

Shakti and Shankar are two childhood buddies who grow up on the wrong side of the tracks, in a shanty town. Shakti becomes a sort of 'godfather' for the locals under the name of Dayavan. He falls in love and gets married to a young prostitute. However, their happiness is short-lived, as the gangster lifestyle begins to take its toll.
Acting
Vinod Khanna's brooding intensity carries every frame.
Direction
Feroz Khan's flashy style meets slum realism.
Costume
Madhuri's transformation from brothel to domestic goddess.

Director
Feroz Khan
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Dayavan is a remake of the Tamil classic Nayakan, which itself was inspired by The Godfather and real-life Bombay underworld figure Varadarajan Mudaliar.
The film captures late-'80s Bombay's uneasy relationship with slum 'dons' who were simultaneously feared and protected their communities—Mani Ratnam's original handled this with more nuance.