How the film Hare Rama Hare Krishna was Concieved ?

Hare Rama Hare Krishna is a 1971 Indian film directed by Dev Anand starring himself, Mumtaz and Zeenat Aman. The film was a hit and a star-making vehicle for Zeenat Aman, who played a westernized hippie and won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award, The movie dealt with the decadence of the Hippie culture. 
The story for Hare Rama Hare Krishna actually came to Dev Anand's mind when he was in Kathmandu Nepal on a visit after protests against his previous film Prem Pujari in Calcutta. He was low in spirits because his film had been opposed and some communists had burnt Prem Pujari's posters.
Those days society was undergoing changes, the churning encompassing all, rich and poor, old and youth, boys and girls. The hippie culture had made inroads and the drug culture had grown into a huge menace. In Nepal, many such young people from all over the world used to come as drugs were easily available there.
The story idea was born out of a chance encounter Dev Anand had with an Indian girl puffing a Chilam. She was born in Canada whose name was Janice, the original name was Jasbeer Kaur. She was among a group of young foreigners.  She narrated her story, which laid the foundation for the making of HRHK, a subject that he described in his autobiography as a “movie that represents a new world phenomenon, the young, reckless people.” Young and reckless was how the jean-clad and pot-smoking youth had come to be signified in a still-growing but conservative Indian society.
The most compelling of all characters in the film was, obviously, Janice/Jasbir, certainly, because someone like her had not been too commonly seen on Indian screens. At a time when actresses were either gold-hearted or vamps, Janice was a refreshing change. It’s difficult to think of too many women characters before Janice that asked the audience to ‘Dum Maro Dum’ (Smoke up).
Dev Anand was keen that Mumtaz played his sister’s role in HRHK but she declined, preferring the romantic lady. Mumtaz did not want to play the role of Dev Anand's sister and insisted she play the role opposite Dev Anand. Everyone kept telling her that the film was about a brother and sister. Zeenat ended up with the better role causing Mumtaz to be bitter.
His first meeting with Zeenat, at a party hosted by filmmaker Amarjeet, was momentous. As Zeenat smoked and displayed a “devil-may-care attitude” in the presence of Dev Saab, he was convinced she would be his “sister”. Dev auditioned Zeenat Aman for the role and the rest is history. A star was born as Zeenat slipped into the role with the finesse of a seasoned actor.

 Dev Anand wrote in his biography, Zeenat was comfortable in the company of the “real” hippies, who played their role so well in different shots in HRHK, living their self when swinging and dancing, with Zeenat as the cheerleader.
Dev Anand wanted his children Suneil and Devina to play the younger roles of Prashant and Janice. They were too shy and told their father they were not going to do that.
One interesting thing is that the title Hare Rama Hare Krishna was patented by Manoj Kumar, Dev Saab wanted this title only, so Manoj Kumar gave him. Another interesting thing for the readers is that Usha Uthup was to sing the song Dum Maaro Dum but lost it due to political reasons. She ended up singing in the chorus.
This film was the second film Dev Anand had directed and it was a big hit and 48 years now since released and the film still is wanted forever. It's an evergreen movie.

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Dev Anand lent his voice to one song, from the film 'Pyar Mohabbat' (1966), sung by Rafi.

Dev possibly was the most handsome of leading actors ever seen on the screen. He possibly had the distinction of being the actor on whom some of the most tuneful, lilting songs were composed. Think of Dev Anand's movies, especially the earlier Navketan ones from the black and white era and you immediately think of the songs.
Devsaab had an ear for music, and SD Burman was almost an in-house music director; most Navketan's movies' music was scored by Burman da.
Mohammad Rafi has sung many a hit song for Dev Anand's films but a little known fact is that he lent his voice to one number from the 1966 movie 'Pyar Mohabbat' (1966) rendered by the legendary playback singer.
Dev Anand once informed about this song."I never attempted to sing but Rafi sang 'Pyar Mohabbat Ke Siwa ye Zindagi Kya Zindagi', in this song 'Hurray Hurray' is recorded in my voice," he said.
Rafi sang for Dev Anand in many films. The trio of S D Burman, Rafi and Dev Anand gave many unforgettable songs. If you carefully watch the videos of these songs, you will find that the lips movement and expressions are given on face by Dev Anand, perfectly matches the Rafi’s throw of words. It is an established truth that Rafi had a peerless skill to twist his voice according to the Hero, so he did perfectly for Dev Anand also emerging Dev’s image more romantic. Burmanda once agreed that he tried Talat, Manna Dey and Hemant Kumar for Dev Anand, but Rafi was a perfect match for Dev Anand. 
Some of these songs are “Thummak thummak chali kahan“(Ek ke Baad Ek), and more songs form this film,”Hum bekhudime Pukare Chale Gaye” & “Achhaji mai haari chalo maan jaao na“-with Asha-(Kala Pani) “Khoya Khoya chaand“,”Apni to har aah ek toofan hai” & “Rimzim ke Tarane leke aayi Barsaat“-with Asha (All from Kala Bazaar), “Diwana mastana hua dil“-with Asha, & “Saathi na koi manzil” (Both from Bambai ka babu),”O aaja panchhi akela hai“, “Kalike roopme chali ho dhoopme” – (Both from Nau do gyarah),”Dilka bhanwar kare pukar“,”tu kahan ye bata“,”sunle tu dilki sada” & “Dekho rootha na karo” (All from Tere gharke saamne),”Aise to na dekho” & “kahin bekhayaal ho kar” (both from Teen Deviyan),”Kyaa se kyaa ho gaya“,”tere mere sapne ab ek rang hai” & “Din dhal jaye haye“All from Guide), “Chupkese mile pyaase pyaase “-with Geeta Dutt and “mera man tera pyaasa” from gambler(last song of Rafi for Dev and SD).

Song of Pyaar Mohabbat 1966

Navketan's Guide- From Pages to Celluloid

After the Berlin Film Festival in 1962, Dev Anand and his wife travelled to London and later, at the invitation of the Nobel laureate, Pearl S Buck and the Polish-American TV film director, Tad Danielewski of Stratton Productions, to New York. It was while eating a dish called ‘Scorpion’ at a restaurant in ‘The Village’ (as Greenwich Village is commonly referred to), that Dev Anand presented Pearl S Buck with a copy of R K Narayan’s The Guide. He told them that he intends to make a film on this book.
Pearl and Tad were impressed by the possibilities of a cinematic adaptation of the novel, they had doubts about whether Narayan would be willing to part with the film rights of his novel.
R K Narayan was an Indian writer known for his works set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was a leading author of early Indian literature in English along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao. Narayan’s The Financial Expert was hailed as one of the most original works of 1951 and Sahitya Akademi Award winner The Guide was adapted for film. His first book "Swami and Friends" was published in 1935. Narayan's next novel The Bachelor of Arts (1937), was inspired in part by his experiences at college, and dealt with the theme of a rebellious adolescent transitioning to a rather well-adjusted adult; He wrote nearly three dozen novels and several short-story collections, The Guide was his thirteenth book and eighth novel. It was published in 1958.
Dev Anand in his Biography says “I read it at one go…I thought it had a good story, and the character of Raju, the guide, was extraordinary,”He first wrote a letter to R K Narayan, As per Narayan he got a letter from Anand, modestly describing himself as “a producer and actor from Bombay” and wondering, “I don’t know if my name is familiar to you.” In this letter, he wrote about his interest in making a great film on The Guide. 

After his approval, Dev immediately sought an appointment with R. K. Narayan and signed a contract with him. There was also a broad consensus that the film is made in both English and Hindi. While Tad was de facto director of the English version, for the Hindi, it was a toss-up between Chetan Anand and Raj Khosla. Neither worked out. Finally, Vijay ‘Goldie’ Anand was chosen to direct the Hindi version.

Guide(Eng)-Pic-1.

Guide(Eng)-Pic-2

Dev Anand wanted to start English version and Hindi version simultaneously. The idea was to film the scenes common to both versions simultaneously, a Hindi shot to be immediately followed by the same shot in English, to save time and money but it could not be materialised because Vijay Anand was not happy with the script, he wanted to change the script and write a new script. The other reason for the delay of the Hindi version was the music composer S.D. Burman had suffered a heart attack and was not available for the music. Burman Dada advised Dev to sign on a new composer for Guide, but Dev put his foot down and insisted that Burman should first get well and then take over.
As we all know that in the novel the city taken by the author was an imaginary town Malgudi but in the film, Udaipur of Rajasthan was prefered by the director Tad. But it wasn’t only the locations, the scale and the general tenor that shifted from page to screen. It was the characters themselves.  This annoyed R K Narayan but he was later convinced that Tad could not create the town similar to Malgudi. The next change was the name of the hero as Raju Guide whereas in the novel it was Railway Raju. Raju’s childhood and youth don’t appear in the film. Part of the reason lay in popular cinema’s need to be larger than life. All the small town specificity of Malgudi was erased. The film also has many sequences specifically inserted to impress the foreign audience as some kind of Bharat-Darshan.

Similarly, the Rosie who made it to the Hindi film screen was nowhere near as radical as the original Rosie – the Rosie created by RK Narayan, in his novel The Guide.
Narayan’s character had chutzpah, but he had his awkward moments. But the film was a star vehicle for Dev Anand, and its hero had to be more Dev Anand than Raju. So Anand’s Raju Guide has no self-doubt. He is never worried about the hairiness of his chest. He never wonders if he could be bold enough to woo Rosie. It is in relation to Rosie that he is most transformed – because Rosie herself has changed. Narayan’s Rosie is no sophisticated, but her ambition is never in doubt. Nor is the carnality of Raju’s interest in her, or her reciprocation of it. The novel has none of the high-mindedness that Hindi cinema forced upon its heroes and heroines so Raju can tell us the truth: he is attracted to Rosie; his support of her dance begins because it is the clue to her affections.

The novel’s Rosie is full of plans; Raju need only support them. But Vijay Anand’s film, keenly aware of his conservative audience, turns his Rosie into a bundle of nerves who tries three times to commit suicide, only to be saved each time by Raju, and berated: “Tumhari haalat aaj yeh isliye hai ki tumne apni haalat se baghaavat karna nahi seekha.”
The other sociological element that makes both book and film fascinating is that Rosie is a devadasi by birth, and her reclaiming of dance in a new secular public form formed a fictional counterpart to the actual national reclaiming of Bharatnatyam. Here, too, the film has Marco insult dance, while Raju delivers a lecture on how artists are no longer bhaands.
By June 1963, the shooting of the English version of The Guide was completed and Pearl S. Buck who viewed the rushes found it up to the mark. When Narayan saw the English version in January 1964, he wrote to Dev, labelling the film profound, artistic, and exquisite. In 1964, Dev began promoting The Guide in the US and the premiere elicited encouraging responses from a cross-section of viewers.
The English version premiered at the Lincoln Art theatre in New York in February 1965. The mainstream press in America including The New York Times and the Time magazine didn’t take a liking to The Guide.
The English Guide was a flop but Dev Anand was not bothered, he took the failure in his stride. “The film did not fare well, but it gave me a semblance of recognition in a new arena… The new experience was rewarding enough,” he writes in Romancing with Life. 
Dev Anand had plans to release the Hindi version of The Guide by end 1965. But suddenly, he was faced with a barrage of protests from some quarters who strongly recommended that the film would be banned on grounds that it promoted infidelity, that too of a woman.
Finally, Guide released on 8 April 1966. It had a shaky start, for here was a film which didn’t present Dev Anand as the quintessential lover boy. Initially, the response was lukewarm but the film picked up after a few days when all the critics gave good reviews and also the music of the film became hit.

 Narayan didn’t care for either of the movies, especially the depiction of Rosie as an all-around dancer rather than a Bharatanatyam exponent. Probably referring to the Hindi version, Narayan writes, it “converted my heroine’s performances into an extravaganza with delicious fruity colours and costumes”.

Song of Guide 1965

Song of Guide 1965

Song of Guide 1965

Song of Guide 1965

Song of Guide 1965

Song of Guide 1965

Song of Guide 1965

Song of Guide 1965

Scene from Guide 1965

Songs were the Integral Part of Dev Anand Personality

Can you imagine a film with Dev Anand without singing a song in that film? Songs were always an integral part of his personality. Could you believe that he got to sing very few songs in his early films? Maybe it was a trend in those days but the heroines got all the songs. Between 1946 to 1952 he had 28 films but there were hardly a few noteworthy songs for him. Even in his debut production’Afsar’ he had no song. A film like ‘Aaram’ which had such good songs, one song -Shukriya ai pyar tera shukriya’ was filmed on Talat Mehmood himself and another great song ‘Ai jaane jigar’ sung by Mukesh was lip synced by Prem Nath. In another film, Manmohan Krishna playing a sidekick of Dev Anand had two good songs while Dev had none. Even in ‘Milap’ directed by his close friend Raj Khosla the Hemant Kumar song Yeh baharon ka samaan filmed on Dev Anand is edited out in the film while the female version is there. It was only, later on, say after 1955 that he got to sing many songs and he developed his signature style in song picturisations.

It is also seen that the majority of the songs from his movies are lip-synced by him. A solo or a duet – but Dev Anand got to lip sync even if it was a word or 2.He even appear in the frame whether he has no line to lip sync.

In this Blog I have selected those songs where Dev Anand is in the same frame with his co-actor but not lip syncing.

The first song in my list is from CID (1956), the song is Boojh Mera Kya Naam Re

It is a complete village belle song but wouldn’t be complete without Dev Anand. He just smiles throughout the song and that makes the song so much more charming!!

Song of  CID (1956)

In this song from House No 44 released in 1955,Dev Anand  is a part of the song even if he is just humming. Like in Peechhe peechhe aakar all he does is just hmm hmm hmm hmm.

Song of House No 44 (1955)

The next song is Hum Jaan Gaye Sarkar Tum Lakh Karo Inkaar from the film Love Marriage (1959), here Mala Sinha is all delighted to tease Dev Anand. Insisting that he’s in love and Dev Anand like an innocent boy keeps denying.

Song of Love Marriage (1959)

Another song in my list is from Bombai Ka Babu 1960, in this song Suchitra Sen is singing and dancing with her friends but Dev Anand appears on full frame.

Song of Bombai Ka Babu 1960,

Sach Hue Sapne Tere-Kala Bazaar 1960

In this song, Waheeda Rehman teasing Dev Anand while he is sulking. But we’re treated with a charming Dev smile by the end of the song.

Song of Kala Bazar 1960,

In the song, Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai from Guide Waheeda Rehman sings a solo but it will be incomplete without the caring and charming yet a silent guide beside her.

Song of Guide 1965

Honthon pe aisi baat is an all Vyjayantimala song, but here too Dev Anand gets to sing that inimitable call O Shalooooo. 

Song of Jewel Thief 1967

JAISE RADHA NE MALA JAPI SHYAM from Tere Mere Sapne 1971 is one such song ia a heroine song but Dev Annand in full frame

Song of  Tere Mere Sapne 1971

Koi Koi Raat Aisi Hoti Hai from the film is one such song where heroine Rakhi is singing a solo song but Dev Anand is shown in full frame even his photograph is shown in full frame.

                                                             Song of Banarsi Babu 1973

Lootmar, the 1980 film where a cabaret was picturised on Simple Kapadia, the song 

Jab Chaye Mera Jadoo-Koi Bach Na Paye here also Dev Anand appears on full frame

Song of Lootmar 1980

S D Burman was the Soul of Navketan Films

Dev Anand in an interview said "Burman Da was not only a composer to me but also a fatherly figure to Navketan. I depended on him for all aspects of the film, not just the music. I would consult him on the script and ask him whether it is okay to make a film on this theme.
When Dev was starting Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Dada was not convinced with the theme on Hippies. It was S D Burman who proposed R D Burman's name for the music of the film.
Dev Anand' liking for Dada started with the film Shikari, he liked its music. This was Dada's first Hindi film, he was the joint composer along with Anil Chand Sengupta. It was his film Vidya in which he gave the music for the first time, after that he decided it will be Dada who would give music for his Banner.

The first film of the banner was Afsar and Dada gave the music for that film. The music of that film was not very popular but Dev Anand retained him for his next film Baazi. The songs of the film became popular, The song"Tadbeer Se Bigdi Hui Taqdeer Bana Le" sung by Geeta Dutt is an immortal song.
Dev Anand had the liking for Bengali Music. In Dada's music, he found a blend of the Rabindra Sangeet and very modern rhythm. His music was very innovative and modern. It was full of hope.
With the success of their second film Baazi (1951), he made it to the top and a long association with Navketan and Dev Anand was on its way. The next film he gave music was Jaal in 1951, a ghazal that was occidentalise into a seductive song. The "Jaal" song "Yeh raat yeh chandni" by Hemant Kumar is an all-time great classic. 
After Taxi driver in 1954 he gave music in all the Navketan films except Hum Dono, it was given by Jaidev who was his assistant and was recommended by himself. This banner is known for great music and modern films. Taxi Driver released in 1954, it gave Dada the first Filmfare Award. Talat Mehmood version of the song- "Jayen To Jayen Kahan" became the most popular song of the year.
 The Dev Anand-S D Burman partnership, under Navketan banner, continued to churn out musical hits like Funtoosh(1956), Kala Pani(1958),Kala Bazar(1960),Bombai Ka Baboo (1960), Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963), Teen Devian (1965), Guide (1965) and Jewel Thief (1967). Tere Mere Sapne and Prem Pujari (1970)

Song of Afsar 1950

Song of Baazi 1951

Song of Taxi Driver 1954

Song of House No. 44 (1955)

Song of Funtoosh(1956)

Song of Kala Pani 1958

Song of Kala Bazar 1960

Song of Tere Ghar Ke Samne 1963

Song of Guide 1965

Song of Jewel Thief 1967

Song of Prem Pujari 1970

Song of Tere Mere Sapne1971

Suraiya - A Great Singing Star of the 1940s

 She was the heart-throb of the nation in the 40s and early 50s. In a career spanning over 20 years, Suraiya acted in about 65 films and sang close to 350 songs. She lived like a star all her life. She did not turn to playback singing past her prime age nor she switched to character roles. Her beauty coupled with melodious voice captivated the hearts of generations of movie and music lovers.
There was a time when traffic jams at Marine Drive (Mumbai) were caused not due to a long line of cars, but because of a young charismatic actress - Suraiya.
During the mid-forties, the two faces which dominated the film world with their music were Suraiya and Noor Jehan. 
Noorjehan left India after Partition so she became the Top Leading Singing Star of Bollywood.
She was born on 15 June 1929. She was the only child of her parents. She received basic training in music when her mother used to take her to a Hindustani music teacher or 'Masterji' for training. She first sang for a children's program for All India Radio in 1937. Later on, Naushad gave her on the job 'training', while recording. She went on to become one of the most successful singing film stars of Bollywood.  
She made her debut as a child artist in Madam Fashion in 1936 as Miss Suraiya, along with Nargis as Baby Rani. The film was directed by Jaddan Bai, mother of Nargis, with Jaddan Bai herself as heroin

,Her first song as a child-singer was "Boot karun main polish babu" (as a playback singer) in the film Nai Duniya (1942), composed by Naushad. Suraiya sang as a child playback singer for actress Mehtab in Sharda (1942), Kanoon (1943) and Sanjog (1943), with Naushad as the music director. 
As a child artist, she acted and also sang in Tamanna (1942), Station Master (1942), and Hamari Baat (1943). As an adult, Suraiya initially played as a heroine in K. Asif's Phool as Shama, with Prithviraj Kapoor as hero,and as a co-star in Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi (1946), (which was written by Aghajani Kashmeri, also known as Kashmiri) and Dard (1947).
She acted as a heroine in the film Tadbir (1945) on the recommendation of K. L. Saigal, who liked her voice during a rehearsal of a song for Jayant Desai's film Samrat Chandragupt (1945) in which she was acting. He recommended her to Desai, opposite himself in Tadbir (1945). She went on to co-star with K. L. Saigal in Omar Khayyam (1946) and Parwana (1947 film). Suraiya appeared in scores of films, including at least 25 between 1946 and 1950, and at her peak was one of Bollywood’s highest-paid stars. She worked only a few films after 1952 and retired in 1963 at the age of 34.
 Her swan song is supposed to be “Yeh kaisi ajab dastaan ho gayi hai” composed by Sajjad Husain for the film Rustom Sohrab (1963).
 Rustom Sohrab (1963) was her last film.
The film Anmol Ghadi was a major milestone in Suraiya’s career as she got to work with another mega singing star Noor Jehan in this film.The film was musical hit and still remembered for its music by Naushad.She played the second lead and had three solos to her credit.All the three songs became popular,the two songs Main dil mein and Mann leta hain angdaai are happy songs and the third song"Sochaa thaa kya, kyaa ho gayaa" was a sad song.

She played the leading role with almost every famous star of her time and also sang with the leading playback singers like Mohammad Rafi, Talat Mehmood and Mukesh
After her mother's death in 1987, Suraiya started feeling lonely in her rented apartment (owned by Aswin Shah) in Krishna Mahal, Marine Drive in Mumbai, where she lived from the early 1940s until her death in 2004 at the age of 74.

The first recorded song of Manna De and Child Suraiya

Song from Tamanna (1942)

Song from Tadbir (1945)

Song from Anmol Ghadi 1946

Song from Anmol Ghadi 1946

Song from Dard 1947

Song from Pyar Ki Jeet 1948

Song from Vidya 1948

Song from Dillagi 1949

Song from Mirza Ghalib (1954)

Song from Waris 1954

Song from Rustom Sohrab (1963).