Watching Deewaar on the big screen with Javed Akhtar in the audience: Of jokes, surprises and an endless standing ovation

When Anand babu lies in the hospital, bandaged and bruised, a doctor enters the ward and consoles his worried wife, Nirupa Roy. “Fikar mat kijiye, sab theek ho jayega (Don’t worry, it will be alright),” the doctor assures. But the voice at the back, loud enough for at least three rows to hear and burst into laughter, asked in mock disbelief, “Arey, kyu bhai?!”

The voice was Javed Akhtar’s— one half of the iconic Salim-Javed duo, the mavericks behind the 1975 blockbuster Deewaar.

Javed Akhtar during the special screening of Deewaar.

As part of Film Heritage Foundation’s four-day film festival titled Bachchan Back To The Beginning, celebrating Amitabh Bachchan’s 80th birthday, several classics of the megastar played on the big screen. On its penultimate day, the screening of Deewaar saw Javed Akhtar and actor-wife Shabana Azmi in attendance.

Before the movie began, audiences across generations approached Javed Akhtar. Some sat next to him, some perched near his feet; some clicked awkward selfies while others politely asked his autographs for their parents. When the film finally began, everyone in the auditorium knew they were not just revisiting an iconic film but were also part of a surreal moment. There was a story being played on the big screen, and there were stories of the experience itself, brewing in everyone’s head.

What I wasn’t prepared for, was to have Javed and Shabana seated right behind me. That meant an enviable spot in the auditorium which had access to eavesdrop the adorable running commentary of the duo. Did you know Deewaar, released 47 years ago, widely discussed around the world, having reams of papers written on it, still managed to surprise Javed Akhtar? I found out later.

The title credit slate of Salim-Javed from Deewaar.
Yash Chopra’s Deewaar, played again on the big screen as part of the Film Heritage Foundation’s four-day film festival titled Bachchan Back To The Beginning.

Obviously, the loudest cheer during the opening credits was reserved for Amitabh Bachchan and Salim-Javed. The tempo only kept increasing as favourite characters were introduced, from Shashi Kapoor’s dutiful Ravi Verma, Nirupa Roy to Neetu Kapoor. But it reached its zenith when Bachchan’s entry was teased; sitting at the entrance of the temple, with his back facing the camera. “Oh God, look at the hysteria,” Shabana Azmi exclaimed. “And they haven’t even shown his face yet!” she added.

The audience at the screening didn’t disappoint, as the cheering reached a deafening meter when Bachchan turned and revealed his face. The angry young man, even after nearly five decades, had the power to shake up an auditorium with just his eyes. As Deewaar progressed, taking the audience on a ride to showcase some of the smartest, profound and timeless film writing to have ever existed, it made even Javed Akhtar watch in wonder. It was a delight to see–and hear–the veteran writer respond to the film almost as if he was watching it for the first time.

When the film broke into its first song, ‘Maine Tujhe Maanga, Tujhe Paaya Hai’, written by Sahir Ludhianvi and composed by RD Burman, one could hear an excited Javed Akhtar sing along. A poet, enthusiastically singing the lines of another, in a corner of an auditorium which had its audience swaying to the evergreen melody.

It was no different when the album’s another chartbuster played. During ‘Kehdoon Tumhe, Ya Chup Rahun’ members in the audience took out their phones to record the moment of the entire theatre joining Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle to sing the track. Amongst those singing, was Shabana herself.

Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi, as many around them like me would have realised, are enthusiastic viewers. If something is off, they will voice it. If a performance misses a beat, they will still catch it. Sample this: In a scene from Deewaar, when a background artiste delivered a dialogue in a pitch that felt over the top, the audience obviously cracked up, with Shabana letting out a stern, but endearing, ‘This is over acting!’

But Shabana, unlike some in the audience, was also quick to appreciate the lesser ‘whistle worthy’ lines in Deewaar. When Vijay shows his mother the new, palatial house he has bought for her, he tells her something on the lines of, ‘Bojh mere kande se hata aur tumhare dil mein aagaya (the burden shifted from my shoulders to your heart).’ There was one loud ‘Waah’ which came from the top. It belonged to Shabana.

Or, that scene when Nirupa Roy is seen applying sindoor in front of the mirror, Javed told Shabana, “Ye establish karna zaroori hai (It is important to establish this).” For later, when Ravi discovers that his father has died, he comes home just in time to stop his mother from applying sindoor. In another scene towards the climax, when Bachchan’s Vijay walks towards the landline, an excited Javed–almost like reading from the screenplay he had co-written–said, “And now he will call his mother.”

Even though he must have seen Deewaar countless times, and discussed every bit of the film threadbare, there was a childlike enthusiasm which Javed Akhtar carried at the screening. At one point, when an usher came to deliver refreshments to an audience and stood longer even after the order was handed–thereby obstructing the view of many– an annoyed Javed said, “Please hurry up!” for the film’s iconic scene was in motion, when Vijay reminds Ravi that he has wealth, bungalow, car. What does he have? “Mere paas Maa hai,” the theatre erupted, with Shabana Azmi joining the chorus. Popcorn could wait, but not the mother of all dialogues.

The only time Javed Akhtar was taken aback during the screening, was when Deewaar missed its interval point. Perplexed with the development, he was heard saying, “Why did the interval not happen now? This was the point. They didn’t do it.” When the intermission did happen a few scenes later, he was asked by an audience member if they had indeed messed up the point in the new print.

“They did, right? Because the interval point happens when it is established that the two brothers will now definitely be on two different paths. Not here!” Javed exclaimed. Deewaar, in its strange cinematic ways, had managed to catch him off guard.

Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi at the special screening of Deewaar.

After a power-packed three hours, when the film finally came to an end, the audience rewarded it with a thundering nearly three-minute- long standing ovation. The claps which the films dialogues evoked, continued long after The End flashed on screen.  An audience member walked up to Javed Akhtar and exclaimed, “It was an honour to watch the film with you. To whistle on your lines!” A sheepish Javed Akhtar simply replied, “Ha, achcha toh lag raha hai!”

As he started walking out, the sea of people neatly made way for the icon. During the Deewaar screening, Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi discussed attending a show of Amar Akbar Anthony, which was added last minute and was taking place just a floor below. She took the stairs, and he proceeded to the elevator, in which, as luck would have it, I was also there. Admirers of the legend kept thanking him for writing the film and even in the short elevator ride, poured their heart out about how wonderful they felt watching the film with him.

Seconds before the elevator door opened to his designated floor, another admirer asked him, if he could see flaws in Deewaar after all these years. Javed Akhtar gave a wide smile and walked out. The answer was quite clear. There was no space for complaints, because aaj khush toh bohot they Javed sahab.