Mere Apne

Mere Apne is a 1971 Indian Hindi-language film written and directed by Gulzar produced by Romu, Raj and N. C. Sippy. It was Gulzar's first directorial venture and was almost a frame by frame remake of the National Award-winning Bengali film Apanjan,[2] which was directed by Tapan Sinha. This was first movie of Vinod Khanna as Hero. This was also debut movie of Danny.[3] The film stars Meena Kumari, Vinod Khanna and Shatrughan Sinha in lead roles along with Deven Verma, Paintal, Asit Sen, Asrani, Danny Denzongpa, Keshto Mukherjee, A. K. Hangal, Dinesh Thakur, Mehmood and Yogeeta Bali. The music is composed by Salil Choudhury.

Directed byGulzar
Produced by
Written by
  • Indra Mitra
  • Gulzar
Based onApanjan
by Tapan Sinha
Starring
Music bySalil Choudhury
CinematographyK Vaikunth
Edited by
  • Waman Bhosle
  • Gurudutt Shirali
Release date
  • 10 September 1971 (1971-09-10)
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Box office₹ 1.7 crore[1]

Mere Apne was declared as "Above Average" at the box office.[1]

Plot

Anandi Devi (Meena Kumari) is an old widow who lives in a village. One day, she is visited by a distant relative, Arun Gupta (Ramesh Deo), who persuades her to live in town with him, his wife Lata (Sumita Sanyal), and a small child. She later realizes that they were looking for a maid, which results in her expulsion from the house and befriending a child beggar who takes her to his dilapidated home. Being good-natured and caring, she slowly earns the title of "Nani Ma" (maternal grandmother) among groups of youths led by Shyam (Vinod Khanna) and Chhenu (Shatrughan Sinha), who were in a constant fight with each other. The movie ends with her death from accidental gunfire in one such response.

Cast

Production

After Apanjan, directed by Tapan Sinha, based on a story of Inder Mitra, was both a commercial and critical success, screenwriter Gulzar was called to Kolkata to translate the script for a Hindi remake. However, subsequently Sinha insisted on using the same cast, and dropped out of the film. Then, producer N. C. Sippy, who till then was assisting Bimal Roy and Hrishikesh Mukherjee and penned screenplays of Khamoshi (1969) and Anand (1971), made his directorial debut with the film. Gulzar bought the rights of the story, and rewrote the screenplay removing the portions he felt were too formulaic and commercial. [4][5]

Meena Kumari was roped in for the lead role of grandmother, she was ailing at the time, and worked through her bad health in the film. The shooting was completed in 40 days, and she died within a few months of its release. [5]

Soundtrack

All lyrics are written by Gulzar; all music is composed by Salil Choudhary.

Songs
No.TitlePlaybackLength
1."Haal Chal Theek Thak Hai"Kishore Kumar, Mukesh3:26
2."Koi Hota Jisko Apna"Kishore Kumar3:27
3."Roz Akeli Aayi"Lata Mangeshkar3:20
4."Ganga,Ganga Ki Bhari God Mein"Manna Dey3:08
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References
  1. "Box office 1971". Boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  2. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bengali/movies/news/remakes-of-bengali-films-whats-new-in-this-trend/articleshow/72241437.cms
  3. The essential guide to Bollywood
  4. Gulzar 2007, p. 5.
  5. Ghosh 2013, p. 57.

Bibliography
  • Ghosh, Avijit (2013). 40 RETAKES. Westland. ISBN 978-93-83260-31-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Gulzar (2007). Mere Apne (Hindi script). Rajkamal Prakashan Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-81-8361-137-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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