In the 1970s and 80s, Hindi cinema saw a major shift with the success of Amitabh Bachchan’s Angry Young Man. Following Sholay, filmmaker Kamal Amrohi spent seven years creating Razia Sultan, a biopic about India’s only female Muslim ruler, aiming to make it an epic like Mughal-e-Azam. Released in 1983 with a budget of ₹10 crore, it starred Hema Malini, Dharmendra, and Parveen Babi.
However, the film flopped, earning only ₹2 crore. Audiences found the Urdu dialogue complex, and criticisms arose over its lengthy runtime and Dharmendra’s use of blackface. The film also included a controversial kiss between the queen and her aide, which was marketed as a same-gender kiss, driving away family audiences and sparking objections from some Muslim clerics.
Razia Sultan’s monumental loss, at 80%, plunged Bollywood into debt, affecting many productions. Although Amrohi tried to move on with new projects, he never recovered from the financial blow. He passed away in 1993, leaving Razia Sultan as his last film.
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