Kalyanji - Anandji weren't happy that this song would be performed onscreen by Pran who was known primarily for his roles as a villain. They even attempted to influence a change in the film's script to prevent this from happening. When Manoj Kumar didn't budge, they first approached Kishore Kumar to sing this song to ensure that the audience accepted Pran's positive role. According to Ashok Da Ranade's book "Hindi Film Song: Music Beyond Boundaries", Kishore Kumar told the music directors that only Manna Dey could do justice to the song and requested them to approach him instead. However, according to composer Anandji, Kishore refused to sing the song saying "he was an actor, not a singer". On seeing Pran's enactment of the song, the composers complimented the actor for singing with his throat, as opposed to singing with his lips as actors usually did.[1][2][MR6]
Ilaiyaraaja used the tune of this Kalyanji - Anandji song for the Tamil film song "Kanavu Kaanum" ("Neengal Kettavai", 1984). This was his way of getting back at Kalyanji - Anandji for using the tune of his song "Ilaiya Nila" ("Payanangal Mudivathillai", 1982) for "Neele Neele Ambar Par" ("Kalakaar", 1983) without his permission.[3][4][5]
The lyrics of this song were apparently inspired by the real-life story of the unrequited love of an associate of Kalyanji - Anandji. A banker in Tanzania at the time, this associate, Chandra Barot, went on to become Manoj Kumar's assistant director and is best remembered for directing the blockbuster Amitabh Bachchan hit "Don" (1977).[6][MR10]
