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Yash Chopra directed ‘Deewar’ completes 50 years of release – Photo: Amar Ujala
Fateh-Game Changer Collection Day 14: ‘Fateh’ is in bad condition, there is still hope for ‘Game Changer’, know the collection
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Yash Chopra directed ‘Deewar’ completes 50 years of release – Photo: Amar Ujala Archive, Mumbai
Story of atheist son of godly mother
‘Deewar’ is basically the story of a new form of ‘Mother India’ in cinema. It is the story of a woman who believes in God despite the disappearance of her husband, whose son is an atheist. Or we can say that this is the story of a spoiled son, whose girlfriend drinks alcohol with him, blows cigarette smoke rings and has no problem in having physical relations with her lover before marriage. This is a film of that era in which live-in marriage did not get social recognition and in which bringing father’s name in the middle to tease the sons was the first move of the opponents, and whose pain is felt from the films ‘Pushpa Part One’ to ‘Pushpa It seems to seep into ‘Part Two’ as well.
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Yash Chopra directed ‘Deewar’ completes 50 years of release – Photo: Amar Ujala Archive, Mumbai
That’s why a classic film was made ‘Wall’
Before discussing how the two characters of Parvani Babi and Nirupa Rai proved to be the turning point for female characters in Hindi cinema, let us give you a brief glimpse of the social and political changes of that period. It is very important for the students of cinema to understand that for a film to get the status of a timeless film, the most important thing is that its plot should give a social, economic and political reflection of the time of its making. Or say that in future, if anyone wants to see the society, relationships or terror of that time, then the related film can serve as a reference point for him. The film ‘Deewar’ also became a reference point for world cinema through Hong Kong. Not only were remakes of this film made in all the South Indian languages, it was immediately adopted by the countries of East Asia. The urban expansion given by Salim Javed in the film ‘Deewar’ of the Indian films ‘Mother India’ and ‘Ganga Jamna’ about two sons of the same mother standing on both sides of the law, became international with this.
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Yash Chopra directed ‘Deewar’ completes 50 years of release – Photo: Amar Ujala Archive, Mumbai
Mirror of interference in corporate unions
The shooting of the films ‘Deewar’ and ‘Sholay’ took place in the same period. Amitabh Bachchan would shoot Sholay during the day and ‘Deewar’ at night. When the shooting of ‘Sholay’ ended, the shooting of the film ‘Deewar’ and the film ‘Kabhi Kabhie’ started simultaneously. The film’s director Yash Chopra was afraid that Amitabh Bachchan might get into the roles of an angry young man and a poet, but it did not happen. Before talking about what could have happened in this film with Amitabh Bachchan, let us talk about the bigger problem going on in the country at that time. It was about to be thirty years of independence and the patriotic atmosphere created in the country after the India-China war and the India-Pakistan war was gradually losing its effect. The government was dominating the trade unions. Nationalization had become fashionable. Unemployment was at its peak. This was the time when the Congress government at the Center was selectively sending its opponents to jail. J.P. Narayan’s slogan of ‘Total Revolution’ and the first nationwide strike in Indian Railways gave a glimpse of the growing anger in the country. If you remember, the film ‘Deewar’ starts from where a trade union leader falls into the trap of the corporate. His friends make his life difficult. He hides his face and runs away. The son finds it written on his hand, ‘My father is a thief!’
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Yash Chopra directed ‘Deewar’ completes 50 years of release – Photo: Amar Ujala Archive, Mumbai
Message of badge number 786
This was the time of generational change of the country’s heritage. The nobles gave inheritance to their sons. Many leaders inherited corruption from their sons and those who were public leaders and had the courage to confront the tyrant, an attempt was made to tell their sons that their father is a thief. An entire generation was feeling angry that how did its previous generation become a thief? Anger was also growing within those powerful people of the society whose black businesses were being closed down one by one by the government. The fatherless child of ‘Deewar’ grows up and finds work in a lap. He carries goods there. This was the first famous stage of the life of Haji Mastan, the famous smuggler of that time in Mumbai. In the film ‘Deewar’, Vijay ends the dominance of Mumbai’s biggest smuggler Samant by going to his house. Haji Mastan had also done a similar thing by entering the house of Bakhiya, the most dreaded smuggler of that time. It is also said that this film was made for the branding of Haji Mastan. But, the similarity of the film with the life of Haji Mastan does not go beyond Godi and Bakhiya. Further in the film, there is mother, temple, brother, bridge and badge number 786 which Rahim uncle gives to Vijay. This is the biggest living proof of the social fabric of that time. No matter how much one blames Salim-Javed, the truth is that their cinema has contributed a lot in strengthening the secular fabric of India.