Chhaayaageet #170 - "I need this song to calm the audience."
After two successful films, the filmmaker has a third script ready. His films tend to be a bit on the darker side, heavy and violent. The third script is no different. However, he is not able to find a suitable hero for his film. Word travels around that a script is looking for a hero.
Another producer hears of this and puts in a call to the filmmaker, "Kyon bhai kya chal raha hai aaj kal?" So brother, what's going on these days?
"Kuch nahin. Script ready hai. Hero nahin mil raha hai", the filmmaker replies. Nothing much. I have a script. I can't find a hero.
"To mere bhai ko suna do", the producer suggests. Narrate it to my brother.
"Jaane do. Aap ka bhai bahot busy hai", the filmmaker is not quite thrilled with the suggestion. Leave it. Your brother is very busy.
"Ek baar suna to do", the producer persists. Just try once.
The narration happens. The brother likes the script very much and is keen to do it. But...
"Mere paas agle dedh do saal ke liye dates nahin hain", he shares with regret. I don't have dates for the next 1.5 to 2 years.
"Mein itna nahin wait kar sakta", the filmmaker is candid. I can't wait for that long.
The producer intervenes. He doesn't want his actor brother to lose the script. He turns to the filmmaker.
"Tum apni unit ko tayyar rakho. Be prepared. Iski koi bhi shooting cancel hoti hai to woh date tumhari. Woh kahin bhi ho 24 ghanto mein unit ko le kar wahan pahunch jao. Tum shooting kar lena", the producer comes up with an idea. You keep the unit ready. Be prepared. Anywhere his shoot gets cancelled, that date is yours. Reach wherever he is in 24 hours with your unit. Shoot your film.
The filmmaker wonders if this arrangement would even work. There will be times when the hero will need to come on set at their location. The unit cannot just go wherever he is on short notice. But perhaps they can give this a try. He has no other option.
A song is planned to be filmed. One day, the producer brother calls. The hero's shoot on some other film has been cancelled in Bombay. A few dates are available. This is easy. They are all in Bombay anyway. They shoot through the night schedule and shoot part of the song.
After a few days, the producer calls again. Another shoot has been cancelled. "Can you and your unit be in Bangalore?" It's a rhetorical question. A few dates are available. They are not going to let this moment go. The filmmaker and unit show up in Bangalore, and again shoot through a few nights, canning some more part of the song.
And so it goes. Again in Bombay. Then in Ooty. The filmmaker and unit make themselves available at the drop of a hat and show up wherever the hero is shooting some other film. The entire song is filmed over the course of 17 nights.
The film itself gets completed. But there is a problem. It is 5 hours long. Even after edits and cuts, it is still over 3 hours. The producer and distributor want to cut it down some more. They are not happy with the length of the film. They have a suggestion for the filmmaker.
"We think you should cut this song", they tell him.
The filmmaker puts his foot down. "This is a very heavy film. I need this song to calm the audience", he tells the distributors.
N Chandra wrote and directed the box office hit film Tezaab (1988), starring Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit in lead roles. The song So gaya yeh jahan is sung by Nitin Mukesh (playback for Chunky Panday), Alka Yagnik (playback for Madhuri Dixit), and Shabbir Kumar (playback for Anil Kapoor), music by Laxmikant Pyarelal and lyrics by Javed Akhtar. Boney Kapoor was instrumental in ensuring his brother Anil Kapoor got the role of Munna in Tezaab.
A funny situation arose during the shoot of the song. After the actors finished shooting one schedule at night, they went to a nearby hotel to grab something to eat. As it was late at night and they were very hungry, they did not remove their make-up which had blood on it. As soon as they entered the lobby, everyone panicked to see them covered in blood. The hotel staff came running to ask if they should call the doctor, and calmed down only after the situation was explained to them.
The guitar in the song is played by Sunil Kaushik, brother of actor and filmmaker Satish Kaushik. Sunil Kaushik is a veteran musician and guitarist who started playing for Laxmikant Pyarelal and then played for RD Burman. He has played the guitar in the song Chehra hai ya chaand khila hai in Saagar, Neele neele ambar par in Kalaakaar, among others. One day he got a call from the blue from Pyarelal ji asking him to come to the studio for a recording that day at 3pm. Sunil showed up, having no idea of what song was to be recorded and what pieces he had to play. Pyarelal ji just told him, "Tu sirf follow kar vocals ko guitar ke saath." You just follow the vocals with the guitar. And that's what Sunil did. After the song was recorded, the first thing Pyarelal ji did, even before he acknowledged the singers, was to hug Sunil, saying, "Bahot achcha bajaya." You played very well.
Tezaab was a blockbuster at the box office. The soundtrack became the second best-selling album of 1988, behind only Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. Even though the So gaya song features three singers, this song is carried by Nitin Mukesh and is said to have revived his career.
Music: Laxmikant Pyarelal
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Guitar: Sushil Kaushik
Singers: Nitin Mukesh, Alka Yagnik, Shabbir Kumar
*ing: Chunky Panday, Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor
Director: N Chandra
Film: Tezaab (1988)