Dev Anand had first approached S.D. Burman to compose the music for this film. However, the elderly Burman had declined the film since he had not liked its theme. It was only then that Anand had approached his son, R.D. Burman.
Zeenat Aman had gotten her career-making role in this film only after actress Zaheeda had turned it down. Zaheeda had done so because she felt that after being romantically paired with Dev Anand in "Prem Pujari" (1969) and "Gambler" (1971), being cast as his sister in this film would be a step-down.[1][2]
This film was inspired by a Canadian girl of Indian origin Dev Anand had met in a hotel in Kathmandu during a visit to Nepal. Anand had modelled Zeenat Aman's character in this film after this girl and had even used her name for the character - Jasbir / Janice.[3]
Song
Dum Maaro Dum Mit Jaye Gham - I - R.D. Burman had originally planned to use the voices of Usha Uthup (then Usha Iyer) and Lata Mangeshkar for this song. He eventually ended up using Asha Bhosle instead. Not wanting to disappoint the 21-year-old Usha, he used her voice for another song in the film - "I Love You".
Dum Maaro Dum Mit Jaye Gham - I - This song was conceived as an introduction to the song "Ram Ka Naam Badnaam Na Karo". When R.D. Burman first played it to Dev Anand, he liked it but was concerned that it would overshadow the following song which was being shot on him. As a compromise, it was decided that the song would be recorded but released only on the disc. However, on recording the song, it was evident that they had a winner on their hands and Dev Anand shot a portion of the song and included it in the film.[4]
Dum Maaro Dum Mit Jaye Gham - I - A big R.D. Burman fan, Sunil Gavaskar was apparently part of the crowd in this song. He had gone to see the song's shooting and had volunteered when they had called for extras.[5]
Dum Maaro Dum Mit Jaye Gham - I - Bhupinder Singh played the lead guitar, Gorakh Sharma (Pyarelal's brother) played the bass guitar, and Charanjit Singh played the Transicord - a transistor electric accordion - in this song.[MR10]
Dum Maaro Dum Mit Jaye Gham - I - This song inspired the title of a 2011 film by Rohan Sippy. Music director Pritam re-created this song for the 2011 film.[6]
Dum Maaro Dum Mit Jaye Gham - I - This song was sampled by the UK artist Footsie for his song "Work All Day" (2015) which gained widespread popularity when it was used in Apple's 2021 advertisement for iPhone 13.[7]
Kanchi Re Kanchi Re - It was this song that got Ranjit Gazmer included in R.D. Burman's music team. The Darjeeling-born Gazmer had bumped into Manohari Singh, a steady member of Burman's team when he was working in Nepal. Encouraged by Singh to try his luck in Hindi films, Gazmer had landed up in Bombay and approached Singh for work. It was fortuitous that R.D. Burman was working on a song for this film at the time that needed the music of Nepal imbibed in it. Gazmer was asked to come for the music sitting of this song with his Nepali percussion instrument madal. At the sitting, a nervous Gazmer was asked to play the madal and sing a Nepali tune in the presence of R.D. Burman and Dev Anand! Gazmer ended up singing a song he had composed called "Kancha re kancha....". Dev Anand was thrilled to hear the tune, and it was decided to record a song based on it. R.D. Burman then proceeded to compose the song and record it with Gazmer playing the madal for it. After the recording, he christened Gazmer "Kancha" - a name that stuck for the rest of his life.[8]
Kanchi Re Kanchi Re - Manohari Singh played the flute pieces in this song.[9]
Phoolon Ka Taaron Ka Sabka Kahna Hai (Female) - R.D. Burman sang a line in this Lata Mangeshkar song but was not credited for it.
Dance Music - I - Part of this instrumental track was used in a 2013 video commercial by Heineken titled "Deja Vu".
