Flashback: Karan Johar celebrates 42 years of Dharma Productions’ debut film Dostana

Coincidentally, one of Karan Johar’s best friends Gauri Khan celebrated her birthday on the same day that his father’s first production Dostana turned 42. So it was a double celebration for Karan on October 8.

Making Dostana was not an easy task for Yash Johar. After serving as a production controller  with producer Sashadhar Mukherjee, Sunil Dutt and Dev Anand, Dostana was Yash Johar’s first production and he had signed three of the biggest stars of those times- Zeenat Aman, Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha.

There was friction between Sinha and Bachchan from day 1. Yash Johar was a past-master at managing star-egos. But this became too much to handle. Shatrughan Sinha would come  constantly late every day for shooting, while Amitabh Bachchan would reach punctually on the dot each morning. The two superstars had issues over their scenes together, over the way the dialogues were divided in the dramatic duels between the duo. Director Raj Khosla, whose last hit was this film, was at his wit’s end.

Karan Johar, who was all of 8 when Dostana, was being shot, remembers his father dealing with all the complicated issues. He remembers a shooting spell in Ooty with Amitabh  Bachchan, Zeenat Aman and Shatrughan Sinha. Mr Bachchan was shooting simultaneously  for Dostana and Do Aur Do Paanch. Karan also remembers Shabana Azmi shooting for Thodisi Bewafai in Ooty while his father’s Dostana was being shot there.

And today, that 8-year old boy is directing Shabana in Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani!

At 8, in Ooty, during the shooting of Dostana, Karan Johar understood the concept of playback singing for the first time. The song being shot was Kitna Asan Hai Kehna Bhool Jao. It was meant to be recorded in the divine voice of Lataji. But Karan heard Zeenat singing the song in a male voice.

He was shocked. Karan had no idea about playback singing. “As an 8-year old, I was flummoxed. Why was Zeenat aunty singing in a male voice? It freaked me out. Director Raj Khosla ji sat me down and explained to me patiently what playback singing was, and that the male voice was that of composer Laxmikant (Laxmikant-Pyarelal, the music composers of Dostana).”

Laxmikant was filling in since Lataji was out of the country doing a concert. So the song was filmed on Zeenat with a male voice doing her playback. This was not an uncommon practice with Lataji in her heydays since she was enormously busy.

Another of her chartbusters Naina barse rimjhim rimjhim in the film Woh Kaun Thi, again directed by Raj Khosla, was shot on another hill station, Shimla, with composer Madan Mohan singing for actress Sadhana in Lataji’s absence.

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

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