Yash Chopra’s Kabhi Kabhie was released on the 27th February 1976. A film that still lingers as one of the most refreshing performances of the angry young man- Amitabh Bachchan who was riding high those days after a string of successes.
Produced and directed by Yash Chopra, Kabhi Kabhie also had Shashi Kapoor, Rakhee, Simi Garewal, Waheeda Rehman, Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh. This was Yash Chopra’s 2nd movie as a director with Shashi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan as leads after the mega success of Deewaar (1975).
Kabhi Kabhie was an idea developed by Yash’s wife Pamela Chopra while reading the great Sahir Ludhianvi’s book ‘Kabhi- Kabhie’ which also had quite a few lines narrated by Amitabh Bachchan in the film. Kabhi Kabhie was a matured effort deftly handled by Yash with heady lyrics, lilting music, pithy dialogues and a theme that explores myriad aspects of romance, both young and mature.
Studded with a huge starcast, Kabhi Kabhie was written by Sagar Sarhadi which takes you to a whole new world of romances with excellent performances by everyone. Lines where Amitabh says, “Humein koi haq nahin pahunchta ke hum apni khushi ke liye apne maa-baap ke armanon ka gala ghont de” or “Daag maine daaman par nahin dil pe liya hai, aur yeh sab karne ke liye bade himmat aur hounsle ki zaroorat hai” or my favorite line when Amit and Pooja meet- “Kabhi rastey mein mil jaao toh takraake guzar jaana, humey aiyse taknaa jaise pehchaana nahin tumne, humaara zikr jab bhi kahin aaye toh yun anjaan ban jaana ki jaise naam sunkar bhi humey jaana nahin tumne” – who can forget?
Khaiyyam’s music and Sahir’s lyrics take you on a poetic journey with gems like- Kabhi Kabhie mere dil mein, Main pal do pal ka shaayar hoon, Main har ek pal ka, Pyaar kar liya toh kya, Tere Chehre Se, Mere ghar aayi ek nanhi pari, Tera chandi jaisa rang, Surkh jode ki…
Kabhi Kabhie is a tribute to Sahir and his poetry. It’s one of the finest works or may be Yash Chopra’s best work to date. Have a look incase you haven’t as Kabhi Kabhie gives me goose flesh even today when I watch it on DVD.
More on Kabhi Kabhie – Interesting Facts
- For luck just before the release of the film Yash Chopra added another ‘E’ to the title of Kabhi- Kabhie
- The combination of Amitabh-Shashi Kapoor -Yash Chopra did five films in a row — Deewaar, Kabhi Kabhie, Trishul, Kaala Patthar and Silsila
- Parveen Babi was the first choice of Yash Chopra for the role opposite Rishi Kapoor which eventually went to Neetu Singh resulting in both falling in love during the making of the film
- Gulshan Rai was to produce Kabhi Kabhie but refused saying that it would never run but the film went on to break all box-office records
- The film had been written with Raakhee in mind, and she had agreed to do it during the making of Daag (1973), but before production started she married Gulzar, who wanted her to retire from acting. Later Yash Chopra persuaded Gulzar to let her do the film
- It was during the shooting of the film in Kashmir that Yash Chopra first noticed his 5 year-old son Aditya Chopra getting inquisitive about film making
- Looking at the popularity of the song- Kabhi-Kabhie mere dil…many music directors composed the song in their own way. The qawwali version of the song became very famous