Pahlaj Nihalani had given Govinda, Chunky Pandey first breaks

NEW DELHI: In 1993, Pahlaj Nihalani struck the bull's eye. Aankhen, a mindless entertainer of monster proportions, became one of the biggest hits of the year. The film starred Govinda and Chunky Pandey in lead roles. Both actors had made their film debut in Nihalani movies: Govinda in Ilzaam (1986) and Pandey in Aag Hi Aag, a year later.

Aankhen was directed by David Dhawan. The latter had directed several films before. But it was working with Nihalani in Aankhen, (also in Shola aur Shabnam a year earlier), that the director tasted major success.

Nihalani also produced Andaz (1994), with Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla. The film had one of the raunchiest songs of the year: Ye maal gaadi tu dhakka laga / Dhakka laga re dhakka laga / Garam ho gaya engine iska dhakka deta jaa

As a producer, Nihalani had a penchant for doing the unusual. In his first film, Hathkadi (1982), Rakesh Roshan played a villain. Actor Sonam enacted one of her more sensitive roles in Mitti aur Sona.

Shatrughan Sinha, who is related to the film producer from his wife's side, was a regular feature in his films. A photograph uploaded on Sunday on Nihalani's Facebook page shows him attending a wedding with Prime Minister Narendera (sic) Modi and actor-BJP politician Sinha.