Mohra co-screenwriter Shabbir Boxwala: Raveena Tandon was aware of the film but was hesitant to be a part of it

Shabbir Boxwala worked as a production designer and co-screenwriter on two major films from the 1990s, Mohra (1994) and Gupt (1997), each directed by Rajiv Rai. In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Shabbir reminisced about his time collaborating with Rajiv on Mohra and Gupt.

He spoke about his path, recounting his initial meeting with Rajiv via Jackie Shroff, whom he had known previously. Rajiv and Jackie were filming Yudh in 1985. Rajiv and Shabbir were fast friends since they spent so much time together. Shabbir occasionally visited Rajiv's film sets, which helped him grasp how the film industry operates behind the curtains. since he became really interested in this industry.

While Rajiv was just getting started on his film Tridev, he gave Shabbir an opportunity to work in the business, something he understood he got on a silver platter. Vishwatma, his debut film, was released in 1992. He continued, "During the making of Vishwatma, I used to keep giving suggestions to Rajiv on the script. He remarked that I have a knack for screenplay writing. This Rajiv and I wrote Mohra’s script together. I also helped him with the production design, though the art director was Bijon Das Gupta."

Shabbir further said that Divya Bharti was the initial plan for the female protagonist in Mohra. Divya Bharti died unexpectedly. "When Rajiv met Raveena Tandon, she was fully aware of the project but still hesitant. Since there was a peck throughout the Tip Tip Paani song, she emphasised that her father would not approve. Rajiv said, "Don't show the film to your dad (laughs)! Finally, she agreed," Shabbir added.

Shabbir continued on to state that Raveena should be satisfied with the film because the songs were a huge success. He still feels Mohra would have made more than Rs. 200 crores at the box office if it had been released at this time.

Shabbir elaborates on how Gupt came to be, claiming that Rajvi watched a play called The Mousetrap. Then he challenged Shabbir to identify the killer, from which they developed the concept of Gupt and finally began writing. They had planned to have the girl as the murderer because it was considered uncommon at the time.

Shabbir also discussed filming the songs for Gupt. He stated, "We wanted each location to be unique. Then, it was a big trend to shoot abroad. We made sure we shot the whole film in India. Credit also goes to cinematographer Ashok Mehta and the way he shot these locations."

By the conclusion of the interview, he had also addressed reports that both he and Rajiv were in talks to develop a followup to Gupt. As he put an end to such rumours, he stated that they've never intended to develop a sequel for the movie.