Ek Duuje Ke Liye
| Ek Duuje Ke Liye | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | K. Balachander |
| Written by | K. Balachander (original story & screenplay) Inder Raj Anand (dialogues) |
| Based on | Maro Charitra (Telugu) |
| Produced by | L. V. Prasad |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | B. S. Lokanath |
| Edited by | N. R. Kittoo |
| Music by | Laxmikant–Pyarelal |
| Distributed by | Prasad Productions Pvt. Ltd |
Release date |
|
Running time | 163 minutes |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | 5 million |
| Box office | ₹100 million (US$1.3 million)[1] |
Ek Duuje Ke Liye (transl. Made For Each Other) is a 1981 Indian Hindi romantic tragedy film directed by K. Balachander, starring Kamal Haasan and Rati Agnihotri. It was a remake of the director's own Telugu film Maro Charitra (1978), which had Kamal Haasan playing the lead role. The film was labelled a "blockbuster" at the box office in 1981, earning a total of ₹100 million (US$1.3 million) in receipts.[1][2] The film featured lyrics penned by Anand Bakshi and music by Laxmikant–Pyarelal. It received critical acclaim upon release, winning a National Film Award, and received 13 nominations at the 29th Filmfare Awards, eventually winning three, including Best Lyricist (Anand Bakshi for "Tere Mere Beech Mein").[citation needed]
Plot[edit]
The movie is about the love between a Tamil man, Vasu (Kamal Haasan), and a North Indian woman, Sapna (Rati Agnihotri), who are neighbors in Goa. They come from totally different backgrounds and can hardly speak the other's language. When Vasu and Sapna admit their love, there is chaos in their homes as they face an unexpected test of their love.
The movie begins with an old, ruined building near the beautiful beach of Goa. The dilapidated walls of the building are covered with many names, but two names stand apart from the rest---Vasu and Sapna.
Vasu is a happy, carefree young man who belongs to a Tamil family. He resigns his job after his boss scolds him and he returns to his home in Goa. His orthodox Tamilian father is always at loggerheads with the Hindi-speaking neighbor family. The family has a beautiful daughter named Sapna, a college student.
While being followed on her way home by a creepy bookstore clerk (who'd earlier shown her a book of nude photos), Sapna sees Vasu jogging and starts a one-way conversation with him. Seeing this, the bookstore clerk retreats. Sapna thanks Vasu for pretending to be her friend, but he reveals that he doesn't understand Hindi. Vasu wants to make friends with her. He tries to meet her later pretending his motorcycle has broken down but he crashes and ends up in the hospital. Impressed, Sapna sends him a gift: a ceremonial mask with her name on it and asking his name.
Despite the nasty conflicts between their families, Vasu and Sapna fall deeply in love with each other. They get to know each other, experiencing the joy and innocence of first love. One day, however, Sapna misunderstands Vasu when he tries to kiss her and is offended and breaks up with him. Despite Vasu's efforts to make her understand his love, Sapna ignores him and remains angry. A week later, Sapna finds Vasu awake all night looking at her window hoping that she would forgive him. Heartbroken at seeing him like that, Sapna forgives him and signals him by turning her room light off and on repeatedly.
They meet the next day and Sapna expresses her love for Vasu by kissing his hand. The lovers unite and visit the beaches, forts, waterfalls and scenic places of Goa. While returning home late at night, Vasu's motorcycle runs out of petrol. They pose as a newly married couple and ask for a lift in a car. To their shock, Sapna's father is in the car and he takes her home immediately. Vasu and Sapna keep meeting each other and fall in love even more.
One day when Sapna returns from college after meeting Vasu, she finds the lewd bookstore clerk at her home. The man has secretly clicked pictures of her and Vasu together and shown them to her parents. Burning with rage, Sapna's mother forbids her from seeing Vasu and accompanies her everywhere. Heartbroken, Vasu makes a plan and stealthily meets Sapna during her college lunch break. They go to a hotel for lunch and Vasu pauses the elevator halfway to spend some time with Sapna. He sings a love song for her using his broken Hindi. This leads to an amused crowd at the hotel lift listening in. They are reprimanded by the guard as they exit.
Vasu and Sapna's families find out. In anger, they lock up Sapna at home and Vasu's father scolds him. Despite the opposition, Vasu boldly goes and meets Sapna in her home in the presence of her parents and expresses his love for her. Sapna's mother screams and claims that Vasu is ruining their family honor.
Finally, both the families meet and Vasu and Sapna affirm their love for each other. Their families agree to allow them to marry on one condition — that they separate from each other for one year without any contact or communication. Afterwards, if they still want to be together, they can get married. Vasu and Sapna reluctantly agree to the contract.
Vasu goes to Hyderabad for a job, while Sapna stays behind in Goa. During their year of separation, Vasu writes a letter every day to Sapna, in which he expresses his pain and love, but doesn't send it to her because of the contract. He learns to speak Hindi fluently from a young widow named Sandhya. To drown his pain of separation, he also learns classical dance from Sandhya.
On the other hand, Sapna visits all the places where she and Vasu used to go which brings back old memories. She also visits a rocky hill by the beach, where their names 'Vasu' and 'Sapna' are painted on the highest rock. In order to make Sapna forget Vasu, her mother destroys the cassette tape that he had given her. The mother also burns her only photo of Vasu which Sapna crumbles into her tea and drinks in defiance. In response, Sapna writes Vasu's name on every inch of her bedroom wall, making her family even more angry.
Sapna goes on a college trip to Mangalore, where her mother sends her cousin Chakram to spy on her. Chakram wants to marry Sapna, but she doesn't like him. Coincidentally, Vasu also comes to Mangalore due to a job assignment. He spots Sapna and follows her to her hotel room, but bumps into Chakram, who lies that he and Sapna are married. A shocked Vasu meets Sapna's college friends and asks about her, but they mistakenly say Chakram and Sapna are soon to be married.
Vasu is heartbroken and proposes to Sandhya, thinking that Sapna was unfaithful to him. Sandhya is surprised but accepts and fixes their wedding date. Later she finds in his room all the letters he wrote to Sapna, and discovers the truth. Sandhya goes to Goa and meets Sapna and learns that she is not married and is still waiting for Vasu. Seeing their true love, Sandhya sacrifices her love and decides to unite Vasu and Sapna.
She tells the truth to Vasu and cancels their wedding, urging him to go to his beloved Sapna as their one-year contract was completed. Sandhya's older brother hears that the wedding is cancelled and thinks that Vasu abandoned his sister. In a drunken, angry state, he phones his criminal friend in Goa and asks him to 'completely get rid' of Vasu.
When Vasu arrives back in Goa, and is about to meet Sapna in their favorite beach spot, Sandhya's older brother's criminal friend and a gang brutally beat up Vasu. Meanwhile Sapna is heading to the beach to meet Vasu. The lascivious bookstore clerk tries to attack her, Sapna tries to escape him and falls from the second floor. The bookstore clerk flees when he thinks she has died from the fall. Sapna and Vasu meet after the clerk and the goons flee. However, Vasu is badly injured. Distraught, feeling they can't live without each other, they join hands and leap off the cliff together, a symbol of doomed love.
Cast[edit]
- Kamal Haasan as S. Vasudevan 'Vasu'
- Rati Agnihotri as Sapna
- Madhavi as Sandhya
- Rakesh Bedi as Chakram
- Poornam Vishwanathan as Vasu's father (V. Sivaramakrishnan)
- Satyen Kappu as Jagannath
- Shubha Khote as Sapna's mother (Mrs. Kundanlal)
- Raza Murad as Danny
- Asrani as G. Haribabu
- Arvind Deshpande as Sapna's father (Kundanlal)
- Athili Lakshmi as Vasu's mother (Vandana)
- Sunil Thapa as Librarian
Production[edit]
The production team had earlier thought of titling it Ek Aur Itihas, but it went on to become Ek Duuje Ke Liye.[3]
Ek Duuje Ke Liye marked the debut of three actors from South India in Hindi films: leading lad Kamal Haasan, leading lady Rati Agnihotri and supporting heroine Madhavi. Three of them received Filmfare nominations. The only person who was missing in the Hindi remake who was in the original Telugu film Maro Charitra (1978) was leading lady Sarita, as her role was now played by Rati Agnihotri. Director K. Balachander, Kamal Haasan, Madhavi, and S.P. Balasubrahmanyam all repeated their artistry in the Hindi version.
Soundtrack[edit]
| Ek Duuje Ke Liye | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |||||||||||
| Released | 1981 | ||||||||||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||||||||||
| Length | 30:03 | ||||||||||
| Language | Hindi | ||||||||||
| Label | HMV/Saregama | ||||||||||
| Producer | Laxmikant–Pyarelal | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
The music was composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal and the lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi. It was the first Hindi film for South Indian singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam; the music directors were initially against including him, feeling that the "Madrasi" would not do justice to a Hindi composition, but Balachander cited that if the lead character played by Haasan could not speak Hindi well, then even if Balasubrahmanyam blemished the song, it would "capture the character."[4]
Two portions of "Tere Mere Beech Mein" were later sampled in the 2004 Britney Spears hit song "Toxic" as part of its hook.[5]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tere Mere Beech Mein" | Anand Bakshi | Lata Mangeshkar, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 5:19 |
| 2. | "Hum Tum Dono Jab Mil Jayen" | Anand Bakshi | Lata Mangeshkar, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 3:11 |
| 3. | "Mere Jeevan Saathi" | Anand Bakshi | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Anuradha Paudwal | 4:57 |
| 4. | "Hum Bane Tum Bane" | Anand Bakshi | Lata Mangeshkar, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 5:14 |
| 5. | "Tere Mere Beech Mein (Sad)" | Anand Bakshi | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 4:34 |
| 6. | "Solah Baras Ki Bali Umar" | Anand Bakshi | Lata Mangeshkar, Anup Jalota | 6:48 |
| Total length: | 30:03 | |||
Release[edit]
Ek Duuje Ke Liye was released on 5 June 1981. In 2015, Ek Duuje Ke Liye was screened at the Habitat Film Festival.[6]
Awards and nominations[edit]
- Won
- Best Lyricist – Anand Bakshi for "Tere Mere Beech Mein"
- Best Screenplay – K. Balachander
- Best Editing – N. R. Kitoo
- Nominated
- Best Film – L. V. Prasad
- Best Director – K. Balachander
- Best Actor – Kamal Haasan
- Best Actress – Rati Agnihotri
- Best Supporting Actress – Madhavi
- Best Comedian – Asrani
- Best Music Director – Laxmikant–Pyarelal
- Best Lyricist – Anand Bakshi for "Solah Baras Ki Bali Umar"
- Best Male Playback Singer – S. P. Balasubrahmanyam for "Tere Mere Beech Mein"
- Best Story – K. Balachander
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Box Office 1981". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 3 September 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
- ^ "'Vishwaroop' gets good response in Hindi belts". Times of India. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- ^ "Filmfare Jul 2017 Magazine Sridevi Shridevi Priyanka Rana Manisha Bharat Bhushan • $11.43".
- ^ K, Bhumika (10 August 2014). "'I know what I don't know'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ^ "Does Britney Spears 'Toxic' Owe Its Catchy Melody To A Bollywood Song?". UPROXX. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
- ^ "The 10th Habitat Film Festival 2015" (PDF). Habitat Film Club. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ^ Mishra, Lalatendu (25 September 2020). "S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, the versatile voice that conquered Bollywood". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
External links[edit]
- 1981 films
- Hindi-language films
- 1980s Hindi-language films
- Indian films
- Films directed by K. Balachander
- Hindi remakes of Telugu films
- Films scored by Laxmikant–Pyarelal
- Films set in Goa
- Indian romance films
- Films with screenplays by K. Balachander
- Films based on Romeo and Juliet
- Films shot in Goa
- 1980s romance films
- Hindi-language romance films