In this weekend blog, I am back on Bollywood, and today I am writing about a film that was released in 1970, and after the release, it became the highest-grosser of that year, and it is still considered a cult film in the Masala genre of Bollywood. The film is ‘JOHNY MERA NAAM’. This film was produced by Gulshan Rai who was a famous distributor of Bollywood films and with this film, he forayed into film production. It was directed by Vijay Anand, music was composed by Kalyanji Anandji. It starred Dev Anand and Hema Malini in the leading roles, ably supported by Pran, Premnath, Padma Khanna, IS Johar, Iftekhar, and Randhawa.
Here are some lesser-known facts about this film:
1 The film was shot in record 45 days, which was considered to be a remarkable feat in those days when an average film took more than 70 to 80 days to shoot.
2 The film marked the first collaboration between Dev Anand and Hema Malini, who later went on to become one of the most popular on-screen pairs in Bollywood.
3 The famous car chase sequence in the film, which was considered to be one of the highlights of the film in those days, was inspired by the car chase scenes in the Hollywood film Bullitt(1968) starring Steve McQueen.
4 This was the first film whose music was produced/marketed by Polydor India, a new record company, before that there was only one record company ‘His Master Voice’ (HMV) which used to release Bollywood film music.
5 The film was a huge commercial success and also won many awards. The director Vijay Anand saw to it the pace of the film was fast and viewers never felt any dull moment.
6 The film was remade as “Johny” (1971) in Telugu, with NT Rama Rao in the lead role, and in Tamil as “Raja”(1972) with Sivaji Ganesan in the lead role. It was also made into a Kannada film called “Apoorva Sangama” with Dr Raj Kumar in the lead. All the remakes were also successful at the box office.
7 The film’s title was inspired by a popular song from the 1956 Hollywood film “The Searchers” starring John Wayne. The song was titled “ Johny Guitar” and was composed by Victor Young..
8 The film marked the emergence of actress Hema Malini, who went on to become one of the most successful and iconic actresses in Indian cinema.
9 The music of the film was composed by Kalyanji Anandji and went on to become the biggest chartbuster of the year, and all the numbers were melodious- “ O Mere Raja..”, “ Pal Bhar Ke Liye, koi Hame Pyar Karle..”, Husnke Lakh Rang..” Nafrat Karne Walon Ke Dil Mein Pyar ..”, ‘ O Babul Pyare..”
10 The song ‘Husn Ke Lakh Rang’ which was picturised on Padma Khanna and Premnath is still considered one of the most sensuous songs ever picturised in Bollywood film.
11 The song “ O Mera Raja” was filmed in the ruins/excavation of ancient Nalanda University.
12 The actor IS Johar , enacted the triple role portraying three brothers Pehle Ram, Duje Ram, and Tije Ram, and the comedy done by him was one of the highlights of this film. IS Johar went on to win Filmfare’s best comedian award that year.
Friends, if you have still not seen this film. Please see it on social media like YouTube or OTT platforms. Although the film is more than 5 decades old, you will still enjoy it. I must have seen this film umpteen number of times during my college days.
Waiting for your views on this blog
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
26th May 2023