Bobby (1973 film)

Bobby

Theatrical poster
Directed by Raj Kapoor
Produced by Raj Kapoor
Written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas
Jainendra Jain
V.P. Sathe
Starring Rishi Kapoor
Dimple Kapadia
Music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Cinematography Radhu Karmakar
Edited by Raj Kapoor
Production
company
R.K. Studios
Distributed by R.K. Films Ltd.
Release date
 28 September 1973 (1973-09-28)
Running time
 169 minutes
Country India
Language Hindi
Box office ₹31 crore (US$36 million)

Bobby is a 1973 Indian Hindi musical romance film, directed by Raj Kapoor and written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. It was the first leading role for Raj Kapoor's son, Rishi Kapoor, and the film debut for Dimple Kapadia.

The film became a blockbuster, the top-grossing Indian hit of 1973,[1] the second top-grossing hit of the 1970s at the Indian box office,[2] and one of the top 20 highest-grossing Indian films of all time (when adjusted for inflation).[3] It also became an overseas blockbuster in the Soviet Union, where it drew an audience of 62.6 million viewers,[4] making it one of the top 20 biggest box office hits of all time in the Soviet Union.[5][6]

The film became a trend-setter. It was wildly popular and widely imitated. It introduced to Bollywood the genre of teenage romance with a rich-vs-poor clash as a backdrop. Numerous films in the following years and decades were inspired by this plot. Indiatimes Movies ranks Bobby amongst the 'Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films'.[7]

Plot

The story is about the love between two Mumbai teenagers of different classes — Raj Nath (Rishi Kapoor), the son of a rich businessman Mr. Nath (played by Pran), and Bobby Braganza (Dimple Kapadia), the daughter of a poor Goan Christian fisherman Jack Braganza (played by Prem Nath).

The couple first sees each other during Raj's birthday party and meet when Raj goes to see his old governess, Mrs. Braganza. There, he sees her granddaughter Bobby, and it is love at first sight for him. Raj and Bobby go to see a movie but find out it is closed. Then Raj gets an idea to go to a party. At the party, Bobby sees Raj talking to another girl and thinks he is using her. As the story progresses, Raj realises that his relationship with the daughter of a poor fisherman is not taken kindly by his eccentric father. Upon Raj's insistence, Mr. Nath visits Jack to initiate talks of Raj and Bobby's wedding. But instead, Mr. Nath accuses Jack of using his daughter's beauty and charm to trap Raj for his money. He even offers Jack cash to have Bobby stop seeing Raj. Jack feels highly humiliated by this accusation and reciprocates by insulting Mr. Nath. Their talk enters a deadlock and spells doom for Raj and Bobby's tender love.

Mr. Nath engages Raj to a mentally challenged girl, Alka (Farida Jalal), to establish business ties with her rich father. But Raj runs away from home in order to unite with Bobby. They run away together. Mr. Nath advertises a reward for anyone who can help find his son. Prem Chopra (Prem Chopra) decides that he wants the money, and he and his goons kidnap Raj and Bobby. When they try to escape, Prem starts beating Raj. Mr. Nath and the police come to help, and they find Jack already there attempting to help Raj. Raj and Bobby run away from their fathers and jump over a waterfall. Mr. Nath and Jack jump into the water after them. Mr. Nath rescues Bobby, while Jack rescues Raj.

They realize that they love their children very much and don't want to stand in the way of their happiness. They accept each other's kids as their own and give their blessings to the union.

Cast

Production

In an interview in 2012, Rishi Kapoor stated, "There was a misconception that the film was made to launch me as an actor. The film was actually made to pay the debts of Mera Naam Joker. Dad wanted to make a teenage love story and he did not have money to cast Rajesh Khanna in the film".[8]

Filming

Some scenes were shot in Gulmarg. One scene was shot in a hut in Gulmarg, which became famous as the 'Bobby Hut'.[9][10] A few scenes towards the end of the movie were shot on Pune-Sholapur highway near Loni Kalbhor where Raj Kapoor owned a farm.

Soundtrack

Song Singer(s) Notes
"Ae Ae Ae Phansa" Lata Mangeshkar Picturized on Aruna Irani
"Ankhiyon Ko Rahne De" Lata Mangeshkar Based on the song "Ankhiyan nu rehen de" by Reshma
"Beshak Mandir Masjid" Narendra Chanchal

Lyrics by Raj Kavi Inderjeet Singh Tulsi
"Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Band Ho" Lata Mangeshkar and Shailender Singh
"Jhoot Bole Kauva Kate" Lata Mangeshkar and Shailender Singh Picturized on Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia in a village dance setting.
"Main Shayar To Nahin" Shailender Singh Picturised on Rishi Kapoor. The song was reused and picturised again on him in the 2004 film Hum Tum.
"Mujhe Kuchh Kahna Hai" Shailender Singh and Lata Mangeshkar
"Na Mangun Sona Chandi" Manna Dey and Shailender Singh

Box office

Worldwide gross
Territory Gross
India ₹11 crore[1] (US$14.21 million)[n 1] in 1973
₹574 crore (US$90 million)[12] in 2016
Soviet Union 15.65 million SUR[n 2] (US$21.44 million,[n 3] ₹19.24 crore)[n 4] in 1975
US$95 million (₹638 crore)[17] in 2016
Worldwide ₹30.24 crore (US$35.65 million) in 1975
₹1212 crore (US$184 million) in 2016

In India, Bobby was the highest-grossing film of 1973, earning ₹11 crore.[1] It was also the second highest-grossing film at the Indian box office in the 1970s, second only to Sholay (1975).[2] Adjusted for inflation, it grossed ₹398 crore in 2011 value,[13] equivalent to ₹574 crore (US$90 million) in 2016 value. As of 2011, it is one of the top 20 highest-grossing films of all time in India.[3]

Overseas, Bobby was very successful in the Soviet Union when it released there in 1975, due to Raj Kapoor's popularity in the country. Bobby drew a Soviet box office audience of 62.6 million viewers, making it the second best-selling film on the Soviet box office charts in 1975,[4] the most popular Indian film of the 1970s, the second biggest foreign hit of the decade,[5] the sixth biggest box office hit of the decade,[5][6] the second most-viewed Indian film of all time (after Raj Kapoor's Awaara), the sixth biggest foreign hit of all time,[5] and one of the top 20 biggest box office hits of all time.[5][6] The film's success launched Rishi Kapoor into an overnight movie star in the Soviet Union,[18] much like Awaara had done for his father Raj Kapoor.

Awards

Nominations

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 7.742 Indian rupees per US dollar in 1973[11]
  2. ↑ 62.6 million tickets sold,[4] average ticket price of 25 kopecks[14]
  3. ↑ 0.73 Soviet rubles per US dollar in 1975[15]
  4. ↑ 8.973 Indian rupees per US dollar in 1975[16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Box Office 1973". Boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-01.
  2. 1 2 "Top Earners 1970-1979". Boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 2011-06-01.
  3. 1 2 3 Top 50 Film of Last 50 Years, Box Office India, 3 November 2011
  4. 1 2 3 Indian Films in Soviet Cinemas: The Culture of Movie-going After Stalin, page 89, Indiana University Press, 2005
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Sergey Kudryavtsev. "Зарубежные фильмы в советском кинопрокате".
  6. 1 2 3 Sergey Kudryavtsev. "Отечественные фильмы в советском кинопрокате".
  7. ↑ Kanwar, Rachna (3 October 2005). "25 Must See Bollywood Movies". Indiatimes movies. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  8. ↑ "Proud of Ranbir's choice of roles: Rishi Kapoor - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". 15 September 2012.
  9. ↑ Shah Rukh Khan ek kamre mein band in Kashmir
  10. ↑ The Gulmarg Nostalgia-X (Bollywood in Gulmarg-II!)
  11. ↑ http://fx.sauder.ubc.ca/etc/USDpages.pdf#page=3
  12. ↑ ₹398 crore in 2011[13][3]
  13. 1 2 Worth Their Weight In Gold! (70's), Box Office India, 3 November 2011
  14. ↑ Moscow Prime Time: How the Soviet Union Built the Media Empire that Lost the Cultural Cold War, page 48, Cornell University Press, 2011
  15. ↑ Archive of Bank of Russia http://cbr.ru/currency_base/OldDataFiles/USD.xls
  16. ↑ https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/PublicationsView.aspx?id=15268
  17. ↑ 67.175856 INR per USD in 2016
  18. ↑ Moscow Prime Time: How the Soviet Union Built the Media Empire that Lost the Cultural Cold War, page 43, Cornell University Press, 2011
  19. ↑ 69th & 70th Annual Hero Honda BFJA Awards 2007 Archived 22 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  20. ↑ "1st Filmfare Awards 1953" (PDF). Deep750.googlepages.com. Retrieved 2011-06-01.
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