Khush toh bahut honge as Deewaar turns 42

Some films become legends owing to their unforgettable dialogues and timeless characters. One such film is Deewaar (1975) — written by the hit writer duo Salim-Javed and directed by late Yash Chopra. As it recently completed 42 years, we sat down with actor Amitabh Bachchan and Javed Akhtar to hear some lesserknown tales from behind the scenes. Excerpts:

What made Deewar so special?

Akhtar: It’s difficult to remain modest and answer this question. People say it had one of the most perfect screenplays. Amitabhji played the angry young man in Zanjeer (1973), but it was Deewaar that established him. One had seen angry young men in Mother India (1957) and Ganga Jamuna (1961), but those characters were diluted, as the films had romance and drama, too. Here, it was undiluted. People are yet to get over that impact. Bachchan: For me, it was another job. Deewaar was accidental. I was working on another film with Yashji, when one day they (Salim and Javed) came to my house and narrated this script. I called Yashji and told him about it. Whenever they narrated a script, they had immense confidence in their story, and its success. I remember, after four or five scenes, Javed saab would say, ‘yeh aapke 15 hafte ho gaye’, and after another few scenes, he’d say, ‘yeh aapke 25 hafte ho gaye’ and count up to 100 hafte. Akhtar: We narrated the storyline to Yashji, who was a bit skeptical. Today, people look at the film and see the socio-political and socioeconomic elements in it. People wrote thesis on it, focusing on the symbolism. We were blissfully unaware of all that (laughs). We had seen Amitabhji’s not-so-successful films, but we saw his talent. Bachchan: All Salim-Javed scripts are so meticulously written. It was the perfect script. The dialogues were impactful... Even today people appreciate lines like ‘aaj khush toh bahut hoge tum’. At the premiere, people laughed when I said that dialogue, but later, there was a stunned silence.

Was Rajesh Khanna the original choice?

Akhtar: We were so enamoured by Amitabhji, we wanted him in all our films. When we spoke to Yashji, he asked, ‘does Amitabh pay you a commission that you want him in all your films?’ (laughs). Producer Gulshanji (Rai) had signed Rajesh Khanna, who was a successful actor, but we felt only he (Bachchan) could do justice to Vijay’s role. Bachchan: We once discussed about about how Yashji would make this hard-hitting film. In some of the serious shots, he’d pann the camera to a flower (laughs).

What was the atmosphere post the release?

Bachchan: Soon after the release, I was shooting in Kolkata. A huge crowd had gathered at the hotel. It was unbelievable. I couldn’t get into the hotel. Someone got a little violent too. One man shook my hand, and he had a blade and had cut my palm. After that, wherever we shot outdoors, it was impossible to shoot due to the crowds.

PHOTO: SATISH BATE/HT

A still from Deewaar