Deewaar


Deewaar is a 1975 Indian action crime drama film written by Salim-Javed, directed by Yash Chopra, and starring Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Nirupa Roy, Neetu Singh and Parveen Babi. Deewaar tells the story of a pair of impoverished brothers who, after their family is betrayed by the misplaced idealism of their father, struggle to survive in the slums of Bombay, and eventually find themselves on opposing sides of the law. The Deewaar of the title is the wall that has sprung up between the two brothers, drawn apart by fate and circumstances in a time of socio-political turmoil. Bachchan's character Vijay was loosely inspired by the real-life Bombay underworld gangster Haji Mastan.
Deewaar is often considered a ground-breaking cinematic masterpiece. The film had a significant impact on Indian cinema, as well as wider Indian society, with the film's anti-establishment themes and Bachchan's criminal anti-hero vigilante character resonating with audiences, cementing Bachchan's popular image as the "angry young man" of Bollywood cinema. It also established Parveen Babi as the "new Bollywood woman". The film also cemented the success of the writing duo Salim-Javed, who went on to write many more blockbuster films; the value of film writers skyrocketed thanks to Salim-Javed, who were paid as highly as leading actors at the time. Deewaars influence also extends to world cinema, influencing films from Hong Kong and British cinema.
Deewaar received the Filmfare Best Movie Award of 1975, in addition to six other Filmfare Awards. It was also a "super hit" at the box office, ranking as the fourth highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1975. Indiatimes ranks Deewaar amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.
Deewaar had an impact on Indian cinema as well as international cinema. It had several South Indian cinema remakes, including the Telugu remake Magaadu, the Tamil remake Thee, and the Malayalam film Nathi Muthal Nathi Vare. The Shaw Brothers Studio also produced a Hong Kong cinema remake, The Brothers, a film that later played a key role in the creation of Hong Kong's heroic bloodshed films, a genre that had a significant influence on 1980s Hong Kong action cinema and later 1990s Hollywood action films. Deewaar also had a Bollywood remake, , and inspired Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire.

Plot

The film opens with a depiction of the strong leadership of trade unionist Anand Verma, who works hard to enhance the lives of struggling labourers. He lives in a modest home with his wife, Sumitra Devi, and their two young sons, Vijay and Ravi. Anand, however, is blackmailed by a corrupt businessman who threatens to kill his family if Anand does not cease his protest activities. Forced into compliance, Anand is thus attacked by the very same labourers who then jeer him for his betrayal, unaware that he was blackmailed. His family is also persecuted by the angry workers. Out of shame, Anand leaves town, leaving Sumitra to care for their sons alone in poverty. Several of the angry workers kidnap Vijay and tattoo his arm with the Hindi words "मेरा बाप चोर है". Not knowing what else to do, Sumitra brings her children to Bombay and struggles as a day labourer to care for her now homeless sons.
Vijay, the older brother, grows up with an acute awareness of his father's failure and is victimised for his father's supposed misdeeds. In the process of fighting for his rights, Vijay, who starts out as a boot polisher, was a dockyard worker in his youth, now becomes a smuggler for the underworld. Vijay beats up several thugs working for their ruthless leader Samant, which then influences one of Samant's rivals to bring Vijay to his inner circle, leaving Vijay to become a new leading figure of the underworld. He also sacrifices his own education so his brother Ravi can study.
Ravi is an excellent student. He is dating Veera, the daughter of a senior police officer. On the Commissioner's suggestion, Ravi applies for employment with the police and is sent for training. Several months later, he is accepted by the police and has a rank of Sub-Inspector. When Ravi returns home, he finds that Vijay has become a businessman overnight, has accumulated wealth, and palatial home. One of his first assignments is to apprehend and arrest some of Bombay's hardcore criminals and smugglers which includes his brother, Vijay – much to his shock, as he had never associated his own brother with criminal activities. Ravi must now decide between apprehending Vijay and quitting the police force. Ravi, at first reluctant of arresting his brother is moved when he non-fatally shoots a boy who stole two rotis in an attempt to catch him. When Ravi goes to the boy's family giving them some food the mother berates Ravi while the boy's father sends her back to the room. The father justifies Ravi's action by saying that stealing of a 'lakh' or of food is same due to which Ravi agrees to taking the case.
When Ravi finds out that Vijay has acquired wealth by crime, he decides to move out along with his mother. Shouldering past the loss of his mother and sibling, Vijay enters a sexual relationship with Anita, a woman whom he meets at a bar. When Anita falls pregnant, Vijay decides to abandon his life in the underworld, marry her, and confess his sins. He also hopes to seek forgiveness from his mother and brother. However, when Anita is brutally murdered by Samant, Vijay murders Samant in revenge, leading him to be branded a criminal forever. Their mother, who had sided with Ravi despite the fact that Vijay was her favourite, is tormented by Vijay's decisions and rejects him. When the two brothers meet for a final clash, Ravi, pleading Vijay to stop running, shoots Vijay in his arm and Vijay dies in his mother's arms in a temple, seeking forgiveness. Ravi is felicitated for pursuing justice, though he is wracked with remorse for killing Vijay.

Cast

Story and screenplay

The film's screenplay, story and dialogues were written by Salim-Javed. The main inspiration for the film's plot was the 1961 Dilip Kumar film Gunga Jumna, which had a similar premise of two brothers on opposing sides of the law, with the elder criminal brother as the main character. Deewaar is thus considered to be a spiritual successor to Gunga Jumna. Salim-Javed credited Gunga Jumna as well as Mehboob Khan's Mother India as the main inspirations for Deewaar, which they described as a "more urban, much more contemporary" take on their themes; while Mother India and Gunga Jumna took place in a rural context, Salim-Javed reinterpreted their themes in a contemporary urban context with Deewaar.
Amitabh Bachchan's character, Vijay, was loosely inspired by the real-life Bombay underworld gangster Haji Mastan. Vijay's story arc in the film parallels that of Mastan's life, such as the rise from a humble dockyard coolie worker to a powerful smuggler, and Mastan's rivalry with smuggler Sukkur Narayan Bakhia is similar to Vijay's rivalry with Samant.
Salim-Javed's screenplay had dynamic dialogues, and incorporated a number of symbolic motifs. For example, the scene where the two brothers meet as adults takes place under a bridge, symbolising a bridge forming between the brothers. Set in the Dharavi slums of Bombay, the film's story of gangsters in Dharavi was a critique of socio-political inequality and injustice in Bombay. The characterisations of the two brothers are sociologically contextualised to represent a form of urban conflict and drama, aimed at presenting a causal explanation for the sequence of events and Vijay's social alienation, with the narrative explaining his every action and decision, grounded in his memories and experiences.
The script generally has an atmosphere of secularism, while incorporating subtle religious motifs. The mother Sumitra Devi and police brother Ravi are religious Hindus, whereas the criminal brother Vijay is generally not religious and "upset with God", yet he carries a badge numbered 786, which the Muslim Rahim Chacha points out to be a number of religious significance in Islam and has its own sub-plot. The 786 badge plays a powerful and symbolic role in several scenes, saving Vijay at key moments and signifying something ominous when he loses it.
Salim-Javed initially showed the script to Bachchan, who they had in mind for Vijay's role after having worked with him on Zanjeer. At the time Bachchan was working on another film with Yash Chopra, and told him about the script. After some initial scepticism, Chopra was eventually convinced to direct the film after Salim-Javed narrated the storyline to him.

Casting and filming

Bachchan's "angry young man" performance as Vijay in the film was inspired by Dilip Kumar's intense performance as Gunga in Gunga Jumna, which Bachchan sharpened and reinterpreted in a contemporary urban context reflecting the changing socio-political climate of 1970s India.
Producer Gulshan Rai initially wanted Rajesh Khanna to play Vijay's role. However, Salim-Javed "felt only he could do justice to Vijay's role." According to Akhtar, they "saw his talent, which most makers didn't. He was exceptional, a genius actor who was in films that weren't good." At Salim-Javed's insistence, Bachchan was cast in the role. Director Yash Chopra's first choices for Vijay and Ravi's roles were Rajesh Khanna and Navin Nischol, respectively, but Salim-Javed had Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha in mind when they wrote the script; Sinha turned down the film when he heard Khanna was initially cast in the lead, due to a fallout between the two. Nirupa Roy's role as Sumitra Devi was also first offered to Vyjayanthimala; Nischol and Vyjayanthimala turned down the film after they found out Khanna would no longer be in the film. Shashi Kapoor was subsequently cast as Ravi, and Nirupa Roy as Sumitra Devi.
In 2014, Bachchan revealed that his iconic look in the film – a "denim blue shirt worn with khakee pants and a rope dangling over the shoulder" – was the result of a mistake by the tailor. He said, "The knotted shirt and rope on shoulder in was an adjustment for an error in stitching, shirt too long so knotted it". In certain scenes, Bachchan had some input on Chopra's direction, such as the father's funeral scene where Bachchan, instead of lighting the pyre with his right hand, suggests to use his left hand to show off the tattoo, "Mera baap chor hai". The film was shot mostly at night because Bachchan was shooting for Ramesh Sippy's Sholay at that time.
The film contains a fight scene, which involves Bachchan performing martial arts sequences inspired by Hong Kong martial arts cinema, which Deewaar was one of the first to do in Indian cinema. Rather than following the Hollywood model, it follows the Hong Kong model, with an emphasis on acrobatics and stunts. The style of fighting seen in Deewaar combined kung fu with Indian martial arts.
The temple scene in Deewar 1975 was one of the most difficult scene which Amitabh Bachchan shot when he saw the script he told Javed Akthar that he won't be able to do it and everything was ready on sets by then Yash Chopra came on sets and told everyone to get ready for the scene Amitabh Bachchan told he won't be able to do it so Yash Chopra asked him to take some time Amitabh Bachchan went to his room at 11 am and stayed there till 10 pm in between he rehearsed himself in front of the mirror but nothing was working for him finally Yash Chopra came and told him that it's been a long time and they should shoot the scene Amitabh Bachchan went on the sets to complete the scene. When the film released it turned out to be the most iconic scene of Hindi films.

Soundtrack

The Soundtrack of the movie was composed by Rahul Dev Burman, and the lyrics were penned by Sahir Ludhianvi. The soundtrack did well, and the track "Kehdoon Tumhe" was a chartbuster.
SongSinger
"Kehdoon Tumhe, Ya Chup Rahun"Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle
"Maine Tujhe Maanga, Tujhe Paaya Hai"Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle
"Koi Mar Jaaye"Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar
"Deewaron Ka Jungle"Manna Dey
"Idhar Ka Mal Udhar"Bhupinder Singh
"I Am Falling in Love with a Stranger"Ursula Vaz

Box office

At the Indian box office, the film grossed . In Bombay alone, the film grossed.
In terms of footfalls, the film sold an estimated tickets at an average 1975 price of per ticket. Adjusted for inflation, this is equivalent to an estimated at an average 2017 price of per ticket.

DVD and Blu-ray release

Numerous DVD editions entered the market by companies like "Eros Entertainment", "Shemaroo Entertainment" and "Eagle Home Video". These were released as non-restored, non re-mastered editions and bare bones, void of supplementary features.
Eagle Home Video came out with a restored edition of this movie, preserving the original aspect ratio in 4:3 pillar box and a DTS Master Audio in 2.0. The restoration took place in Shemaroo studios.

Accolades

Awards

Rankings

Indiatimes ranks Deewaar amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films. It was one of the three Hindi films featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, the others being Mother India and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.

Legacy

Remakes

The film was later remade in Telugu as Magaadu, starring NTR with Rama Krishna, Manjula Vijayakumar, and Latha Sethupathi; in Tamil as Thee, starring Rajinikanth, Suman, Manorama, and Sripriya; and in Malayalam as Nathi Muthal Nathi Vare, starring Mammootty, in Turkish as Acıların Çocuğu
The Brothers, a 1979 Hong Kong film produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio, is a remake of this film. It is a mostly faithful remake, with many of the same scenes and dialogues, but set in Hong Kong and with notable differences reflecting Chinese culture. For example, the badge's number is changed from 786, a number with symbolic significance in Islam, to 838, which signifies the Chinese Year of the Horse. The film featured a number of notable Hong Kong action film stars, including Tony Liu, Danny Lee, and Ku Feng.
Another remake of Deewaar was the 1994 Bollywood film , starring Sanjay Dutt as the older criminal brother, Atul Agnihotri as the younger police brother, and Tanuja as the mother. Aatish had a story "straight out of Deewar" but added a twist, with the mother supporting the criminal brother.

India

The film had a significant impact on Indian cinema, as well as wider Indian society, especially during and after The Emergency period in the 1970s. It was perceived by audiences to be anti-establishment, while Amitabh Bachchan's character Vijay was seen as a vigilante anti-hero, establishing Bachchan's image as the "angry young man" of Indian cinema. With the unprecedented growth of slums across India at the time, Vijay was seen as a new kind of hero, with his suppressed rage giving a voice to the angst of the urban poor.
The film cemented the success of the writing duo Salim-Javed, who went on to write many more blockbuster films. After the success of this film, the value of film writers skyrocketed thanks to Salim-Javed, and they soon were being paid as highly as some actors at the time. Amitabh Bachchan described Salim-Javed's screenplay for Deewaar as "the perfect script" and "the best screenplay ever" in Indian cinema.
Deewaar, one of the first Indian films with an action sequence modelled after Hong Kong martial arts cinema, popularised the use of martial arts sequences in Bollywood films from the 1970s to the 1990s. The style of fighting popularised by Deewaar, with acrobatics and stunts, and combining Chinese kung fu with Indian pehlwani wrestling, became the standard model for Bollywood action scenes up until the 1990s.
The Bollywood film Naam was influenced by Deewaar. It was written by Salim Khan, one half of Deewaars writing duo Salim-Javed.
Deewaar is also remembered for its iconic dialogues written by Salim-Javed. The most famous is when Shashi Kapoor delivers the line, "Mere paas maa hai", a line that is widely known in India and has become part of Indian popular culture. The film Loins of Punjab Presents mocked how the line is sometimes wrongly attributed to Amitabh Bachchan.

Overseas

Deewaar had an influence on Hong Kong cinema and in turn Hollywood cinema, by playing a key role in the creation of the heroic bloodshed crime genre of 1980s Hong Kong action cinema. Deewaar, along with several later 1970s "angry young man" epics it inspired, such as Amar Akbar Anthony, had similarities to elements later seen in 1980s Hong Kong heroic bloodshed films. Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers studio remade Deewaar as The Brothers, which in turn inspired John Woo's internationally acclaimed breakthrough A Better Tomorrow. A Better Tomorrow set the template for heroic bloodshed films, a genre that went on to have a significant influence on Hong Kong films in the 1980s and later Hollywood movies in the 1990s, inspiring filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino along with John Woo's entry into Hollywood. The Brothers also starred a Hong Kong actor that would later be known for heroic bloodshed films, Danny Lee, with a police officer persona later seen in Hong Kong crime films such as Woo's The Killer.
British director Danny Boyle described Deewaar as being "absolutely key to Indian cinema" and cited the film as an influence on his Academy Award winning film Slumdog Millionaire. The film's co-director Loveleen Tandan noted that "Simon Beaufoy studied Salim-Javed's kind of cinema minutely." Actor Anil Kapoor noted that some scenes of Slumdog Millionaire "are like Deewaar, the story of two brothers of whom one is completely after money while the younger one is honest and not interested in money." Slumdog Millionaire, which pays homage to Amitabh Bachchan, has a similar narrative structure to Deewaar. Composer A. R. Rahman referenced the film in his Oscar acceptance speech.