Danny had to abuse Raj Kapoor for a scene. He did not feel comfortable so he wanted to touch Raj Kapoor's feet when Raj arrived on the sets. When Raj arrived , Danny went to touch his feet Raj Kapoor pulled away. This angered Danny and he swore never ever again would he do such a thing to anyone. He felt humilated. When the scene was canned Raj Kapoor hugged Danny and told him he wanted real anger and hatred from him in that scene. Thats why he pulled back his feet. To get a natural performance from Danny. Had Danny been in awe of him, the scene would not be impactful.
Magazines reported that Sanjay Khan took 40 lakhs from Zeenat Aman to make Abdullah. Sanjay denied this and stated he actually paid Zeenat her market price.
Zeenat Aman partly funded the film. It was said that Sanjay Khan made a plan to start an affair with her then marry her, only to make Abdullah happen. By 1979, Sanjay Khan's market as a hero was done. After his flop Chandi Sona, no film distributor wanted to buy any Sanjay Khan film. It was Zeenat Aman who was a major star in 1979 and could command a good price for her films. Zeenat Aman introduced Sanjay to Delhi distributor Ashok Kumar Aggarwal and it was on her word that Ashok agreed to buy Abdullah. Zeenat then went on to meet Bombay distributor's Ramesh Nichani, Prem Mahtani of London and Kidar Kumar of Calcutta. The sole purpose was to convince the distributors to buy the film. Sanjay Khan alone was not able to sell any territory. Zeenat paid for the film with her personal money, paying the film unit several times when Sanjay could not. It was when Abdullah was on the verge of completion that the ugly hotel incident between Sanjay, Zeenat and Zarine occurred. Sanjay and his wife Zarine were at a party in a hotel with all socialite bigwigs . Zeenat Aman showed up un announced and uninvited. The reason being some patchwork was still to be done on Abdullah. When Zeenat begged Sanjay on the telephone to please give her some time as she was busy shooting for Feroz Khan and B.R.Chopra. Sanjay accused Zeenat of sleeping with Feroz and Chopra. He told her to come back to Mumbai or face his wrath. By the time she went to the hotel to meet Sanjay, he was high on drinks. Upon seeing Zeenat ,Sanjay started yelling at her and asking her why she came to the party. Sanjay then took her to the next room and began slapping her. People could hear the loud thuds and slaps. As Zeenat lay on the floor,Sanjay would kick her with his white cowboy boots. As she lay on the floor, Sanjay would pick her up by the hair only to slap her back the ground. Finally Zeenat came flying out of the room in-front of the guests and now was a bloody mess. This is when Zarine Khan joined it and stated beating Zeenat with her purse and slaps. The entire room full of people, including Shobha De stood and watched in fear. No one came to Zeenat's rescue. It was finally a hotel employee who helped Zeenat out of the room and away from the situation. Zeenat did not charge Sanjay with any accounts of assault.
The film flopped in India, but Sanjay Khan went to town claiming it was a blockbuster in the Middle East like Turkey . The film was not released in Dubai despite all territoires being sold. The reason being was the film was rejected by the censor board. Not knowing Hindi, the Dubai censor people called a Keralite maulvi to translate the film. He told them the film was anti Islam !. This upset Sanjay because he claimed to be a true Muslim himself and would never make a anti Islam movie.
Music Composer Sachin Dev Burman, had recorded the song Maine Poocha Chand se... ..with Mohammed Rafi, years ago before Abdullah, for a film, which was then shelved. Later years later, during the making of the film Abdullah, Sanjay Khan heard the song at Rahul Dev Burman's place. Sanjay Khan liked the song and he wanted the same song for Abdullah. So then with some. changes to suit the times, R.D.Burman, agaIn recorded the same song with Mohammed Rafi and then, the classic song. became memorable till now its. liked.