Deewaar

Deewaar (The Wall) is a 1975 Indian crime drama film, directed by Yash Chopra, written by Salim-Javed, and starring Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor. Reflecting "the tumultuous politics of the early 70s" in India, Deewaar tells the story of a pair of impoverished brothers who, after their family is betrayed by the misplaced idealism of their father, struggle to survive on the streets of Mumbai. The film was loosely inspired by the real-life gangster Haji Mastan, and the 1961 Dilip Kumar film Gunga Jumna.

     

Directed by       Yash Chopra
Produced by     Gulshan Rai
Written by         Salim-Javed

Starring Amitabh Bachchan,
                Shashi Kapoor,
                Parveen Babi,
                Neetu Singh,
                Nirupa Roy,
                Satyendra Kapoor,
                Iftekhar,
                Madan Puri

Music by           Rahul Dev Burman
Distributed by  Trimurti Films Pvt. Ltd

Release date   24 January 1975
Running time  176 minutes

Country       India
Language   Hindi

Box office   ₹ 75.0 million (US$1.2 million)

Many consider Deewaar a ground-breaking cinematic masterpiece. It was one of a slew of films establishing Amitabh Bachchan as the "angry young man" of Bollywood cinema and Parveen Babi as the "new Bollywood woman" whose character Anita is "a liberated working girl, smoking, drinking and making love to her partner, defying every Hindi film heroine rule." The movie cemented the success of the writing duo Salim-Javed, who went on to write many more blockbuster films. It is said that after the success of this film, the value of film writers skyrocketed thanks to Salim-Javed, and they soon were being paid as highly as some actors at the time.

The Deewaar in question refers to the wall that has sprung up between the two brothers, drawn apart by fate and circumstances in a time of socio-political turmoil.

Deewaar received the Filmfare Best Movie Award of 1975 in addition to six other Filmfare Awards and was a "superhit" at the box office, ranking as the 4th highest grossing Bollywood film of 1975. Indiatimes ranks Deewaar amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.

The film was later remade in Telugu as Magaadu (1976), in Tamil as Thee (1981) and in Malayalam as Nathi Muthal Nathi Vare (1983).

Cast

Amitabh Bachchan 
     as Vijay Verma,
        the elder brother
Shashi Kapoor 
     as Ravi Verma,
        the younger brother
Parveen Babi 
     as Anita
Neetu Singh 
     as Veera Narang
Nirupa Roy 
     as Sumitra Devi,
        Vijay & Ravi's mother
Satyendra Kapoor 
     as Anand Verma,
        Vijay & Ravi's father
Manmohan Krishna 
     as DCP Narang
Madan Puri 
     as Samant
Iftekhar 
     as Mulk Raj Daavar
Sudhir 
     as Jaichand
Jagdish Raj 
     as Jaggi
Raj Kishore 
     as Darpan
Yunus Parvez 
     as Rahim Chacha,
        Head Porter
Mohan Sherry 
     as Peter's henchman
Alankar Joshi 
     as Young Vijay Verma
Raju Shrestha 
     as Young Ravi Verma
Rajan Verma
     as Lachhu
A. K. Hangal 
     as Chander's Father
Dulari 
     as Chander's mother
D. K. Sapru 
     as Mr. Agarwal
Kamal Kapoor 
     as Anand Verma's employer

Crew

Director:                   Yash Chopra
Story:                         Salim-Javed
Screenplay:              Salim-Javed
Dialogue:                  Salim-Javed
Producer:                 Gulshan Rai
Cinematographer:  Kay Gee
Editor:                       T.R. Mangeshkar,
                                   Pran Mehra
Art Director:             Desh Mukherjee
Stunts:                      M.B. Shetty, 
                                   Kodi S.Irani
Music Director:       Rahul Dev Burman
Lyricist:                     Sahir Ludhianvi
Playback Singers:  Asha Bhosle,
                                   Manna Dey,
                                   Kishore Kumar,
                                   Bhupendra Singh,
                                   Ursula Vaz,
                                   Usha Mangeshkar

Soundtrack

               Soundtrack album to Deewaar 
                             by R.D. Burman

                      Released         1975
                      Genre               Feature film Soundtrack
                      Language        Hindi
                      Label                Universal
                      Producer         R.D. Burman

The Soundtrack of the movie was composed by Rahul Dev Burman, and the lyrics were penned by Sahir Ludhianvi. The soundtrack did well, and the track "Kehdoon Tumhe" was a chartbuster.

Song                               Singer(s)
"Kehdoon Tumhe" Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle
"Maine Tujhe Manga" Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle
"Koi Mar Jaye" Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar
"Deewaron Ka Jungle" Manna Dey
"Idhar Ka Mal Udhar" Bhupinder Singh
"I Am Falling In Love With A Stranger" Ursula Vaz