This Bollywood film was made in 23 years, actors and director died midway, was labelled ‘cursed’, was released incomplete, then…

Fifteen years later, the late director's wife who was Dilip Kumar's sister, decided to release the unfinished film. Unfortunately, it failed to make an impact both critically and commercially.

Written by: Onam Gupta

Published: January 8, 2025, 6:52 AM IST

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https://www.india.com/entertainment/this-bollywood-film-was-made-in-23-years-actors-and-director-died-midway-was-labelled-cursed-was-released-incomplete-love-and-god-7521671/ Copy

This Bollywood film was made in 23 years, actors and director died midway, was labelled ‘cursed’, was released incomplete, then…

Following the massive success of Mughal-e-Azam (1960), director K. Asif aspired to bring another legendary love story to the big screen. He set his sights on the legendary tale of Laila and Manju, casting Guru Dutt as Majnu and Nimmi as Laila for his ambitious project, which he titled love and God.

But, this dream romantic film lingered in the mind of filmmaker for the next six years. In 1970, he approached Sanjeev Kumar for the character of Majnu. The Sholay actor was on board with it and production of the film resumed that same year. Tragically, K. Asif passed away in 1971, leaving the project unfinished.

Fifteen years later, K. Asif’s fourth wife Akhtar Begum who was Dilip Kumar’s sister, decided to release the unfinished Love and God. With the support of producer, director and distributor KC Bokadia, they pieced together segments of the film but unfortunately the lead actor Sanjeev Kumar passed away in 1985.

Love and God (1986) – IMDb

Considered jinx by many, the movie was eventually released on May 27, 1986, a year after Sanjeev Kumar’s passing. However, upon its release, Love and God was a critical and commercial disaster. Hence in K. Asif ‘s prolific 26-year-career, he managed to direct only two and a half films that reached the big screen.

While two of his films achieved box office success during his lifetime, he was unable to complete his final project, which was ultimately released 15 years later after his passing. Incidentally, the three key figures of Love and God- lead stars Guru Dutt (39) and Sanjeev Kumar (47), along with filmmaker K. Asif (48)- all passed away before reaching the age of 50.