Two star kids, a director’s exit, and a blockbuster soundtrack – A debut marked by drama and success

Barsaat (1995) marked the acting debut of two Bollywood star kids — Bobby Deol, son of Dharmendra and Prakash Kaur, and Twinkle Khanna, daughter of Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia. The romantic drama instantly grabbed attention because of its fresh lead pair and their famous film families.

The film was initially directed by acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, but creative differences with Dharmendra, who was also producing the film, led to Kapur being removed. He later clarified that he didn’t walk out, but was “thrown out” of the project and soon moved on to make Bandit Queen.

After Kapur’s exit, Dharmendra brought in Rajkumar Santoshi to helm the project. According to Bobby Deol, his father didn’t want the film delayed while Kapur pursued Bandit Queen, and Santoshi was ready to step in, having already worked successfully with the Deol family before.

Despite the change in directors, Barsaat was a massive hit. Produced on a budget of around ₹6 crore, the film went on to earn ₹35 crore at the box office, cementing Bobby and Twinkle’s arrival in Bollywood.

One of the driving forces behind the film’s popularity was its music. Composed by Nadeem-Shravan and written by Sameer, songs like Humko Sirf Tumse Pyaar Hai, Love Tujhe Love Main Karta Hoon, and Nahin Yeh Ho Nahin Sakta became instant chartbusters and are still remembered as 90s Bollywood classics.