Anees Bazmee Reveals How Mushtaq Khan's Iconic 'Welcome' Line Was Born

Filmmaker Anees Bazmee has shared his memories of the late actor Mushtaq Khan, recalling how one of the most quoted lines in Hindi cinema came to be written for the film Welcome. Khan, a veteran of the Indian film industry, died in Mumbai on Thursday evening. He had reportedly been battling lung cancer for a long period.

Bazmee said Khan was not originally intended to have a substantial part in Welcome. When the filmmaker explained that the actor would mostly remain in the background, standing behind a bodyguard, Khan still agreed to join the project out of affection for him.

It was only well into the shoot that the need for dialogue became clear. Around the eighth or ninth day, Khan pointed out to Bazmee that he still had no lines. The filmmaker then spent an entire night writing a dedicated portion for him.

To make the moment land, Bazmee approached Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor, who were central to the scene, and asked them to stay silent while the man behind them spoke. Both actors, whom Bazmee described as good friends, agreed without hesitation. The result was the now-famous line: "Meri ek taang nakli hai, main hockey ka bahut bada player tha."

Bazmee said the sequence became a memorable part of the film and that everyone involved was pleased with how it turned out. He also recalled Khan telling him that audiences continued to associate him with the dialogue long after the film's release, with people asking him to recite it wherever he went.

Expressing grief over Khan's death, Bazmee said he had received a call earlier in the day informing him that the actor was unwell, but he was in Pune and could not visit him in hospital. He learnt in the evening that Khan had passed away. The filmmaker remembered Khan as a good friend, a nice soul and a fine actor, and recalled meeting him about two months ago for a long conversation. He said he had been unaware of any serious illness, as Khan had never mentioned any health problems.

Paying tribute to his friend's body of work, Bazmee said that people like Khan leave the world but their memories remain, and that he will be missed.