50 years ago on January 24, 1975, the film 'Deewar' was released, which proved to be a cult film. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Neetu Singh, Parveen Babi, Nirupa Rai, the film was written by Salim-Javed.
Dialogues written by him 'Aaj mere pase bungalow hai, property hai, car hai, bank balance hai, tumare pase kyan hai?', 'Mere pase maa hai.', 'Main aaj bhi fenke hue paise nahi hutha', 'Mera Baap Chor Hai'. Cinema lovers still remember it.
Frontpage Insights spoke to writer Javed Akhtar on the occasion of 50 years of the film. Read some key excerpts from the conversation:
Salim Sahib and I in just 18 days Screen play was written
Even today I remember, when Salim Sahib and I presented the idea of 'Deewar' to Yash Chopra, he said that it would look like 'Mother India' or 'Ganga Jamuna'. I said no, it will be a different story when the screen play is developed. The rest of human relationships are similar. The stories of mother, son and brother keep coming. He said – you develop the story and bring it. Then Salim Sahib and I wrote this screen play in just 18 days. There is no other version of this, this was the first and last version. We went and narrated it to him after 18 days, then he couldn't believe that this screenplay was written in 18 days. Many people believed that it was already written but he first told the idea and now 18 days later he is coming and telling the whole story. But the truth is that the script was written in just 18 days. Loved the story, wrote the dialogue in the next 20 days and submitted it on the 22nd day.
No one thought that this film would be such a success
Sometimes the right things happen. When the film was finished, it was nothing like the superhit everyone was calling it. I don't want to embarrass him by naming him, but many people said that the film was called 15 Weeks. Second, there wasn't much romance. Then he was shot in the room, which is suffocating. There was no outdoor shooting or large locations. No one thought it would be such a huge success. Yes, we were sure.
It is not fair to take full credit for success
The full credit of its success goes not only to us, but also to the artists. Who did an excellent job. Had there been someone in Amitabh Bachchan's place, there would not have been such an impact. which has arisen because of their existence. At that time, Amitabh Bachchan was a budding artist. He did a great job and all the pieces fell into place.
A Qawwali was inserted into it against our will
Our initial script had only two songs – one in the first half and one in the second half. But a Qawwali was inserted into it against our will. One or two songs were recorded in it, but we didn't let it stay. The dialogue cassette of this film was also sold well. An LP was made of it. The talk of making an LP of dialogues started with these films of ours. After that a dialogue LP of the film 'Mughal-e-Azam' was also made. 'Sholay' also happened.
Amitabh Bachchan was chosen instead of Rajesh Khanna
Gulshan Rai was a famous producer and a very good man. His position was such that big artists were signed. He would do what he said. It was also signed by Rajesh Khanna. But we said that no one can do this role better than Amitabh Bachchan. Take him when he was realizing that Rajesh Khanna was a superstar. But we told them not to do that. It is possible that the price of the film will increase, but the quality of the film will not be the same. Rajesh Khanna is a romantic actor, he sings, romances, while this is a different kind of role. No one can do this better than Amitabh Bachchan. However, I am thankful to the producer that he finally listened to us and cast Amitabh Bachchan.
Amitabh Bachchan used to take advice
'Deewar' and 'Sholay' were released back-to-back in January, 1975 and August, 1975 respectively. Don't know if they are shooting together. At that time we had so much faith in Amitabh Bachchan that there was Amitabh Bachchan in every picture at that time. Amitabh Bachchan used to take advice. Writers often complain that we wrote like this, how actors spoke like this. That point is not in question here. We have done 13-14 films with Amitabh Bachchan. We don't have a single complaint against Amitabh that he didn't deliver my lines properly. He is a very perfect actor.
We didn't even care about Haji Mastan
People say that the inspiration for Don was taken from the life of Haji Mastan, but there was no such intention. We wanted a very interesting background where he worked. Working at a port was visually better than working in a shop or factory. He is a labourer, picking up goods. We had no idea about Haji Mastan. Now the coincidence was that he also had the same background that at one time he also worked in the docks. But this was not our intention. We didn't do it with that understanding.
Actors were not kept in mind while writing the story
While writing the story, no one was in mind, only the story was in mind. After writing the story, we felt that this role was suitable for Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor. Shashi Kapoor and Yash Chopra sir had a good relationship. We told him, so he liked it. But when we were casting Shashi Kapoor, many people were saying that he would not be accepted because Shashi Kapoor was a much senior actor than Amitabh Bachchan. How will people believe that he is the younger brother? Shashi Kapoor is also older than Amitabh Bachchan. He was also in films seven-eight years ago. But Shashi Kapoor's face was innocent, he looked young, so he looked young. It was not only accepted by the audience but also liked a lot.
We spoke to many people for the role of Amitabh Bachchan's mother
We spoke to many people for the role of Amitabh Bachchan's mother in the film. Went to Kolkata to meet Suchitra Sen for the first time. Tell them the story. He liked the story. She started saying- 'The script is very good. But I don't want to play the role of a mother of such big people. Then we said ok. Vaijayanti Malaji was also approached for the role, but it did not work out as she was married and did not work in films. He had to decide whether to work in films again or not. He did not act in films again. However, finally Nirupa Rai was ready for the role of Mata. He has played this role very well.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
