 Tinnu Anand, who had made the very successful film "Kaalia" with Amitabh, wanted to make another movie with him during the early 1980s.The story of "Shahenshah" was written by Amitabh's wife, Jaya Bachchan and further refined by Tinnu Anand's father Inder Raj Anand.Even though Anand signed up Bachchan in 1983, the film could not commence shooting because only three days before shooting was to begin in Bangalore, Amitabh fell seriously ill. After a thorough medical examination it was revealed that he had developed myasthenia gravis, a rare chronic autoimmune disease marked by muscular weakness without atrophy.