by police inspector Karan to have mercy for his mother's sake. Chopra takes the opportunity to impale him with a rod and laughs maniacally. Ajay laughs back and hugs Chopra, impaling him fatally with the same rod, and they both fall off the wall. He tells his mother that he has regained everything and collapses in her arms. Priya, Inspector Karan, and his mother watch despondently as Ajay succumbs to his injuries, finally at peace. Cast Shah Rukh Khan as Ajay Sharma (Vicky Malhotra) Sumeet Pathak as Young Ajay Kajol as Priya Chopra Shilpa Shetty as Seema Chopra Raakhee as Shobha Sharma Dalip Tahil as Madan Chopra Siddharth Ray as Inspector Karan Saxena Johnny Lever as Babulal Anant Mahadevan as Vishwanath Sharma Prithvi Zutshi as Suresh Desai Resham Tipnis as Anjali Sinha Daboo Malik as Ravi Shukla Dinesh Hingoo as Seth Bajodia Manmauji as Taalia Sharad Sankla as Charlie Raju Srivastav as Charlie's friend Harpal Singh as Cook Motu Amrut Patel as Seema's driver Anu Malik as himself the musician and host at the engagement. (special appearance) Vinod Rathod as himself the singer at the engagement. (special appearance) Production The film's premise is a subversion of a concept loosely inspired by a Hollywood film, A Kiss Before Dying (1991), which itself was based on a novel of the same name. While it borrows the basic premise, Baazigar tells a different, subversive story. While Matt Dillon's character in A Kiss Before Dying is a villain who murders for money, Baazigar subverts this, with Shahrukh Khan's character instead being a sympathetic anti-hero seeking vengeance for the brutal injustices done to his family. Several A-list Bollywood stars were approached for the lead role, but they turned it down, due to the character being a murderous, negative anti-hero. Anil Kapoor was the first choice to play the leading role. He however turned it down due to unavailability for the dates assigned. Salman Khan was then approached, but he was removed, with his father Salim Khan saying Salman was not ready for such a gamble. Akshay Kumar was the next choice, but he too rejected the offer, as it went against his "heroic" on-screen image. Shahrukh eventually convinced producer Ratan Jain and Ganesh Jain that only he could pull off the role; Jain liked his confidence, and cast him in the role. However, his casting was criticized by trade pundits who incorrectly predicted that "a