THE MUSIC OF DIWANA (1967)

The huge box office success of ‘ SANGAM’ made Raj Kapoor a ‘hot’ property. Glowing in the success of SANGAM, Raj Kapoor signed three movies as a hero – viz. AROUND THE WORLD opposite Rajashree, SAPNO KA SAUDAGAR opposite newcomer Hema Malini and DIWANA opposite Saira Banu.

- H. S. Billimoria

DIWANA was launched with a great deal of fanfare. Anupam Chitra ( read N C Sippy ) was producing the film and Mahesh Kaul was the director. Veteran Lalita Pawar was to play a key role and Shankar Jaikishan were the music directors. The movie generated a lot of interest before release but proved to be a major flop. The reasons were varied. It was rumoured that the film took long in the making because of financial problems. Also, the plot of the film was hackneyed and stale. Again, the pairing of Raj Kapoor with Saira Banu was a disaster with Saira looking more like his daughter. In the ruins, one thing shone and that was the film’s music. Even prior to release, the music hit the charts and proved to be deeply moving. Shailendra and Hasrat’s lyrics also received acclaim. The music went on to be nominated for BEST MUSIC in the 1969 Filmfare awards since it was released only in 1969. DIWANA, however, lost out to BRAHMACHARI, another Shankar Jaikishan film starring Shammi Kapoor and Rajashree.