In focus: And the chand sa roshan chehra peeked out from the rain clouds after three weeks
Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 17, 2014)

Half a century has passed since Shakti Samanta's 1964 Shammi Kapoor-Sharmila Tagore starrer, Kashmir Ki Kali, opened at the box-office but even today, Yeh chand sa roshan chehra, Deewana hua badal, Isharon isharon mein, Kisina kisi se, Subhan allah, Meri jaan balle balle get feet tapping and fingers snapping. Today, it is impossible to recall the film without remembering these immortal compositions by O P Nayyar. But Samanta's son, Ashim, reveals that O P was not the first choice for the film.

"Dad had worked with O P Nayyar earlier but the combination of Shammi Kapoor and Shankar-Jaikishen was a recipe for success then. However, destiny had some other plan for his Kashmir Ki Kali. One day O P ji called and invited dad over to listen to some of the beautiful songs he had in stock. And dad was floored!" says Ashim.

That very evening he selected 12-15 songs and on reaching home called his hero to inform him about the development. Shammi wasn't impressed. He reminded his producer-director that they had already decided on Shankar-Jaikishen. However, on Samanta's insistence he agreed to listen to the tunes.

And once he did, even he was hooked. And that day the actor went home humming Tareef karoon kya uski jisne tumhe banaya.

Samanta in an earlier interview had admitted that even though the heroines of the time were real beauties, for this film he needed a really young and delicate girl. Sharmila caught his eye as the young bride of Apu in Satyajit Ray's Bengali film Apur Sansar. "She had no ego about being a Ray discovery and though she didn't look like a Kashmiri girl, I felt she would suit the role and approached her," he had revealed, adding that Sharmila was initially unsure whether she'd be able to convincingly pull off a Hindi film. But Samanta assured her that language wouldn't be a problem.

She was a 14-year-old schoolgirl when she made her debut in Bengali cinema. She was still a teenager when she did her first Hindi film. But coming from a progressive family she was self assured and didn't hesitate to romance Shammi Kapoor, a top star of the time, on camera.

Ashim, who was around 10 at the time and in Kashmir when the film was shot, remembers that it had rained non-stop for three weeks while his dad and his crew of 140 members waited patiently for the sun to come out from behind the clouds. He remembers Sharmila using this break to rehearse all her songs with the dancers. "I could hear her rehearsing for hours in the houseboat behind the one we stayed," says Ashim.

Shammi wasn't a part of the rehearsals. He was a natural dancer and could shimmy through any song with elan. "He never worked with any dance director but since he was an old friend, I let him choreograph the songs the way he wanted and the result was Yeh jheel si neeli aankhen and Isharon isharon mein," Samanta had revealed.

Twenty-one days later, when the sun finally came out, there was sunlight from 7 am to 7 pm and Samanta worked for 12 hours a day and wrapped up the shoot on time. "Yeh chand sa roshan chehra was picturised in just four days. Even today, with all the technology at our disposal, it would take at least eight days to shoot a song like that. Sharmilaji's diligence, Shammi uncle's flair for song and dance and dad's genius paid off," says Ashim.

He is restoring the film's prints, along with other classics from his father's repertoire for TV telecasts. Ask him on whether the film can be remade and Ashim says that would be possible only if either Ranbir Kapoor or Salman Khan played Shammi Kapoor's role. He adds, "For Sharmila's part, we would have to cast a newcomer. You can't sign an established star to play a kali (bud), can you!"