50 years of Deewar: Deewar, one of the iconic films in the history of Hindi cinema, has completed its fifty years today i.e. on 24th January. On this occasion, Javed Akhtar, the superhit duo who wrote the story, screenplay and dialogues of the film, shared many memories related to the film with Urmila Kori and in the conversation, admitting his mistake, he also admitted that the film would not release on January 21 but It was released only on 24th January. Here are the highlights of the conversation
Did you think that Deewaar would be such a big hit that even after 50 years people would relate to the film and talk about it?
Today it has come in the category of iconic film, but at the time when this film was about to be released. Many people associated with the industry said that it would be a big thing if this film runs for even 15 days because despite being a commercial film, it was not shot like formula films. There was nothing like the popular term relief of that time in the film. The shooting of the film was mostly done in the rooms only. The visuals were not beautiful. The film was the story of two brothers, good and evil. A lot of things were hearsay. The script in which flaws were pointed out. After a time, it was declared a perfect script and started being taught in the National School of Drama. This is called success. After being successful, everything starts looking good.
Any special person’s appreciation for the film Deewaar that you have not forgotten till date?
When the film became a superhit, many people said a lot of good things. To be honest, at that time the story, screenplay and dialogues of the film had won the Filmfare Award and that was the most memorable thing for us.
There are reports that Rajesh Khanna was the original choice for this film?
There was a good friendship between Rajesh Khanna and Yash Chopra and when we came to producer Gulshan Rai with the script of the film, the in-house director was Yash Chopra. He told about Rajesh Khanna. I and Salim Sahab told him at the same time that Rajesh Khanna’s image is not going with the script of this film. Only Amitabh Bachchan is right with this story. Along with the script, we also took the matter of Amitabh’s casting with us. After listening to our views, everyone agreed to the casting of Amitabh ji.
Which actresses were approached for the role of mother?
Everyone knows these names: Vyjayanti Mala, Waheeda Rehman. I would like to tell that not only Bollywood actresses but also Bengali actress Suchitra Sen was discussed for the role of mother. Salim and I had gone to Kolkata to narrate the script to her, but she refused to go there because she did not want to be the mother of such a big actor.
According to cinema experts, Zanjeer had introduced the image of the angry young man to the industry, while Deewaar had established it in Hindi cinema.
I feel that the angry young man was always a part of Hindi cinema, I even consider the character of Ganga in Ganga Jamuna to be an angry young man and also the character of Birju in Mother India. The only problem was that at that time romance, songs and comedy were also done with him, but Salim and I had decided that we would not allow the image of the angry young man to be diluted in any way in our script. I think this worked and people feel that Angry Young Man is our contribution to Hindi cinema.
The film Deewar has played a very important role in Amitabh Bachchan’s career, has he ever said anything special about this film?
He is a very modest man. Wherever you go to give him credit, he repeats what I did. Whoever played this role. He used to do the same because the script of the film was like that but we all know that the way he spoke the dialogues or performed on the iconic scene makes the film more special. I have done more than a dozen films with Amitabh. . I can say that many times he used to create so much content in the scene which was not there on paper.
What was the most difficult scene of the film?
The most difficult scene was Vijay’s character going to the temple at the end. Before shooting that scene, there was a long conversation between Amitabh and Yash Chopra and us. There had never been such a long conversation in any other scene before that. Why will it happen, what will happen, how will it happen. Everything was discussed in detail.
Whose idea was it to add badge number 786?
It was my idea to attach a lucky charm to the hero. That would be the badge. I had also decided this. The idea of ​​this number 786 was of Salim Saheb.
Was the decision to kill the hero in the climax of the film to emotionally charge the audience an easy one?
Vijay’s character had become a criminal. He had progressed so far in crime that it was almost impossible for him to return to normal life. In such a situation, while writing the script, it was already decided that the hero would have to die. This was not to make the audience emotional but this was the demand of the story.
Where did the idea for the story of the film come from?
The story idea of ​​the film was inspired by many films. In which the name of Ganga Jamuna is also included. We had written a short story earlier. The script of the film was ready in 18 days and the dialogues were also written in 20 days.
The film is also known for its iconic dialogues. Which has been your favorite dialogue?
It feels good if those people tell. We are its writers, so how can we tell about it. By the way, I would like to tell that the dialogues of Deewar became so popular that it was the first film. A CD of whose dialogues was made and sold separately. Later, many other films including Sholay followed this trend.
