Raj Kapoor conceived this film with Lata Mangeshkar in mind. In his daughter Ritu Nanda's book "Raj Kapoor Speaks", he is quoted as saying "I visualised the story of a man falling for a woman with an ordinary countenance but a golden voice and wanted to cast Lata Mangeshkar in the role". Lata Mangeshkar initially agreed to work in the film but later backed out of it. Raj Kapoor then offered the role to Hema Malini, Dimple Kapadia and Vidya Sinha, but all of them declined it because of its sensual content. It was only then that he cast Zeenat Aman in the film's lead role.[MR45]
Raj Kapoor had initially asked Hridaynath Mangeshkar to compose music for this film. He changed his mind later and decided to use Laxmikant - Pyarelal instead. This resulted in arguments between Raj Kapoor and Hridaynath Mangeshkar's sister Lata. The legendary singer almost walked out of the film but stayed on after her brother advised her against it. Some news reports at the time alleged that the singer had threatened to quit the film following Raj Kapoor's statement that the film was inspired by her.[1][MR7]
Raj Kapoor dedicated this film to singer Mukesh, who had one song in it. The dedication read "Dedicated to my beloved friend Mukeshchand".
This film album became the first Gold Disc of India even before the release of the film.
Kumar Gaurav, who would later be engaged to Raj Kapoor's daughter Reema, worked in this film as an assistant director. He was credited by his real name in it - Manoj Kumar. Shammi Kapoor's son Aditya Raj Kapoor was also an assistant director in this film.
This film ran into a huge controversy when a private individual filed a complaint against Raj Kapoor for the alleged obscene content of the film. The Metropolitan Magistrate had summoned the filmmaker for an appearance. Raj Kapoor had filed a petition against the summons, but the High Court had rejected it. He had then approached the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had ruled in Raj Kapoor's favour and quashed the complaint against him.[2]
Laxmikant - Pyarelal won the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for four consecutive years from 1977 to 1980, including their Filmfare Award for this film. The other three films they won the Filmfare Award for during this period were "Amar Akbar Anthony" (1977), "Sargam" (1979) and "Karz" (1980).[3][4][5]
Song
Satyam Shivam Sundaram - I - Laxmikant - Pyarelal had agreed to use a certain veena player for this song based on Raj Kapoor's commitment to the musician. When they realized that he wasn't up to the task, they decided to limit the usage of the sitar in the song.[6]
Yashomati Maiya Se Bole Nandlala (Duet) - The flute solo in the prelude of this song was sampled for the Hindi film song "Yeh Pyar Kya Hai" ("Gupt", 1997).[7]
Yashomati Maiya Se Bole Nandlala (Duet) - This song was adapted from the Hindi film song "Aayi Gori Radhika" ("Gopinath", 1948) composed by Neenu Majumdar. Raj Kapoor may have had something to do with Laxmikant - Pyarelal using this tune since he had played the lead role in "Gopinath" (1948).[8]
Suni Jo Unke Aane Ki Aahat - The tune of this song may have inspired the Hindi film song "Salaam Karne Ki Arzoo Hai" ("Umrao Jaan", 2006). It is also possible that both the songs were adapted from the same traditional tune.[9]
