By Sanjeev Kumar Patro
Bhubaneswar: 48 years to the original Hera Pheri in the B-Town. Much before the Akshay Kumar – Suniel Shetty – Paresh Rawal laugh riot Hera Pheri, the tinsel town rolled on floor with the laughter bomb “hum do kale chor hain..” of the original Hera Pheri that was released today, ie. on October 01, 1976.
The mast masala film starred the legendary stars of bollywood – Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna – the number 1 star pair in late 70s and early 80s. Directed by Prakash Mehra, the film also starred Saira Banu, Sulakshana Pandit, Shreeram Lagoo and Asrani. The film's music was composed by Kalyanji Anandji and the lyrics were written by famed combo of Anjaan and Indeevar. The film achieved commercial success at the box office. Critics also lavished praise on Amitabh Bachchan and Vindo Khanna for slipping well into the comic scenes and delivering a comedy wonder.
The film was a craze then thanks to the bone ticking comic show by Big B and Vinod Khanna. The dialogue “hum do kale chor hain…” seems simply irresistible. But do you know the star cast itself had a “Hera Pheri”, and that made big news then?
'HERA PHERI' IN HERA PHERI!
The buzz in B-Town then was Prakash Mehra was keen to cast Feroz Khan and Amitabh Bachchan together. He offered the film to Feroz, but Feroz did not want to work on Sunday shifts. And Feroz refused. It’s then when Prakash sought out Vinod Khanna.
The Hera –Pheri in the star cast had been that when Feroz refused, Amitabh stepped into Feroz Khan's role and Vinod Khanna was signed for the role Amitabh was earlier signed for.
Moreover, when director Prakash Mehra asked Vinod Khanna to play the role of Ajay. Khanna said he would act in the film only if he was paid Rs 1 lakh more than Amitabh Bachchan’s signing amount. Mehra agreed. And Amitabh was signed for Rs 1.5 lakh and Vinod Khanna received a signed amount of Rs 2.5 lakh.
Also, the chartbuster song 'Mujhe Pyar Mein' was recorded in the voice of Sulakshna Pandit and was to be filmed on Mallika Sarabhai who was originally cast opposite Khanna in the film.
But the music company Polydor rejected Pandit's voice and insisted that the song should be recorded by a known singer. Kalyanji Anandji got the song recorded by Asha Bhosle. And with a turn of events Sarabhai was ousted from the film and Prakash Mehra signed singer Sulakshna Pandit in her place. The song 'Mujhe Pyar Mein', though, not released in Pandit's voice, but was picturised on her on screen.
