After producing good award winning movies like Junoon, Kalyug, 36 Chowrignee Lane, Vijeyta & Utsav, Shashi Kapoor lost all his money in these films, as these films brought him only awards in India and abroad but no rewards especially Utsav it put him in a huge debt. He decided that he had enough and has to make a big masala commercial film with big starcast to pay all the debts and to recover all his money back. He planned Ajooba, Shashi Kapoor wanted a big major director, he asked his elder brother Raj Kapoor to direct it but Raj Kapoor, because of health problems he refused, then he approached Manmohan desai but he had retaired, then Amitabh and Jaya bachchan convinced to Shashi Kapoor to direct the film himself and they had assured him that he can direct it confidently and successfully, so Shashi Kapoor toghether with his old friends Prayag Raj, Bharat Bhalla and Brit Katyal worked on the script and Shashi Kapoor made Ajooba, it took about 3 years to get made but the gamble paid, slowly he paid everyone his money back and he recovered all his money back. Shashi Kapoor dint want to hear about good cinema again and stopped making movies.

Alternate-language version of Vozvrashchenie Bagdadskogo Vora (1988)