‘Your director is unknown, has not made any notable films, how can I trust him? Don’t lose me in the darkness of failure with his first film.’
The message reached Lawrence D’Souza, who started a battle within him that he now had to disprove.
It was not an ordinary actor who told this bitter truth but Aamir Khan, who took all these doubts and concerns to the ears of producer Sudhakar Bokade, who was preparing to make the film ‘Saajan‘ in 1991, directed by It was Lawrence D’Souza.
Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit were selected for the film. Both were appearing in a film for the first time, so the fans’ eagerness was at its peak. When Aamir Khan was approached for the lead role, he signed ‘Saajan’ also because his and Madhuri Dixit’s musical romantic film ‘Dil’ was a hit at the box office a year ago.
That’s why Aamir Khan was sure that ‘Saajan’ would take his career in a new direction in the presence of Madhuri Dixit. On the other hand, producer Siddha Karbokade was happy that he is going to make a great film with an amazing cast.
But Aamir Khan’s announcement a few weeks before the film’s shooting schedule that he was parting ways with ‘Saajan’, saying it was director Lawrence D’Souza’s debut and How can he risk his career by working with an inexperienced and novice director?
Director Lawrence D’Souza was heartbroken over Aamir Khan’s thoughts, but he was not one to give up. He was a creative minded cinematographer and stunt cameraman unlike other directors. In fact, the first opportunity to become a director was also given to him by producer Sudhakar Bokade in 1990 in ‘Nayay Anayay’. The film didn’t work but Sudhakar Bokade was impressed to see that Lawrence D’Souza worked very quickly. That is why he announced his name as the director for ‘Saajan’.
After Aamir Khan’s remarks, anyone else would have sacrificed the director of Hota To Kab, but Sidhakorbokade still cast his vote in favor of Lawrence D’Souza. One of the reasons for this was that Lawrence D’Souza was a director as well as a cinematographer and cameraman. These additional qualities help any producer save capital and time. He would mirror every scene with lightning speed. Then, because of his good manners, he had intimate meetings with several actors, which would have helped him get the desired dates.
Aamir Khan’s refusal led to urgent consideration of what to do now. The aspect was also highlighted that now there is an actor opposite Madhuri Dixit who has a hit chemistry with Madhuri Dixit like Aamir Khan. So, the idea of Sanjay Dutt, the hero of Madhuri Dixit’s ‘Thanidar’ came to mind. This was also the era when rumors of Madhuri Dixit and Sanjay Dutt’s romance were common. The producer believed that this aspect would also be important for the success of the film.
When the offer was placed before Sanjay Dutt, he immediately agreed instead of showing any signs of flattery. Sanjay Dutt, knowing that he had to appear in ‘Saajan’ with a toe handicap for the entire film, showed no hesitation but happily took the initiative to experience it.
Now those who say that Aamir Khan only made Lawrence D’Souza an excuse, his real fear was that if he failed as a beloved poet holding a stick, his career would be forever tarnished. But on the other hand, Sanjay Dutt took a risk just like his father Sunil Dutt did by playing the role of a disabled man in ‘Mulan’ at the time of his youth and popularity.
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Most moviegoers did not know that the story of ‘Saajan’ was actually inspired by the life of its writer Reema Rakesh Nath. Reema, who was going to appear as the heroine in the movie ‘Jawaani Deewani’ in the 70s, suddenly suffered a terrible car accident that left her legs broken. She received 11 stitches on her face and was bedridden for a year and a half. The grief and shock of becoming a star was such that he started writing stories and then he became famous. His role in the film was played by Sanjay Dutt with a slight modification.
Coming from a film background, Reema Rakeshnath was the daughter of DK Spuru. After her recovery, she continued to tour the studios in her passion for writing film stories, where she met and then married Rakesh Nath.
The same Rakesh Nath who was Madhuri Dixit’s secretary and who used his connections and excellent professional dealings to make Madhuri Dixit a superstar.
The composer of the romantic film ‘Saajan’ was initially Lakshmi Kant Pyaar Lal, but they began to do their own thing instead of the will of director Lawrence D’Souza, so they were removed and the music duo Nadeem Sharon was chosen, who at that time were was speaking
He recorded the first 11 songs written by Sameer and Faiz Anwar for the film and all of them turned out to be super hits. Whether in them, ‘My heart is crazy,’ ‘I love you very much,’ ‘I want to meet you’ or ‘Jeane toe jee kaise’. Just imagine the masterpieces that will be heard when the melodious heads of Kumar Sanu, SP Balasubramaniam, Pankaj Udas, Alka Yagang and Anuradha Podel meet in one film.
As usual, Lars D’Souza shot ‘Saajan’ at lightning speed in around 36 days, but he felt that the songs in the film were still missing something, so especially the title song ‘ Dekha Hai Pei Baar’ was produced after the completion of the film, which like other songs everyone was forced to hum. The popularity and popularity of the songs can be gauged from the fact that the audio cassette of ‘Saajan’ sold 7 million copies.
When director Lawrence D’Souza’s ‘Saajan’ hit the theaters on August 30, 1991, it was a box-office hit in every cinema.
According to Lawrence D’Souza, when he held a trial show for distributors, everyone was willing to buy ‘Sajan’ at a bargain price. The next year at the Filmfare Awards, ‘Saajan’ bagged the highest number of nominations with 11 after ‘Limhe’.
Lawrence D’Souza also received a nomination for Best Director, but only composer Nadeem Sharon and singer Kumar Sanu bagged the Filmfare Awards for the second time in a row.
A film and a director that Aamir Khan expressed disbelief about, remains a blockbuster musical even after three decades. A film whose song is heard, one can recognize from which film it is.
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