Teesri Manzil

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Trivia

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• There are varying accounts of how this film came to be. According to two books, Rauf Ahmed's "Shammi Kapoor: The Game Changer" and Akshay Manwani's "Music, Masti, Modernity: The Cinema of Nasir Husain", this was one of the two films Nasir Husain launched in the mid-1960s. According to these books, the original plan was for Husain to direct this film with Dev Anand in the lead role and for Vijay Anand to direct "Baharon Ke Sapne" (1967). Dev Anand, offended by the fact that his brother was doing a black & white film starring Rajesh Khanna, a rank newcomer, had a bitter argument with Nasir Husain and walked out of this film. Husain then decided to do the film with Shammi Kapoor but also offered Vijay Anand the opportunity to direct it. Vijay Anand accepted the offer and Nasir Hussain ended up directing "Baharon Ke Sapne" (1967). Shammi Kapoor agreed to come on board this film only after talking to Dev Anand. However, according to another account published in Anitaa Padhye's book "Goldie: The Man And His Movies", Vijay Anand was always supposed to direct this film. Husain had consulted with Vijay Anand for his film "Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai" (1961) and added the song "Teri Zulfon Se Judai To Nahin Maangi Thi" to it based on his advice. The film had done well and a grateful Husain had asked Anand to direct his next film. Vijay Anand had agreed to direct his first film outside the Navketan banner for Nasir Husain provided Dev Anand starred in it. This film was announced with Vijay Anand at the helm and a subsequent announcement revealed that Dev Anand had joined the film's cast. However, Dev quit the film following an argument with Husain at a party at the filmmaker's house. Vijay Anand stayed on since he believed it would be unprofessional to walk out from the film over a matter that did not directly concern him. Padhye's version of these events is corroborated by news items published in the film magazine Screen between July and November 1964. These news items prove that Husain had engaged Vijay Anand for the film before he had cast Dev Anand in it. They also debunk the story - as published in Rauf Ahmed and Akshay Manwani's books - that Dev Anand quit the film after he fought with Nasir Husain at actress Sadhana's engagement party. According to a news item in Screen, the announcement of Shammi Kapoor replacing Dev Anand was made in November 1964, while Sadhana's engagement party was in January 1965.[1][2][MR15][MR14][MR52]
• O.P. Nayyar was Nasir Husain's original choice for the film's music. Vijay Anand, however, wanted R.D. Burman. He had promised S.D. Burman during the making of "Guide" (1965) that he would give his son a break in his film. The choice of R.D. Burman as the film's music director came under question when Shammi Kapoor replaced Dev Anand as the hero. Kapoor, who was known to take an active interest in the music of his films, was not comfortable with a relative newcomer and recommended Shankar - Jaikishan instead. Vijay Anand was adamant and insisted on Kapoor listening to R.D. Burman first. It was only after the star conducted an audition and gave his approval to Burman's tunes that the young composer's place in the film became final. The film and its music went on to become big hits and proved to be a breakthrough in Burman's career. Interestingly, singer Asha Bhosle also did not approve of Vijay Anand's choice of Burman as the music director. She was close to O.P. Nayyar at the time and asked Anand why the regular composer for Nasir Husain Films shouldn't be chosen for this film as well. Anand argued that Nayyar's musical style would not work for the film. A few years down the line, Asha distanced herself from Nayyar and got married to R.D. Burman.[3][MR9][MR52]
• This was the first film that Nasir Husain produced but did not direct. The next time he relinquished the reins of one of his productions was for "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak" (1988) which his son Mansoor Khan directed. "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak" (1988) was also the first Nasir Husain production after this film which did not have R.D. Burman's music.[4]
• Although the film was very successful, it remained the only one in which Vijay Anand directed Shammi Kapoor. Kapoor was keen on doing a film with Anand again, but the filmmaker didn't want work to come in the way of their friendship. This was also Anand's only film for Nasir Husain Films. Husain had agreed to pay Anand a fixed fee of Rs. 5000 and a 20 per cent share of the Bombay territory's profits. However, when Anand received the contract, he saw that Husain had capped the director's payout at Rs. 50000. He was dismayed to see the producer renege on his promise and decided not to accept any share of the film's profits.[MR52]
• Vijay Anand cast his friend Prem Nath in the film to help him stage a comeback. The actor had done very well in his earlier films but his career had floundered in recent years. When he failed to make an impact with this film, Anand cast him again in "Johny Mera Naam" (1970), which was a massive hit and revived the actor's career.[5][MR52]

Song

• Aaja Aaja Main Hoon Pyar Tera - This song was plagiarised by music director Vedha for the Tamil film song "Aha Aha Indru Then Nilavu" ("Ethirigal Jakirathai", 1967).[6]
• Deewana Mujhsa Nahin Is Ambar Ke Neeche - R.D. Burman was required to perform an audition for Shammi Kapoor to secure his place as the music director of this film. This was the first song he sang in the audition. Even as the young composer hummed the tune, Shammi Kapoor, who had heard the original Nepali song, interrupted him and completed the song. Burman, who was already nervous, was shaken by this. He took a smoke break from the audition and came back to sing the remaining tunes. Kapoor was delighted with these songs and gave his approval for Burman to Nasir Husain.[MR9]
• Deewana Mujhsa Nahin Is Ambar Ke Neeche - In Nasir Husain's script, this song started right after Shammi Kapoor delivered a line. Shammi and Vijay Anand felt that this created unevenness in the scene. Anand, however, did not want to change the scene without Husain's consent. Since Husain was in Mumbai then, he called him on the phone and had a discussion with him before deciding to end the scene preceding the song with a line spoken by Asha Parekh.[MR52]
• Deewana Mujhsa Nahin Is Ambar Ke Neeche - Vijay Anand was not satisfied with Shammi Kapoor's walk for a shot in this song sequence. He felt that Shammi was not walking in sync with the song. Shammi, who took great pride in his sense of music, was offended by Anand's comment and asked him to show him what he wanted. When the filmmaker enacted the scene, Shammi readily agreed to follow his cue and re-shot the scene to Anand's satisfaction.[MR52]
• O Haseena Zulfonwali Jane Jahan - This song sequence opened with a shot of a drummer behind a screen. This drummer was Leslie Godinho, a jazz drummer from Goa. R.D. Burman used him for all the songs in the film. While Leslie was the real drummer behind the screen, the actor who was shown playing the drum in the film was Salim Khan. Khan gave up his acting career eventually and became well-known as a writer and one-half of the Salim - Javed duo.
• Tumne Mujhe Dekha Ho Kar Meherban - Shammi Kapoor had taken a break from films for a few months after the death of his wife Geeta Bali in January 1965. When he returned from his break to work on this film, this song was shot first as a tribute to her.[7]

1. ^ Baharon Ke Sapne (1967)
2. ^ Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai (1961)
3. ^ Guide (1965)
4. ^ Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988)
5. ^ Johny Mera Naam (1970)
6. ^ Aha Aha Indru Then Nilavu (Ethirigal Jakirathai, 1967)
7. ^ Today is Shammi Kapoor's birthday and also the 50th anniversary of Teesri Manzil