There were three absences in Vikram Bhatt’s Ghulam, which turned 27 on June 19. Two of them are well known. One was the exit of director Mahesh Bhatt apparently at Aamir Khan’s behest and his replacement with Vikram Bhatt.
The other absence was Rani Mukerji’s voice. It was dubbed by a professional dubbing artiste, as Vikram Bhatt found Rani’s voice too husky. Interestingly, Vikram Bhatt has the reputation of dubbing for a majority of his heroes in the past, before Aamir.
The third so far unrevealed absence in Ghulam was that of the poet-lyricist extraordinaire Majrooh Sultanpuri
A source reveals that the Bade Dino Ke Bard couldn’t get along with Vikram Bhatt from Day One.
“Majrooh Saab walked out of Ghulam on Day One. He couldn’t see eye to eye with the director from the outset. They were like two opposite ends of the solar system. One was Mars the other was Jupiter. During their first session over the music of Ghulam it was clear they would not be able to work together. After a heated argument Majrooh Saab gave Vikram Bhatt a solid firing and announced he was no longer in Ghulam,” says a source close to Ghulam.
Apparently Majrooh Saab’s final historic words were: “Iss se behtar toh ghulami hai.”
