The Indian film industry lost one of its most famous writers and directors on Saturday, June 27, after the death of veteran director K Bhagyaraj. Known for his distinctive stories, relatable characters and effortless blend of humor and emotion, Bhagyaraj has left behind a legacy that spans several decades and languages.
While he was primarily seen as a giant of Tamil cinema, his work also had a lasting impact on Hindi films, most memorably with Aakhree Raasta (1986), which reunited him with Amitabh Bachchan.By the time producer A Poornachandra Rao, popularly known as Poorna Chandra, approached Bhagyaraj to direct a Hindi film in the mid-1980s, the director’s stories had already found recognition among Indian audiences through remakes of his Tamil films.
But this time, Rao wanted Bhagyaraj himself in the director’s chair. The director was initially reluctant, as Indian cinema was dominated by action films at the time, while he built his reputation on family dramas with light humour.
Despite his reservations, Rao remained persistent, and eventually convinced Bhagyaraj to tell the story.This story has already been written in Tamil as ‘Oru Kaithiyin Diary’ (1984), directed by Bharathiraja and starring Kamal Haasan in a dual role. Rao envisioned Amitabh Bachchan helming the Hindi adaptation and arranged for the star to hear the script in Chennai.
Although Amitabh liked the story, he wondered whether Bhagyaraj, who had never directed a major action film before, could handle a project of this scale. Bhagyaraj later stated that Poorna Chandra had defended him, and told Amitabh that since the story was entirely composed by Bhagyaraj, he knew exactly how to execute it.The film eventually became “Aakhree Raasta”, released in 1986 under Lakshmi Productions.
According to Bhagyaraj, Amitabh tested it on the first day of shooting. Despite having the full script, the actor asked the director to explain how a particular scene was shot. Bhagyaraj believed this was a test of his preparedness. Before the explanation was complete, Amitabh smiled and said: “I understand.
“I think I can manage now,” he said, leaving Bhagyaraj convinced he had succeeded, later describing Bachchan as an “obedient student.”Since Bhagyaraj did not know Hindi, he wrote the script in Tamil before translating it. Every morning, he would perform each scene himself so that Amitabh could judge whether the intended emotion had survived the translation. This routine reportedly amused Bachchan, who often joked about it during filming.The biggest creative disagreement between the two came over a pivotal graveyard scene, in which the father confronts his estranged son next to the mother’s grave.
Speaking to Rediff’s Shobha Warrier, Bhagyaraj recalls, “We had an argument about it. I wanted the father and son to have a heated argument in English in the graveyard. He completely disagreed with me. He said the viewers wouldn’t be able to understand much in English.”
I refused to budge.”After thinking about it, Amitabh agreed to trust the director’s instincts, and the scene was shot in English.Bhagyaraj later revealed that Amitabh personally called him after the film’s release to admit that the decision had paid off.
“He called me in the middle of the night one day and said, ‘Sir, I saw how the audience reacted to this particular scene. When I started speaking English, the first applause started from the front seat. And just then the educated class applauded. You are right. You judged the pulse of the audience well,” recalls Bhagyaraj.He also shared that his wife, Jaya, noticed that ‘Aakhree Raasta’ looks less like an Amitabh Bachchan film and more like a Bhagyaraj film.The film, which also starred Jaya Prada and Sridevi alongside Amitabh Bachchan, remains one of the star’s memorable performances from the 1980s, with audiences still remembering him for his dual role as a wrongly imprisoned father and his police officer son.Years later, when ‘Aakhree Raasta’ completed 33 years in 2019, Amitabh Bachchan looked back fondly on the collaboration after a fan praised the film on social media. Responding to the appreciation, he wrote, “Thank you and my gratitude. It was a wonderful experience and a wonderful story. K Bhagyaraj, new to me but very effective in his direction.”