1973: A golden year

Showtime lists 10 big films from a landmark year for Hindi cinema

Raj Kapoor's 'Bobby'

Yash Chopra's 'Daag'

B R Chopra's 'Dhund'

Mani Kaul's 'Duvidha'

Nasir Hussain's 'Yaadon Ki Baaraat'

Prakash Mehra's 'Zanjeer'

Gulzar's 'Koshish'

In the 1970s, Hindi cinema was way different from what it is now. Movies had much more soul and therefore enjoyed more success. Music was a great magnet for pulling audiences into movie halls, the only place to watch a film, and great songs also drove them back for a repeat watch. Snacks were as affordable as movie tickets. And so the love the people bestowed on a value-for-money film was immense, though every theatre was not air-conditioned. Stars were exclusive and had an aura. All this led to a greater quantum of silver and golden jubilees (films running for 25 or 50 weeks).

One such year was 1973, that also saw Amitabh Bachchan wed Jaya Bhaduri, Rajesh Khanna marry Dimple Kapadia and Tanuja tie the knot with filmmaker Shomu Mukerji, all love marriages.

Here are 10 significant films of the year, listed alphabetically.

Aa Gale Lag Jaa

A love triangle (Shashi Kapoor-Sharmila Tagore-Shatrughan Sinha) directed by Manmohan Desai, it also was a compellingly sweet saga involving a polio-afflicted child. It was the first of three films (two later in 1974) that proved Shashi’s final gateway to big-time after 12 years of struggle.

Abhimaan

How ego can destroy love and home was depicted in this classic featuring Amitabh Bachchan as a pop singer with Jaya Bachchan playing his classically-trained singer-wife. Subtly, director Hrishikesh Mukherjee showed how musical training for a singer was vital. S D Burman’s excellent score was a major asset.

Achanak

Inspired both by a Czechoslovakian film and India’s infamous 1958 Nanavati case, ‘Achanak’ was scripted and directed by Gulzar. The film was ‘song-less’. Vinod Khanna played the pivotal role. It posed a vital question: Should a soldier decorated for killing hundreds of enemy soldiers be hanged for killing an unfaithful wife?

Bobby

It was the biggest hit of that year and inspired consumer products from stationery to toys and bags. Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia became sensations, and Raj Kapoor overcame his financial liabilities after two major flops. Raj also brought Lata Mangeshkar back to the RK fold after a decade of discord. The film saw him shift from Shankar-Jaikishan to Laxmikant-Pyarelal and introduce singers Shailendra Singh and Narendra Chanchal. The music then ranked among the top 10 soundtracks ever sold all over the world, as per a report in a daily and won India’s first-ever Gold Disc.

Daag

This marked the debut of Yash Chopra as a producer, and of Yash Raj Films. Rajesh Khanna, beleaguered then by an array of flops, came back into reckoning. Financier-distributor Gulshan Rai was skeptical about the film’s prospects and first released limited prints, but shows had to be tripled within a week. The casting coup of Sharmila Tagore and Raakhee, a socially-bold, unconventional climax, and hit music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal added to its success.

Dhund

B R Chopra was back in his element — suspense, directing yet another masterful thriller after ‘Kanoon’ and ‘Humraaz’ and his production, ‘Ittefaq’. ‘Dhund’ was Zeenat Aman’s first hit as leading lady and consolidated Danny Denzongpa as villain. Sanjay Khan and Navin Nischol were the heroes.

Duvidha

The only flop among the memorable movies of 1973, this ‘New Wave’ (as art films were termed then) film by Mani Kaul had an extremely limited release as it had no commercial elements. A powerful contemporary message on gender equality was given in this social drama, originally written in the 8th century by Rajasthani writer Vijaydan Detha. It won the National Award for Best Film.

Koshish

This time, director Gulzar (and common producers of Achanak—Romu N Sippy and Raj N Sippy) took inspiration from a Japanese film, ‘Happiness of Us Alone’. In a first, the lead actors, Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bachchan, both played deaf mutes. The heartwarming climax was a major highlight, underscoring the importance of a normal life for the physically-challenged.

Yaadon Ki Baraat

Salim-Javed wrote this lost-and-found film that was Nasir Husain’s first attempt at a musical crime drama. R D Burman’s music was a major draw. The cast was led by Dharmendra, as the eldest of three separated brothers. The film introduced actor Tariq, Padmini Kolhapure as a child singer and Aamir Khan as a child artiste. Neetu Singh got her first hit, though only in a song-dance cameo, enacting “Lekar hum deewana dil”.

Zanjeer

Director Prakash Mehra’s debut film as producer, this blockbuster was a mammoth trendsetter. The first film written independently by Salim-Javed, it saw the genesis of the Angry Young Man—the career breakthrough for Amitabh Bachchan. It also made his combination with the writers and the filmmaker a big hit, consolidated veteran Ajit as villain, and made male bonding (Amitabh with Pran) and the qawwali (“Yaari hai imaan mera”) song enduring future compulsions.