Prakash Mehra was keen to cast Feroz Khan and Amitabh Bachchan together. He offered the film to Feroz, but Feroz did not want to work Sunday shifts.That was a rule he always followed. Thats when Prakash sought out Vinod Khanna. When Feroz refused, Amitabh stepped into Feroz Khan's role and Vinod Khanna was signed for the role Amitabh was earlier signed for.
Inspired by the movie The Sting (1973).
The script of Muqaddar Ka Sikanded was narrated to Amitabh and Vinod Khanna during the shooting of the film.
Director Prakash Mehra first asked Vinod Khanna to play the role of Ajay. Khanna said he would act in the film only if he was paid Rs 1 lakh more than Amitabh Bachchan was paid. Mehra agreed. Thus Amitabh got Rs 1.5 lakh and Vinod Khanna was paid Rs 2.5 lakh.
The emotional relationship between Amitabh and Vinod Khanna in the movie and especially the scene where Vinod Khanna in short shorts and a knotted floral shirt cajoles Amitabh, wakes him up with a cup of tea and then slips into the bed next to him were considered to contain considerable homo-erotic subtext by recent writers who analyze Indian cinema and human behavior.