Ek Duje Ke Liye

Awards

Song Awards:
• 1981 - National Film Awards - Best Male Playback Singer - Tere Mere Beech Mein (Male) - S.P. Balasubramaniam
• 1981 - Filmfare Awards - Best Lyricist - Tere Mere Beech Mein (Duet) - Anand Bakshi

Trivia

Album

• This was the debut Hindi film of actors Kamal Haasan, Rati Agnihotri, Madhavi and Sunil Thapa. Kamal, Rati and Madhavi had acted in South Indian films earlier.
• This was S.P. Balasubramaniam's debut Hindi film as a playback singer. Music directors Laxmikant - Pyarelal were not keen on using him for the film since they had not worked with him before. Director K. Balachander convinced them that S.P. Balasubramaniam was the right choice since his imperfect diction would suit the role of the South Indian man played by Kamal Haasan in the film. The singer had previously sung songs recorded for South Indian films dubbed in Hindi. Prior to this, he had also composed the background score for the Hindi film "Hum Paanch" (1980).[1][2]
• This film was a remake of director K. Balachander's own hit Telugu film "Maro Charitra" (1978). Actors Kamal Haasan and Madhavi had played the same roles in the Telugu film and the Hindi remake. While this was Kamal Haasan's first Hindi film, "Maro Charitra" was his first Telugu film.
• Based on producer L.V. Prasad's request, K. Balachander had made one change to the script of this film relative to the Telugu original - the film's heroine would not be raped in the climax of the Hindi film. On seeing the completed film, however, Prasad felt that the climax lacked the emotional impact of the Telugu film and asked the director to include the rape scene in the climax. Re-shooting the climax would have delayed the film, so Balachander managed to imply the rape simply by editing the film's footage.[3]
• This film was received well by several Hindi film personalities after its premiere in Bombay. However, Raj Kapoor had expressed his reservations about the film's tragic climax to K. Balachander's assistant, Suresh Krishna. A devastated Krishna had called K. Balachander late that night to convey Raj Kapoor's feedback to the director. K. Balachander had remained nonplussed and said that it was the climax that would make this film a hit. The film released the next day and its success validated Balachander's intuition.[4]
• Producer L.V. Prasad had to distribute this film himself since it did not find any buyers. A week after its release, it became a big hit and he had to release five times as many prints as he had released in the beginning.[5]
• When S.P. Balasubramaniam first met Laxmikant - Pyarelal for this film, the music director duo had asked him to sing a song. The singer first sang the title song of "Mere Mehboob" (1963) composed by Naushad. The composers then asked him to sing a simple song and he sang "Jaanewalo Zara Mud Ke Dekho Mujhe" ("Dosti", 1964) composed by Laxmikant - Pyarelal themselves. According to S.P. Balasubramaniam, it was this song that convinced the composers of his abilities.[6][7][8]

Song

• Tere Mere Beech Mein (Duet) - This duet with Lata Mangeshkar was the first song S.P. Balasubramaniam had recorded for this film. He spoke a few Tamil lines in this song including "Nee romba nalla paadarae" meaning "You sing very well". He later said that he found the words ironical since they came from a newcomer like him and were addressed to the legendary Lata Mangeshkar. He was apparently so nervous during the recording that he had accidentally spilt tea on her saree. Understanding his plight, Lata had praised S.P. Balasubramaniam during the rehearsals in order to put him at ease.[9]
• Tere Mere Beech Mein (Duet) - Portions of the string section of this song were sampled for a prominent riff in Britney Spears' hit song "Toxic" in her album "In The Zone" (2003).[10]
• Mere Jeevan Saathi Pyar Kiye Ja - The lyrics of this song were formed entirely by stringing together a number of Hindi film titles.
• Solah Baras Ki Baali Umar Ko Salaam - A song in the film "Sixteen" (2013) got its hook lyrics from this song.[11]

1. ^ S.P. Balasubramaniam interview - 'I know what I don’t know'
2. ^ Hum Paanch (1980)
3. ^ K Balachander will always remain alive in us
4. ^ K Balachander will always remain alive in us
5. ^ Timeless love
6. ^ Timeless love
7. ^ Mere Mehboob Tujhe Meri Muhabbat Ki Kasam (Mere Mehboob, 1963)
8. ^ Jaanewalo Zara Mud Ke Dekho Mujhe (Dosti, 1964)
9. ^ Timeless love
10. ^ Toxic - Britney Spears
11. ^ Solah Baras Ki Baali Umar Ko Salaam (Sixteen, 2013)