In our exclusive Box Office Nostalgia section, we revisit iconic hits and cult classics which have shaped cinema over the years. This week, we decode the number game behind one of Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit's biggest hits - Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!

Film: Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!

Release date: August 5, 1994

Star cast: Salman Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Mohnish Bahl, Renuka Shahane, Alok Nath, Reema Lagoo, Anupam Kher, Satish Shah and Himani Shivpuri among others.

Director: Sooraj Barjatya

Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! is unarguably amongst the most ambitious and a game changer film in Indian Cinema. And the film's stupendous success is testimony to its makers' daring courage of conviction. Amongst its many successes, a few notable highlights include changing the way cinema idioms are used, and suddenly, music is taking the film's story forward. The film also revolutionized the way music was recorded for a film. The unusual and innovative marketing and distribution strategy forced the distributors and exhibitors to renovate their theatres. And the film brought the Indians back to the cinema halls – globally - like never before. HAHK also made homely and decent cool once again. While doing all the above, the film also escaped the era's biggest menace – piracy!

Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! was released in cinemas on August 5, 1994, with only 26 prints, and it was stipulated it would be released in only one theatre per city. In Mumbai, the theatre was Liberty; in Delhi, it was Delite. Only those cinema halls across the country equipped with an 'optical stereo system' were allowed to play the film. Exhibitors could choose to upgrade or miss out on being able to screen the film.

Senior trade analyst Komal Nahta reminiscences, "After ages, somebody dared to release a film on limited screens. It started with 32 screens, and everyone said that it was a suicide mission and they would destroy themselves because piracy was at its peak. But Rajshri had faith in their vision. They asked the exhibitors to renovate their theatres, and only then would they give their films for exhibition. They told the theatre owners to create an atmosphere for people to enter the theatres. They had put on lights at Liberty Cinema that would go on when the 'Didi Tera Devar Deewana' song would play."

Liberty Cinema in Mumbai was decorated for the film's grand release and upgraded to become a high-end cinema hall with optical stereo sound to match the film. Film historian Dilip Thakur said, "Before Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!, Liberty used to screen B and C-grade films, and therefore, they needed to facelift the film to bring back the audience to the cinemas."

Director Sooraj Barjatya told Etimes, "We had the biggest premiere at Liberty Cinema. I was shocked because there was no reaction. People were walking out during songs. I was scared. Adi (Aditya Chopra) and Salim Sahab (Salim Khan) had told me that the two-and-a-half songs were my indulgences and that I should cut them. I cut those songs."

The film did not take a flying start, and the initial reaction was mixed. The film was too different from the rest of the fare. The musical format took a while for the public to adjust to, and in the first three weeks of the release, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun got tagged as Chaayageet, the popular music program on Doordarshan.

P S Ramanathan of Rajshri Productions said, "Till the first three weeks, the reception was shaky, and it was only after the 5th week the film's business picked up, and that's when we started releasing the film in mono cinemas also, and it reached about 582 cinemas."

Made on a budget of Rs 6 crore, the film earned around Rs 10 lakh on its opening day and the India Gross collection of the film stands at Rs 117 crore.

Nahta recalls going to the cinema to watch the film and his initial reaction: "After one or two weeks of the film's release, Rajshri Cinema was opened, and we had been invited to the opening. The cinema's manager came to pick us up. I asked him, "What has clicked in the film for the audience? Because people are calling it a wedding tape." He said, “Kaunsi shaadi mein Madhuri naachti hai? Iss mein Madhuri naachi na?"

The film's story moves through music, and the sound needs the highest quality. Until the advent of HAHK, composers recorded music in one sitting, with all musicians performing together. With the young Sooraj at the helm, the music recording method changed forever. Every instrument was recorded separately and mixed for the optical stereo system experience.

Film historian Dilip Thakur recalled, "The video piracy in the 80s almost ruined the business of cinema, and it was more of action films that were working, and family audiences had stopped going to the cinema, but with Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!, the family returned in a big way."

The world has opened up to the globalization of cinema and began with this film in a big way. While there was reluctance and most action films were working overseas, Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! changed the game, bringing the family audience back into the domestic market. It opened up an Indian diaspora to watch family films, and this film set the trend. They latched on to a movie about Indian traditions and values and celebrated weddings grandly.

Some of the inadvertent results of the film are that weddings in India became larger than life. Sooraj tells us that he wrote what he saw at home. Indian weddings were no longer just ordinary but became big celebrations, and wedding budgets shot up and reflected what one saw in Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!.

After Bobby, which was released in 1972, Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! popularized and was highly successful in attracting the audience to buy merchandise of the film from Madhuri Dixit saree to Tuffy to other accessories and clothes of Salman Khan and posters of the film, Mugs, etc. The film's merchandise is still sold online.

How does it feel to return to a production house after almost 47 years? A lot like home, says Sarika, who had led Rajshri Productions’ Geet Gaata Chal in 1975. Today, she is a part of Sooraj Barjatya’s Uunchai that stars Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta, Boman Irani, and Parineeti Chopra. 

“While I would be happy to do any project for Rajshri Productions as it completes a circle for me, Uunchai felt different from everything I have done before,” begins the actor.

The November 11 offering is centred on three sexagenarians who go on a trek to the Himalayas to fulfil the dying wish of their friend, essayed by Danny Denzongpa. Sarika plays Mala, who joins them on the expedition. “Mala doesn’t speak much in the movie. I was happy because I don’t like to deliver too many dialogues. That said, you have to work harder to make the character’s presence felt.”

She, however, was assured of her character’s impact as she was guided by an able director in Barjatya. “Sooraj ji makes it a point to connect with everybody — from actors to technicians — before the shoot begins every day. He’d come to the vanity van daily, and go through the scene with me. In the beginning, I used to wonder why he did so. On the fourth day, I realized that he did this to maintain my character’s emotional continuity.”

After Baar Baar Dekho (2016), the National Award-winning actor went missing from the big screen. It was a delight to see her in Modern Love: Mumbai earlier this year. Asked about the break, Sarika says, “If you are lucky to get a good director like Alankrita [Shrivastava] or Sooraj ji, then it’s a wonderful journey. I wasn’t getting good scripts. Right now, we have so many good actors, but good scripts are limited. I kept waiting for substantial roles. Since I am an adventurous person, I took a break in 2016, and took up backstage theatre production. I enjoyed it so much that I ended up doing it for five years.”

From playing key roles in hits such as Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020) and Panchayat, to having a popular web series inspired by her and her designer daughter’s life, Neena Gupta is enjoying a golden phase in her career. Is there anything more she could ask for? A Rajshri film, as it turns out. The senior actor admits that she aspired to work with Sooraj Barjatya since her early days, which is why Uunchai holds pride of place in her career.

“In my early days, I used to go to Rajshri Studios often to meet Sooraj’s managers. So, I was overwhelmed when I received a call from Rajshri Productions [after so many years],” says Gupta, who joins Amitabh Bachchan, Parineeti Chopra, Anupam Kher, Sarika and Boman Irani in the upcoming drama.

Uunchai, centred on friendship, was among the many films that couldn’t go on floors as scheduled due to the pandemic. “After the pandemic struck, I used to message [Barjatya] again and again, asking when we would start work on the film. It was worth the wait. Being in Barjatya’s world is a different experience. I am living my dream now,” she smiles.

The film was wrapped up earlier this year after an extensive schedule in Nepal. If the director’s soft-spoken nature and clarity of vision has impressed her, Gupta considers herself fortunate to work with Bachchan. “One can’t praise Mr Bachchan enough. Despite being a legend, the commitment he has towards his profession is a lesson for everyone. Work gives him happiness. We all used to just watch him on the set.”

Celebrity physiotherapist Dr Ali Irani and another person have been booked by Amboli police for allegedly cheating a film producer. Dr Irani and the other accused, Mehmood Ali, had allegedly assured producer Vijay Mulchandani of Rs 1.25 crore for his movie rights but did not hand over the money, and instead sold the rights to Rajshri Productions for Rs 15 lakh, the complainant claimed.

Both the accused, however, claimed that it was Mulchandani who did not fulfill the terms and conditions of their deal and was harassing them.

Mulchandani in the complaint said that he produced a film named #Yaaram, which was released in October 2019. He said he wanted the movie on OTT platforms as well and hence met Dr Irani and Ali, owner of Don Infotainment. A deal was worked out between the two parties and Don had allegedly offered Rs 1.25 crore for the rights of the movie. Accordingly, the movie was released on the OTT platform in March 2020. 

The producer claimed that the accused did not give him the money ever after the release and added that the accused had cited financial issues during lockdown when he checked with them. After a long wait, a meeting was set in January 2021. Mulchandani claimed a cheque dated February 19 was given to him but it bounced. He has claimed that he was given several cheques which have bounced since. In June 2021, after two cheques bounced, he learnt from the bank that the account holders had shut their account in March that year.  

Meanwhile, Rajshri Productions released a public notice asking if anybody had objection over the rights of #Yaaram. Mulchandani then got in touch with the company and learnt that Dr Irani and Ali had sold the movie rights for Rs 15 lakh. Following this, he lodged a complaint with the police.

Advocate Ali Kaashif Khan, for the accused, said “It is a plain contractual civil case where major liabilities and duties were not fulfilled by the complainant himself, yet certain payments were duly done to him by my clients. The complainant, in order to harass my clients, has filed several baseless proceedings in several courts including arbitration, cheque bounce, and now the present FIR. I am also in possession of an audio clip where the complainant is abusing and threatening my client.”

Ali said, “Mulchandani himself had approached us to release his film on our OTT platform, but he didn’t perform his own obligations as per agreements terms and is now crying foul to garner cheap publicity. He even misused the cheques given by me for security purposes.”

“I had not even signed any cheques. The complainant has misused the cheques given by my partner as security and deposited the same without permission. He only intends to extort money from us. We will prove our stance before the court of law and are already in the process of filing a defamation suit for damages,” said Dr Ali.

“We have registered an FIR against Dr Irani and Ali,” said an officer from Amboli police station. mid-day reached out to Mulchandani, but he refused to comment.

Nagpur: Music director Vijay Patil, popularly known as the Laxman of the Raam-Laxman duo, whose frisky tunes enlivened Dada Kondke’s Marathi superhits and the early Salman Khan blockbusters, passed away following a heart attack on Saturday. He was 78.

His chartbusters came in films such as Tarana, Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Patthar Ke Phool and Pandu Havaldar (Marathi).

Among those who mourned his demise on social media were the peerless Lata Mangeshkar and Bollywood star Salman Khan. Production house Rajshri, for whom the music director was a regular, also posted their condolences. “Rajshri will always remember him for his immense contribution to the music industry,” it tweeted.

Apart from Khan, Raam-Laxman’s music also boosted the early career of Mithun Chakraborty films such as Tarana and Hum Se Badhkar Kaun and gave a second wind to S P Balasubrahmanyam as Salman’s playback in late 1980s and early ’90s Bollywood.

The music of Raam-Laxman was based on the basics of orchestra and took the legacy of Laxmikant-Pyarelal forward. Melody, even in foot-tapping numbers, was a special feature of their music. Use of traditional Indian instruments along with the typical orchestra set-up made their songs popular.

Patil, born and brought up in Nagpur, started as a singer and instrumentalist in the city’s popular orchestra groups. Later, he shifted to Mumbai to become a music director. With his friend Surendra ‘Raam’ Kadam, Patil formed a team which was given the sobriquet ‘Raam-Laxman’ by Kondke. It was the well-known Marathi filmmaker-cum-actor who gave them their break in the film industry with ‘Pandu Havaldar’ in 1975.

Even after the death of Kadam, soon after the pair bagged its first Hindi film ‘Agent Vinod’, Patil continued to provide melodies to more than 75 Hindi, Marathi and Bhojpuri films as ‘Raam-Laxman’. Rajshri Productions’ songs in ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ (Filmfare award), ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’ (many awards) and ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ proved to be super-duper hits.

‘Lovleena aa gaya main’ from ‘Agent Vinod’ in 1977 and ‘Deva ho deva, Ganapati Deva’ from ‘Humse Badhkar Kaun’ in 1981 stand out in his oeuvre.

Patil composed several chartbusters during the 1980s and 1990s before the advent of Nadeem Shravan and Anu Malik.

Ten years ago, a brain stroke made it difficult for Patil to sing and compose. He shifted to Nagpur and lived with son Amar who too is into music.

Patil kept away from the media and lived a quiet life in the Untkhana area of the city.

Family members said Patil was not a Coronavirus patient and had taken both doses of the vaccine. On Friday night, he complained of chest pain. Before he could be shifted to a hospital, he got a severe cardiac arrest and died at home around 2 am.

People from Nagpur’s music industry were the first to pay tribute to Patil. “He was a dear friend. I will remember his association with Kader Orchestra. When we started a music academy, I had invited him to inaugurate it. Despite being unwell, he came,” said singer M A Kader.

Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar said, “Felt very sad hearing the news about talented and popular composer Raam Laxman ji (Vijay Patil). He was a nice person. Many songs composed by him and sung by me became very popular. My sincere tributes to him.”

In 2018, Raam-Laxman were bestowed the Lata Mangeshkar Puraskar.

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Modest, humble and well-spoken, Neil Nitin Mukesh has been roped in by Sooraj Barjatya to play a grey character in his forthcoming Salman Khan-starrer Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (PRDP), but in real life, Neil embodies the good old values of a quintessential Rajshri hero to the T. Excerpts from a chat...

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is your first film with Rajshri Productions. Going by their sensibilities, who among the cast was the most gharelu on set?
The director and captain of the ship, Soorajji, is the most gharelu. On the first day of my shoot, I just couldn't believe that this is the kind of atmosphere in a Sooraj Barjatya film. There's so much peace, no noise or no extra shouting around. In my career, right from a child actor to an assistant director and then a lead actor, I have done various films and gone through the rigmarole of working with directors who have been extremely temperamental. Coming from there and getting into a Barjatya film was a completely new experience. Initially, I was very confused, wondering if Soorajji was liking my work or not because he would never say anything. There was never a shout or a scream. He would just nod or smile. The smile would be there even if he was upset about work not going his way. I think what I learnt from him was the art of patience. Initially, I thought it was a lie, a façade, as it was too good to be true till I realised that actually we were the lies on his set because that's how his upbringing is. That's how his films reflect the values that are inculcated in him. Working with him has been a dream come true for me.

How was it playing a negative role in a Barjatya film?
Most of the characters that I have played are grey but not completely bad. Even Johnny (in Johnny Gaddaar) isn't bad. It's the situation that makes him do things. Soorajji approached me keeping that in mind. He judged me as an audience more than a director and that's when he offered me this role. My character in PRDP is a rebel with a cause. He's got a reason behind doing what he is doing. There is so much angst in him. He is the younger stepbrother (of Salman), who is rebellious. He's so layered. It's one of my most difficult characters as for roles like these, you have to make sure that your fellow onscreen characters hate you but your audience relates to you, understands you and falls in love with you. To strike that balance is the most difficult thing.

You were 12 years old when you saw Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994).
I was 12 and on our insistence, my mother bought us three tickets for HAHK in black for Rs 1,500, which was really unaffordable back then. My dad was travelling abroad for shows at that time. My mom was given a monthly expenditure (Iss mahine ka kharcha itna. Uss samay Rs 1,500 picture ke liye kharch karna bahut badi baat thi). She still bought those tickets to not disappoint us. On our way back home, she said to me in the taxi, 'I know you hope to become an actor, so I am hoping that one day you work with these guys (Rajshri). These are the kind of films you are supposed to be doing.'

Were you apprehensive that Rajshri's 'melodramatic family template' may seem dated for today's audience?
Not at all. In fact, I feel it's a major clutter breaker. Unfortunately in our cinema, if we have one hit film, people tend to follow that pattern for the next 10 films. Rajshri designs their pattern. Their cinema is their cinema. When you are entering their world, you are very aware of doing so. The risk you take is a very calculated risk as you know you want to be a part of their world. For me, their cinema is so pure that it will never be outdated. I tell this to everybody I meet. How much money does it cost to buy happiness? You can't. Maybe a guy having bhel puri on the road would be happier than me sitting in a restaurant having a seven-course meal. Similarly, happiness is something that all of us want and Soorajji's films teach you that. They open your eyes and show that there is more to life than just running behind something that might not make you happy. I've done a lot of thrillers in my life but I am the biggest sucker for love stories and family dramas. That is what Indian cinema has always revolved around.

You recently spoke about imitating Salman Khan on the set of PRDP. Did you try imitating the leading lady Sonam Kapoor as well?
I have worked with Sonam in Players before. This is our second film together. She has a lovely sense of humour, but you have to be careful sometimes. You have to know her mood and analyse her. When she is happy and you mimic around, she will take it sportingly, but otherwise you have to be careful.

Both you and Salman are close to your families. Was this a perfect amalgamation of people coming together in a film that propagates family values?
We are Indians. We are raised with great family values. Our culture is such and somewhere our films reflect that. However, films are also a medium that breaks the norms and transports you into a world or a space which is make-believe. It could be a genre like Johnny Gaddaar, so I might not be like the person I portray onscreen but films are art and at the end of the day, it's my bread and butter. I have to do it. PRDP is the first film that comes close to probably what my culture or upbringing really is.

In an ensemble cast (like PRDP), everyone must have a different style of working. How did you hit the right note?
Luckily for me, I started my career with an ensemble cast in Johnny Gaddaar, followed by Players and New York. So I have the experience. The best you can do is not get bothered about anybody. Irrespective of what people say to you. Just hear it and leave it. Do what you believe in because it's easier to advise than to follow and filmmaking is a craft where you don't shoot linear. It is non linear, so you are the only person who's actually keeping a tab on your character from start to end. There are many gyaanis, who share their gyaan. At the end of the day, you should know what you want to do with your character.