New Delhi: Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1994 critically acclaimed film 1942: A Love Story is returning to theatres on 21 August. The film is mastered in 8K with Dolby 5.1 sound, with Yogesh Ishwar Dhabuwala leading the high-quality restoration carried out by Prasad Film Labs.
Set in 1942, India is standing at the edge of independence, as more and more Indians start resisting the British Raj, Narendra Singh (Anil Kapoor) and Rajeshwari Pathak (Manisha Koirala) fall in love. Following a Romeo-Juliet-esque trope, the two come from opposite sides of the battle. With Narendra’s father, Diwan Hari Pratap, played by Manohar Singh, being a loyal British employee working under General Douglas, who hates revolutionaries and takes them down. On the other hand, Rajeshwari’s father, Raghuveer Pathak, played by Anupam Kher, is a revolutionary.
The film also stars Jackie Shroff, Danny Denzongpa, Pran, Sushma Seth, and Brian Glover.
Shroff shared the film’s return to theatres with an Instagram post.
“Three decades have gone by, but the warmth this film carries hasn’t changed,” the actor posted.
Chopra revealed Shroff’s vital role in the film’s development. The director said that the set needed many houses, but because they were on a tight budget, Shroff financed the building cost of those houses where his introduction scenes were shot.
“All the extra houses I rejected at first and then agreed to were paid for by Jackie Shroff. So, a part of the cost of the set was borne by him,” Chopra recalled.
Composed by RD Burman, who died before the film’s release, the songs are as haunting and everlasting as the story itself. Javed Akhtar provided the lyrics with vocals by Kumar Sanu and Kavita Krishnamurthy.
Chopra shared that there was no space in the budget to pay Burman’s fee, when Shroff once again stepped in.
“When RD Burman made us listen to the music of the film for the first time, I did not have money to give him. Jackie paid for that as well,” he recalled.
The film’s writer, Kamna Chandra, recalled a conversation where Chopra told him he only made dark films, but wanted to make a love story.
“After years of hardship and constant quarrels and bickering, I finished the script and dialogues,” he said.
But Chopra was initially unhappy about the time in which the film was set, since he did not wish to make a modern love story.
“I don’t want a love story set in today’s time. What if we take this story and set it in another era,” he recalled Vinod saying.
Chandra reworked the script in one night, adding that since he has personally witnessed the freedom struggle, that era came very naturally to him.
The film went on to win nine Filmfare Awards in 1995, including Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Music Director, Best Lyrics, and many others.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)