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Dilip says, “Mr. India was the last released film of the screenwriter duo Salim-Javed.
The film was made much later after the writers had written it.
Salim-Javed had gone for the muhurat of Nastik, but the film’s hero Amitabh Bachchan did not come for muhurat. His voice message was played at the muhurat. It was a novelty back then. Salim-Javed got an idea and developed it into a story. This concept was already made in an English film and a similar concept was there in Mr. X in Bombay starring Kishore Kumar.
Salim-Javed gave this concept grandeur, glamour, and technology. Mr. India was an extraordinary film in terms of the use of technology when it was made. I think after Sholay, if any film made great use of technology, then it was Mr. India. Computer was new to us back then.”
He adds, “Rumour has it that Mr. India was written keeping Amitabh Bachchan in mind. But later Bachchan said that why would I do a film if I was not going to be seen in it? Apparently, Rajesh Khanna was also approached for the lead role but he allegedly didn’t want to do a film rejected by Amitabh Bachchan. Eventually, Anil Kapoor was cast as the hero.
Satish Kaushik who played Calendar was also an assistant in the direction department. Choreographer Ahmed Khan, actor Aftab Shivdasani were cast among the kids.
Kavita Krishnamurthy who sang Hawa Hawaai realized later that she sang a minor part wrongly. The song was supposed to be sang by another singer later but music directors Laxmikant Pyarelal later revealed that the song was picturized on the version sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy. During those times, the technology was not developed enough to replace certain words or tunes. It used to be a whole orchestration.
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Long ago, I.S. Johar had made a film titled Mr. India. There was no connection with that film except for the title. Mr. India was a big hit. Amrish Puri as Mogambo with his signature dialogue “Mogambo khush hua” became extremely popular.
Producer Boney Kapoor spent a lot on the making of the film. Vanity vans were not the norm during those days. But Boney arranged a vanity van for the film’s heroine Sridevi. It is Sridevi’s highest paid film.”