Deewaar

Awards

• No award information available.

Trivia

Album

• The theme music used in the opening credits of this film was originally composed by R.D. Burman for director Yash Chopra and producer Gulshan Rai's previous film "Joshila" (1973). This theme has been used for the opening credits of many other films, including films in which R.D. Burman was not the music director. Yash Chopra directed one more film for Gulshan Rai after this - "Trishul" (1978).[1][2]
• Salim - Javed wrote the screenplay of this film, considered one of Hindi cinema's best, in just eighteen days. They wrote its dialogues in about another twenty-five days. Although the script was original, it drew inspiration from the Hindi films "Mother India" (1957) and "Gunga Jumna" (1961). There were also some similarities between the film's lead character played by Amitabh Bachchan and smuggler Haji Mastan. Salim - Javed themselves rejected the rumours that the film was based on Haji Mastan's life. In fact, according to Salim Khan, Mastan himself might have fuelled these rumours to boost his reputation.[3][4][MR34]
• The first person Salim - Javed thought of after completing this film's script was not a producer or director but the actor who they believed would be the perfect fit for the lead role - Amitabh Bachchan. Amitabh, Salim and Javed then approached director Yash Chopra, who after listening to the synopsis, called producer Gulshan Rai, editor Pran Mehra and assistant director Ramesh Talwar for a narration. It was at this point that Salim - Javed faced their first hitch. While their script was accepted, Gulshan Rai wanted Rajesh Khanna for the film's lead role since he had already given the actor a signing amount. It took some convincing on Salim - Javed's part to change Rai's mind and get his agreement on Amitabh Bachchan playing the film's lead role.[MR34]
• Salim - Javed's original script for the film did not feature any songs. While six songs were eventually recorded for the film, three were included in the film on the insistence of producer Gulshan Rai and one was used in the background. When the film came to Mangesh Desai for re-recording, he was of the opinion that the film was a little dry and adding two more songs to it would make it more saleable. Gulshan Rai saw merit in Desai's suggestion, but Salim - Javed and other members of the film's crew resisted the idea till Rai gave in. Two of the songs in the film's audio release were not used in the film.[MR34]
• The success of this film established Amitabh Bachchan's "Angry Young Man" on-screen persona which was first created in the film "Zanjeer" (1973). This was also Parveen Babi's breakthrough film.[5]
• The spectacular success of this film spawned remakes in many languages - "Magaadu" (1976) starring N.T. Rama Rao in Telugu, "Thee" (1981) starring Rajinikanth in Tamil, "Nathi Muthal Nathi Vare" (1983) starring Mammootty in Malayalam and the Hong Kong film "The Brothers" (1979) in Cantonese and Mandarin. "The Brothers" (1979) went on to inspire the landmark Hong Kong film "A Better Tomorrow" (1986) directed by John Woo. "A Better Tomorrow" (1986) itself was adapted for the Hindi film "Aatish" (1994) starring Sanjay Dutt.[6]
• Amitabh Bachchan's scenes in this film were shot mostly at night since he was shooting for "Sholay" (1975) during the day at the time.[7]
• Amitabh Bachchan's knotted shirt look in this film was the result of a tailoring mistake. The tailored shirt was too long for Amitabh so it was knotted at the waist to reduce its length.
• The dialogues of this film became very popular. Audio records with the film's dialogues were issued after the film's release. One of the most iconic lines in the film, "Aaj khush toh bahut hoge tum", which Amitabh Bachchan's character Vijay addresses to God, was met with laughter in the film's premiere followed by a stunned silence. Salim - Javed's dialogues for "Sholay" (1975) were also released on record the same year.[8][9]
• Amitabh Bachchan had found enacting two much-remembered scenes in this film very challenging - one was the scene in the temple in which his character Vijay chides God and begs him for his mother's life, and the other was the climax in which he dies on his mother's lap. It was decided that Amitabh would not dub for these scenes since re-creating the impact of his lines in the studio would have been very difficult. As a result, some unintended ambient sounds can be heard in these scenes. In the temple scene, the sound of the camera trolley moving can be heard, and in the climax, a clock's chime can be heard.[10]

Song

• Idhar Ka Maal Udhar - This song was part of the audio release but did not feature in the film.
• Keh Doon Tumhen - Two recreated versions of this song were recorded by Tanishq Bagchi for the film "Baadshaho" (2017). T-Series had taken the remix rights for the song from Universal Music. However, Trimurti Films, the producer of this film, took T-Series to court for copyright infringement. They claimed that they had granted only the mechanical rights to Universal Music which only allowed the label to publish and sell physical records for the film's music. The court ruled in the favour of Trimurti Films and T-Series was forced to remove the recreated songs from "Baadshaho" (2017) and its music album. Trimurti Film's Rajiv Rai said that he had filed the lawsuit for all the producers of the Hindi film industry. He said that he was disturbed by the rising trend of recreated songs being recorded without adequate permissions.[11][12]
• Deewaaron Ka Jungle - R.D. Burman had used the tune of this song earlier for the Bengali non-film song "Amar Malatilata" ("Sera Shilpi Sera Gaan", 1974) sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Since this song was not used in the film, Burman used the tune again for the Hindi film song "Hum Aur Tum The Saathi" ("Hamaare Tumhare", 1978).[13][14]
• I Am Falling In Love With A Stranger - This was the only Hindi film song for which R.D. Burman wrote the lyrics. However, he was not credited for the lyrics in the film or its audio records. It featured in the background in the club scene in which Amitabh Bachchan and Parveen Babi's characters meet for the first time. The song was included in only some versions of the film's audio release.[MR9]

1. ^ Joshila (1973)
2. ^ Trishul (1978)
3. ^ Mother India (1957)
4. ^ Gunga Jumna (1961)
5. ^ Zanjeer (1973)
6. ^ Aatish (1994)
7. ^ Anupama Chopra’s 100 favourite films
8. ^ Deewaar was the perfect script: Amitabh Bachchan
9. ^ Sholay (1975)
10. ^ Deewaar was the perfect script: Amitabh Bachchan
11. ^ Socha Hai (Keh Doon Tumhen) (Baadshaho, 2017)
12. ^ 'Baadshaho' lands in legal trouble, forced to drop 'Keh Doon Tumhe' song remix
13. ^ Amar Malatilata (Sera Shilpi Sera Gaan, 1974)
14. ^ Hum Aur Tum The Saathi (Hamaare Tumhare, 1978)