Dev Anand offered Imran Khan Awwal Number, said he’d be ‘next Big B’; he said no - The Indian Express
It is well known that before Aamir Khan’s Lagaan, Hindi films based on cricket had a poor track record at the box office. The Indian audience loved to watch the game of cricket, but when it was presented in a movie, they always seemed to reject it. With this kind of history associated with the genre, Dev Anand, who always had an enthusiasm for trying out new things, decided to make Awwal Number, a decade before Lagaan.
Aamir had just tasted success with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, so Dev hired him, and for the other lead role of the film, he approached Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan. Imran was promised that he would get in the “same league” as Amitabh Bachchan after doing the film. And Dev, in all honesty, believed that it would be a “casting coup.”
In his memoir Romancing with Life, Dev recalled this incident from the late 1980s when he came up with the idea for making Awwal Number. The film was about a young cricketer Sunny, played by Aamir, who finds himself in the middle of a scandal after he replaces a star cricketer Ronny, played by Aditya Pancholi, in the team. Dev had a significant role for himself carved out in the film. It was the role of Ronny, the jaded former star cricketer, that was offered to Imran.
Dev recalled that casting Aamir was a no-brainer. “Aamir Khan’s first film had just been released, and since he was a talented fresh newcomer joining the ranks of the young rising stars, I cast him as an up-and-coming young cricketer,” he wrote.
Imran, who was one of the most popular international cricketers of the era, had just announced his retirement from the game, and Dev believed he was the perfect fit for Ronny. “For the role of the star on the decline, my choice fell on Imran Khan, the former Pakistani captain, who had just announced his retirement from the game,” he wrote. Describing Imran as “very photogenic and handsome,” Dev said that he thought of this as a “casting coup.”
After announcing his retirement from cricket, Imran was spending quite a lot of time in London. He had also started taking up some modelling assignments, and at this time, Dev approached him in London. Upon listening to Dev’s offer, Imran was “speechless.” Dev recalled his offer, “Will you act in my film and do the role of a fading cricket star? It will catapult you to stardom of a different kind.”
Upon taking a beat, Imran responded that he didn’t see himself as a good actor. When Dev sensed some hesitation, he decided to fly out to London and meet Imran in person, and so, he took the next available flight.
“I narrated the story of Awwal Number to him with a special emphasis on the role I wanted him to play. But he seemed a little nervous at the idea of facing the camera for a professional acting assignment,” he recalled.
Imran didn’t seem keen, so Dev started enticing him, even promising a premiere in Pakistan. “It’d be fun holding the premiere of the film in Pakistan with you as its star,” he said. He tried to convince Imran that he could be the next Amitabh Bachchan. He added, “You are already very big all over the world. The film will further enhance your status in India as well. I assure you, you’d be in the same league in the movies as Amitabh Bachchan in our country.”
Imran then presented his side of the argument and said that the then-President of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq, wanted him to join his cabinet as a cultural minister. When Dev heard this, he suggested that Imran could do both. Imran tried to refuse again but Dev insisted that he spend some time with the script. As he left Imran, Dev said, “I shall feel honoured having cast Imran Khan in a movie that my country would love to see.”
The next day, Dev got a package at his hotel in London. The package had Dev’s script and a note that just said, ‘No’.
The role ultimately went to Aditya Pancholi, and as is well known, the film tanked at the box office and was one of the many failures that Aamir experienced in the early days of his career.
