There was a suspense thriller from the 90s that changed the game for mystery films in Bollywood. With its gripping storyline unexpected twists and intense performances it became one of the most iconic whodunits in Indian cinema. But behind its massive success was a surprising moment involving a Bollywood megastar who questioned the faith behind the film’s making. Which film is this? Here we are talking about Gupt released in 1997 directed by Rajiv Rai. The film starred Bobby Deol Manisha Koirala and Kajol and turned out to be a box office blockbuster. Made on a modest budget of Rs 9 crore the film collected around Rs 33 crore a huge figure for that time. But before its release veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan asked director Rajiv Rai “How can you trust a suspense film to work at the box office?” He was referring to the fact that Indian audiences had rarely embraced the suspense genre as wholeheartedly in the past. What reply did Rajiv Rai give to clarify Amitabh Bachchan’s doubt? Rajiv Rai however remained confident in his storytelling and star cast. His faith paid off as Gupt received immense praise for its unpredictable climax especially Kajol’s villainous turn which shocked the audience. The film became a trendsetter and was even appreciated for its music composed by Viju Shah with songs like “Mushkil Bada Yeh Pyaar Hai” Duniya Haseenon Ka Mela” and “Gupt Gupt” topping the charts. When Amitabh Bachchan refused to work with Rajiv Rai Rajiv Rai said in one of his candid conversations that he met director Anees Bazmee and he prepared a script for Amitabh Bachchan but when he narrated the script to him he was not interested in it. He said “I dont want to do any film in the phase I am going through. He was not going through a good phase at that time he recalled and further said He was confused and in this confusion he refused he was not confused but his circumstances were like this. Although Rajiv was confident that Amitabh would say yes Amitabh refused and at that time my heart my shattered.