Daag : A Poem of Love

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Super Star Rajesh Khanna's Daag - 1973

Introduction :

Daag: A Poem of Love is a 1973 Bollywood film produced and directed by Yash Chopra in his debut as a producer, which laid the foundation of Yash Raj Films. It is an adaptation of the novel The Mayor of Casterbridge.

The film stars Sharmila Tagore, Super Star Rajesh Khanna, Raakhee (who won her first Filmfare award), Madan Puri, Kader Khan, Prem Chopra and A.K. Hangal.

The film was made at the height of the Super Star Rajesh Khanna craze and became a "super hit" at the box office. The music by Laxmikant Pyarelal dominated the charts for the year. Film was later remade into the Telugu film Vichitra Jeevitham (1978) starring Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Vanisri, and Jayasudha.

Summary :

A young man, Sunil Kohli (Super Star Rajesh Khanna), falls for beautiful Sonia (Sharmila Tagore). Soon, they get married and leave for their honeymoon. On the way, owing to bad weather, they decide to spend a night at a bungalow owned by Sunil's boss. The boss's son, Dheeraj Kapoor (Prem Chopra), tries to rape Sonia when she is alone. But Sunil arrives in time, and a fight ensues, resulting in the death of Dheeraj. Sunil gets arrested and, later, sentenced to death by the court. But, on the way to prison, the police van carrying him meets with an accident. All occupants are killed. Years after, Sonia, working as a school teacher and bringing up Sunil's and her son single-handed, finds out that her husband is still alive. He is living with a new identity as Sudhir, and is married to a rich woman named Chandni (Raakhee). After escaping from the police van, Sunil met Chandni, whose lover had ditched her on learning of her pregnancy. Sunil married her to provide legitimacy to her child, in return for her help in establishing his new identity. Now, after so many years, the law is once again at his door step. This time, however, there is an added crime to his name—bigamy.

Star Cast :

Super Star Rajesh Khanna - Sunil Kohli
Sharmila Tagore - Sonia Kohli
Raakhee - Chandni
Prem Chopra - Dheeraj Kapoor
Baby Pinky - Pinky
Raju Shrestha(Master Raju)- Rinku
Manmohan Krishna - Deewan
Madan Puri - K. C. Khanna
Achala Sachdev - Mrs. Malti Khanna
Iftekhar - Inspector Singh
Hari Shivdasani - Jagdish Kapoor
Yashodra Katju - School Principal
Kader Khan - Prosecuting attorney
A. K. Hangal - Prosecuting Attorney / Judge
S. N. Banerjee - Judge
Karan Dewan - Doctor Kapoor
Surendra Nath - Sunil's uncle
Jagdish Raj - Ram Singh (driver)
Manmohan - Prisoner in van
Padma Khanna - Dancer
Habib - Smith removing Sunil's handcuffs.

Film Crew's :

Director & Producer - Yash Chopra
Story - Gulshan Nanda
Dialogue - Akhtar-Ul-Iman
Editor - Pran Mehra
Art Director - R. G. Gaekwad
Cinematographer - Kay Gee
Stunts - Ravi Khanna, M. B. Shetty
Choreographer - Suresh Bhatt
Lyricist - Sahir Ludhianvi
Music Director - Laxmikant Pyarelal
Playback Singers - Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar & Rajesh Khanna

Music Soundtracks :

The soundtrack includes the following tracks, composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal, and with lyrics by Sahir Ludhiyanvi

S.No. Song Title Singer (s)

1) "Mere Dil Mein Aaj Kya Hai" - By Kishore Kumar
2) "Ab Chahe Ma Roothe Yaa Baba" - By Kishore Kumar & Lata Mangeshkar
3) "Hum Aur Tum Tum Aur Hum" - By Kishore Kumar & Lata Mangeshkar
4) "Jab Bhi Jee Chahe" - By Lata Mangeshkar
5) "Main To Kuchh Bhi Nahin" - By Super Star Rajesh Khanna
6) "Ni Mein Yaar Manana Ni" - By Lata Mangeshkar
7) "Hawa Chale Kaise" - By Lata Mangeshkar

Awards & Nominations :

1) Filmfare Best Director Award - Yash Chopra
2) Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award - Raakhee
3) Filmfare Nomination for Best Actor - Super Star Rajesh Khanna
4) Filmfare Nomination for Best Music - Laxmikant Pyarelal
5) Filmfare Nomination for Best Male Playback Singer - Kishore Kumar
for the song "Mere Dil Mein Aaj"