This is the 42nd year of Manmohan Desai’s multistarrer Desh Premee, which boasted an unmatchable cast comprising Amitabh Bachchan, Uttam Kumar, Hema Malini, Sharmila Tagore, Parveen Babi, Amjad Khan, Shammi Kapoor and Navin Nischol, with the likes of Premnath, Jeevan, Kader Khan, Parikshit Sahni and Prem Chopra in supporting roles. Rajesh Khanna attended the film’s ‘mahurat’ (back in the day, the mahurat day used to be as special as a film’s release day).

Desh Premee, which hit cinemas on April 23, 1982, is different from director Manmohan Desai’s usual lost-and-found formula films like Amar Akbar Anthony and Suhaag, and film historian Dilip Thakur has some interesting insights to share on Desh Premee’s unique trajectory.

“As the title suggests, Desh Premee is about one’s love for the nation. Of course, it was to have actors from all over the country with Amitabh Bachchan (in a double role), Uttam Kumar from Bengal, and Shivaji Ganesan from the South. Ganesan dropped out of the film due to some reason and the role of Puthu Anna went to Premnath,” says Thakur.

But this wasn’t the only change made in the film’s casting. Shatrughan Sinha was first considered to play the cop Ghulam Ali but he was too busy an actor at the time. Thakur adds, “Desai thought of Rishi Kapoor but soon decided against it, assuming he wouldn’t fit the look of a cop.”

Then Pran, known for playing a variety of roles with negative shades, was considered for the cop’s role. “Amitabh Bachchan suggested Parikshit Sahni’s name. It was a huge opportunity for Sahni but in the final cut the role turned out to be shorter than the actor would have expected,” adds Thakur.

Desh Premee reunited Parwana co-stars Amitabh Bachchan and Navin Nischol about a decade later. Thakur quips, “The role that Navin Nischol did was offered to Vinod Khanna, who rejected it. I remember, in an interview, Nischol said that he had agreed to do the film because of the big banner. He had previously said no to playing the younger brother to Amitabh Bachchan in Deewar, which was eventually played by Shashi Kapoor.” Deewar, directed by Yash Chopra and released in 1975, remains a classic of Hindi cinema.

Desh Premee was the fifth collaboration between Amitabh Bachchan and Manmohan Desai. Before that, they had worked on Parvarish (1977), Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Suhaag (1979) and Naseeb (1981). After Desh Premee, the actor and director duo got together for Coolie (1983), Mard (1985) and Ganga Jamuna Saraswati (1988).

The choice of actresses in Desh Premee is interesting too. Amitabh Bachchan plays the double role of a father and son. “Sharmila Tagore was paired with the father and Hema Malini was paired with the son. Interestingly, Sharmilaji is only four years older than Hemaji,” says Thakur.

“Even more interestingly, Parveen Babi, who played Amitabh’s heroine in many films, played his daughter in Desh Premee. Moushumi Chatterjee was approached first for this role but she couldn’t do the film because of her other film commitments,” says Thakur.

Desh Premee had its share of setbacks during the making, resulting in the film falling short of Manmohan Desai’s usual directorial standards. “It is interesting how the film was made. It got delayed. Two big artists involved in the film passed away. Meanwhile, Desai’s film Naseeb was released and became a super hit. But Desh Premee went haywire and turned out to be a flop when it was released. It is the only flop film of the Manmohan Desai-Amitabh Bachchan pair,” says Thakur, drawing attention to some of the other areas of production that were affected as well.

“If you notice, the background music of Suhaag and Amar Akbar Anthony has been used in Desh Premee. The dress donned by Hema Malini in the song Oh Bekhabar Bedardi is similar to the dress she wore in the Mere Naseeb Mein song from Naseeb. And because of Uttam Kumar’s demise, actor Sudhir Dalvi dubbed for his part.

“The Khatoon Ki Khidmat Mein song featuring Amitabh is an imitation of Mehmood’s Hum Kaale Hain Toh Kya Hua Dilwale Hain from Gumnaam. Music director Laxmikant of the Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo did the playback for Amitabh in Gore Nahin Hum Kaale Sahi. It is the only song sung by Laxmiji. Mohammed Rafi, who sang the title song, passed away too. The film is dedicated to Rafi saab because Manmohan Desai collaborated with him quite often,” adds Thakur.