BY
Tanveer Zaidi (Actor- Author- Educationist)
Amitabh Bachchan is indeed one of the biggest superstars, Indian Cinema has witnessed.
However, it was the writer duo Salim Javed who turned Big B into the Angry Young Man of the Indian Cinema.
One of the biggest blockbusters delivered by the trio was Deewaar which was released on January 24, 1975!
Helmed by Yash Chopra, it was the third highest-grossing of the year 1975 at the box office after Sholay and Jai Santoshi Maa, both of which were released on August 15, 1975, resulting in one of the biggest clashes of Indian Cinema.
Deewaar Box Office 1975
The film was mounted on a budget of almost 1.3 crore, and it earned 4.75 crore in India, making a huge profit of 3.45 crore and churning out a 265.38% return on investment.
While the film is one of the brightest achievements of Amitabh Bachchan and Yash Chopra’s careers, it also changed Salim-Javed’s fate.
As per IMDb’s trivia page of the film, Salim Javed was paid 3 lakh for the the film. They were probably the highest-paid in the film, getting paid more than Amitabh Bachchan, who used to charge 1 – 1.5 lakh in those days. Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar were paid 2% of the entire budget for the film!
Salim-Javed, in those days, was the biggest superstar in a film, turning every script written by them into a box office dynamite. Deewaar earned 150 times more than Salim Javed’s remuneration, making it one of the most successful Salim Javed films after Sholay!
Deewaar’s Successful Run
The blockbuster ran for almost 2 years in the theaters. It was one of the earliest films to cross the 1 crore mark in Mumbai itself. The film sold 31 million tickets, which is a record it still holds.
It is not uncommon for actors and actresses to arrive late for film shoots, but as late as two days is a bit much.
But it had happened, and it was Govinda who went to one of his shoots two days later. Eminent ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar once shared the story in an interview. Keep scrolling for more.
The Partner actor has often landed in hot waters, from slapping a struggling actor to saying that he rejected James Cameron’s Avatar. Govinda has had his share of controversies over the years.
The actor was one of the most popular leading actors in the 90s, known for his slapstick performances and dancing skills. He has worked with renowned actors, including Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth.
In an interview with Cyrus Broacha, Prahlad Kakkar revealed that Govinda once arrived for one of his shoots 48 hours later.
Kakkar was talking about his experience of working with film stars. He recalled, “They were all okay. Govinda came 24 hours late to the set…”
Kakkar continued, “We were on a big set in Hyderabad, of all the places. And he was supposed to come from Srinagar. He said, ‘Don’t worry, main time pe aa jaunga.’
I said, ‘Kaise ayega tu? Tera flight nahi hai.’ He said, ‘Gaadi mein baith ke Lunga na.’” The actor also said, “From Srinagar to Hyderabad in eight hours, according to him. But anyway, he turned up two days late. But he turned up.”
In MenXp’s report, it was also mentioned that veteran action director Ravi Dewan revealed that Govinda once made Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth wait for five days during the filming of Hum.
It was released in 1991 and was a commercially successful movie with an ensemble cast of Kimi Katkar, Deepa Sahi, Shilpa Shirodkar, Danny Denzongpa, Anupam Kher, and Kader Khan alongside the three main lead actors.
