the role of antagonist Rahul, but Chopra was unable to finalize him because of his jail sentence due to illegal possession of arms.
Director Yash Chopra then wanted Ajay Devgn to play the role of Rahul, but Devgan was at that time shooting another movie in Ooty and never got back to him.
Then Aamir Khan was offered the role, but he turned it down because he was not happy with the way Chopra had written his character, especially the scene where Deol's character repeatedly punches him.
Sudesh Berry was then considered for the role, but was rejected after a screen test.
The idea for the film germinated when Hrithik Roshan and Uday Chopra, Yash Chopra's son, saw Dead Calm (1989). Infact, the title Darr was given by Hrithik himself.
The film was also inspired by the 1991 Hollywood film, Cape Fear.
SRK did not accept the role first by thinking it is negative role in the beginning of his career and said, 'You guys are making me a villian' but later accepted on the insistence of Yash Chopra.
The film marks Sunny Deol and Shahrukh Khan's last film to date.
Hollywood movie 'Fear' (1996) is said to have been inspired by 'Darr.'
The title 'Darr' was reserved by popular horror filmmakers Shyam and Tulsi Ramsay for their upcoming horror film, but Yash Chopra requested the use of title from them, and they agreed.
During 'Tu Mere Saamne,' Kiran wears an outfit similar to what Sridevi wore in Chandni (1989), in which Juhi Chawla had a cameo role.
This is because Sridevi, who had previously worked with Chopra in Chandni (1989) and Lamhe (1991), was the original choice for the role of Kiran. And Kiran character was written for her.
However, Sridevi refused to accept the role as she wanted Kiran's character to be the obsessed lover instead of the victim, but Chopra refused this change of plot.
After Sridevi, the role was offered to Divya Bharti. Divya too left the film soon afterward.
Rishi Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, and Jackie Shroff were all offered the role of Sunil before Sunny Deol signed up.
Nitish Bharadwaj was also approached for Sunil's role at one point. This is because of his immense popularity as Lord Krishna's role in BR Chopra's Mahabharat. But Nitish rejected the role.
Darr helped bring Shah Rukh Khan to stardom and he went on to star in all of Chopra's future directorial ventures.
Sunny Deol apparently did not like the way his role was shaping up in the movie. He was furious, but couldn't say much to director Yash Chopra as he was a senior director.
Raveena Tandon was also offered the female lead. Yash Chopra had previously enjoyed working with her in Parampara (1993). However, she turned down the part.
During the narration of the script, SRK said to Yash Chopra that he is doing another negative role in a film called 'Baazigar' if it is different from this, then would listen to the narration.
Darr was the last film with music by Shiv Kumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia.
Snap!'s song 'Oops up' is featured in the movie. It appears when Juhi Chawla dances for Sunny Deol.
The film was first titled 'Kiran'
In the song 'Tu mere Samne' SRK wears the same shirt that he wore for a brief couple of lines in the song 'Baazigar O Baazigar' in the movie Baazigar.
SRK subsequently has acted in two more obsession based movies-Anjaam(1994) and Fan(2016). Fan's character actually suffers from erotomania, which is also a form of obsession.
Shah Rukh Khan's famous dialogue 'I Love You Kiran' was taken from Naseeruddin Shah's same dialogue from the movie Shart (1986).
The song 'Chotta Sa Ghar' was remixed for the International album One Tusk by Moth Equals. The song was renamed 'Life'( written in Hindi ).
During a short dance sequence in the film, popularly known as 'Darr Obsession', Juhi Chawla wears a very much similar saree to that of Madhuri Dixit in 'Dhak Dhak' from 'Beta' (1992).
Kiron Kher was replaced by Tanvi Azmi.
When the film was first conceived, Yash Chopra's assistant Naresh Malhotra was to direct the film. He wanted Raveena Tandon for the lead role, co starring Deepak Malhotra and Deepak Tijori.
Shahrukh Khan's first collaboration with Yash Raj Films.
The song 'You Can Leave Your Hat On' by Joe Cocker is played during Juhi Chawla's stripping scene.
The interlude of 'Darwaja bandh kar lo' in Darr is in the same tune as the interlude of 'Tere dil mein main apne armaan rakh doon' from Chandni.
The song Ishq Da Rog could not be shot because Sunny Deol was busy shooting Ghatak.
Yash Chopra wanted to sign Deepti Bhatnagar for a song sequence, but later the idea was scrapped.
Madhuri Dixit & Manisha Koirala also declined the role of Kiran.
Rahul Roy later disclosed that the film was written with him in the mind for the negative character. But he had to exit because of a new rule that stated that an actor can do only 12 films at a time.
The part of 'Tu Hain Meri Kiran' in the song 'Jaadu Tere Nazar' was inspired by the title music of the film Naasamajh (1986).
Jadoo Tere Nazar had a remix in the album Rythm Blasters by Three Little Boyz. This was in 1995.
Sunny Deol had back surgery in London during the shooting of Darr. This was in early 1993.
Darr was later remade in Kannada as Preethse and in Tamil as Chinna.
Darr has won several accolades, including the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.
The film received 10 nominations at the 39th Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Villain, and won 2 awards, including Best comedian for Anupam Kher.
All lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi.
Darr became the third highest-grossing film of 1993, after Aankhen and Khalnayak, and was declared a blockbuster. It was the year's highest-grossing Indian film overseas.
The film, made on a budget of 2 crores, made 21 crores at the BO.
