Deewaar film poster / Wikipedia

Flashbacking to Yash Chopra's cult classic Deewaar which released on January 24, 1975, and gave a new direction to Amitabh Bachchan, and writers, Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar's careers, while Shashi Kapoor took home the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor

Can you imagine Dev Anand as Vijay and Rajesh Khanna as Ravi?

Yes, according to Bollywood lore, they were director Yash Chopra's first choices for the Varma brothers in Deewaar, who, separated by their life's choices, end up on opposite sides of the law. However, Raju wasn't interested in going underworld with Vijay and declined the offer. So, then, there was talk of Rajesh Khanna playing the smuggler since he was already signed up with producer Gulshan Rai for a film, and Navin Nischol stepping in as the cop brother. That's when the film's scriptwriters, Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, took a stand, stubbornly batting for Amitabh Bachchan. By then Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer, which they had also scripted, was nearing completion and they insisted its angry young inspector, Vijay Shrivastava, should play Vijay Varma in Deewaar too.

In an interview to Movie magazine in 1990, Rajesh Khanna confirmed that Salim- Javed had indeed refused to give the Deewaar script to Yash Chopra unless he opted for Amitabh Bachchan. However, the reigning superstar also acknowledged that after seeing just two reels of the film, he could understand why the writers had been so insistent on his Babumoshai from Anand for the role and his buddy from Namak Haraam for this film.

With Rajesh Khanna out of the picture, Navin Nischol also exited the project. Buzz is, he did not want to play a supporting role to Amitabh Bachchan who had been the antagonist in his Parwana. Eventually, the debonair Shashi Kapoor ended up as sub-inspector Ravi in Deewaar, a performance which fetched him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. He went on to become Bachchan's frequent collaborator, working with him in 14 films, including his directorial debut Ajooba.

Big B, as he came to be called later, lived up to the confidence the film's writers had placed in him. According to a Forbes India poll, Amitabh Bachchan's Vijay ranks among the 25 greatest acting performances in Indian cinema. In fact, 1975 turned out to be a landmark year for the actor with Deewaar and Sholay which gave him the adage of the 'Angry Young Man' while mentor, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, ensured that he was not typecast early in his career by casting him as a nerdy professor in his evergreen comedy Chupke Chupke and a brooding lover in Mili, both films releasing in the same year. 

While the actor acknowledges that 1975 was a turning point in his career, he gives full credit for his performance in Deewaar to Salim-Javed's "perfect script" and "the best screenplay ever" in Indian cinema. The writers took home Filmfare's Black Lady for Best Story, Best Screenplay and Best Dialogue.

The writers themselves admitted that their muse for the film was Dilip Kumar's 1961 Gunga Jumna, which has the actor playing a dacoit and his own younger brother, Nasir Khan, as a cop, leading up to a dramatic showdown between the two in the climax. In later years, the climax of Abbas-Mustan's Baazigar was heavily influenced by Deewaar with a fatally injured Shah Rukh Khan collapsing in his mother - Raakhee's arms, telling her that he was exhausted and wanted to sleep.

Another inspiration for Deewaar was Mehboob Khan's Mother India and Nargis' iconic character Radha. Consequently, the mother's role in Deewaar is central to the conflict between the brothers. The film has some unforgettable dialogues, but the best line is undoubtedly Ravi's answer to Vijay's query, "Aaj mere paas buildinge hai, property hai, bank balance hai, bangla hai, gaadi hai kya hai tumhare paas?" His quiet, "Mere paas maa hai" underlines the ideological differences between them that creates an insurmountable wall that is broken only by death.

Waheeda Rehman was first approached for the role of Sumitra Devi in late 1973. She promptly turned down the offer. It was understandable given that Shashi Kapoor was the same age as her and Amitabh Bachchan just four years younger. Yash Chopra did not insist because he had already cast her opposite Bachchan in Kabhi Kabhie and knew that if she played his mother in Deewaar, the audience might find it hard to accept her as his wife. Instead, he tried to persuade Vyjayanthimala Bali to come out of retirement, but failed.

Finally, the all-important role went to Nirupa Roy who, after Deewaar's success, played Bachchan's mother in several other films.

The mother's importance to the plot was mirrored in the film's promotions with Nirupa Roy prominently positioned between Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor in the posters, the two leading ladies, Parveen Babi and Neetu Singh, comparatively far smaller in size and in some posters even absent. However, despite this, Praveen Babi's character, Anita, like Waheeda Rehman's Rosie in Guide, was a path-breaking departure from the holier-than-thou Hindi film heroine of the time. 

Parveen Babi herself was a liberated, progressive woman with a more westernized way of dressing and lifestyle. She later admitted she was far more comfortable playing Anita than a naïve village belle or a wide-eyed babe. She didn't even mind the fact that she had no songs and dances; in fact, originally Deewaar was supposed to be a songless film.

However, producer Gulshan Rai wasn't happy going against the conventional musical trend and insisted on bringing in RD Burman and recording three songs, two romantic duets and one to be used in the background. During the post-production, re-recordist Mangesh Desai opined that despite the emotional intensity, the narrative felt a little heavy and dry and suggested adding a couple more songs to liven up the proceedings. While Salim-Javed were aghast and Yash Chopra sided with them, Rai seconded Desai's opinion.

However, Deewaar is not among RD's best scores and the only song that really caught on was Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar's "Keh doon tumhe, ya chup rahoon" filmed on Neetu Singh and Shashi Kapoor. Two songs that are there in the album are not there in the film.

Deewaar was a Republic Day release, opening on January 24. It was one of the biggest grossers of the year. The following year, it was remade in Telugu as Magaadu and again in 2001 as Railway Coolie. In the '80s, it spun a Tamil version, Thee, and a Malayalam version, Nathi Muthal Nathi Vare. Its Persian remake went by the title Koose-ye Jonoob while in Turkish it was titled Acıların Çocuğu. In Hong Kong it first inspired The Brothers in 1979, which was the muse for John Woo's A Better Tomorrow in 1986. The dubbed English version was titled I'll Die For Mama.