The Story Behind the Song "Dum Maro Dum"

This super hit song was once an anthem of the Indian young generation. To hear ‘Dum Maro Dum’ blaring over loudspeakers was a part of growing up in the 1970s. The job of composing music for ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ was first offered to Sachin Dev Burman but he hated hippie culture and turned down the offer. But his son R. D. Burman was of a different opinion and decide to grab this opportunity. After this song, R. D. Burman became the new mega-composer of Bollywood.
Actually ‘Dum Maro Dum’ was supposed to be a duet between Usha Uthup (singing for the bad girl) and Lata Mangeshkar (singing for the good girl). But at the end, they were both checked off the list and Asha Bhosle ended up singing the song solo.
The song topped the Binaca Geetmala annual list 1972. In Binaca Geetmala, a song could appear for a maximum of 18 weeks, after which it was called a Sartaj Geet. On 15 March 1972, Dum Maro Dum became a Sartaj Geet while it was at #1 payddan (position). It had remained at #1 position for 12 weeks.
Dev Anand wanted some peppy music before his song "Ram Ka Naam Badnam Na Karo" R D Burman sat with Anand Bakshi and asked him to give him few words before starting the song Ram Ka Naam Badnam No Karo. It was Anand Bakshi who used the old phrase Dum Maro Dum Mit Jaye Gum as Mukhda for this song, R D Burman immediately made a tune which was liked by all his musicians. So he asked Anand Bakshi to complete the full song on this tune.

The song came out to be marvellous, everybody was convinced that it will become a craze. In fact, Dev Anand was scared of this song, he was worried that this song will overshadow his song Ram Ka Naam Badnam Na Karo. RDB suggested to him that they will keep this song only on the disc. After a few days, Dev Saab decided to picturise this song on Zeenat Aman but kept a small version of this separately in the film.
The song presented the lyricist Anand Bakshi as a versatile lyricist and shaped his career. It also boosted the composer Rahul Dev Burman's career. Bhupinder played the guitar for the song. Charanjit Singh played the distinctive drone of the transichord that opens the song.
This song has been remixed and sampled by a number of artists. It has also been included in many compilations.British DJ, San-j Sanj has used the infectious guitar hook and created a dance track featuring Natty A called "So Real So Right". DJ Ritu and Bally Sagoo compiled the song for their collection The Rough Guide to Bollywood in 2002. In 2004, the hip-hop artist Method Man sampled the song in his third album Tical 0: The Prequel, for the track "What's Happenin'" featuring Busta Rhymes.
Here is the original song along with many cover  versions of this song

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Dum Maro Dum by Rowdy Brass Band "What Cheer

Method Man and Busta Rhymes, "What's Happenin'"

The Beatles of Bollywood

Naarghita - Dum maro dum

Robin and The New Revolution

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