The blockbuster Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), produced by Rajshri, set box-office records and re-energized the Hindi film industry when it was released nearly three decades ago. The family film of love and togetherness, starring Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit, was a musical hit as well.
25 years of Hum Aapke Hain Koun: How a film rejected by the trade created history
The film was a remake of the production house’s own 1982 feature Nadiya Ke Paar, a rural story starring Sachin and introducing Sadhana Singh. It was adapted from Keshav Prasad Mishra's 1965 Hindi novel Kohbar Ki Shart by Govind Moonis who also made his directorial debut.
Moonis was formerly an assistant to director Satyen Bose and, in another coincidence, had discovered Madhuri Dixit who went on to star in Rajshri's Abodh (1984).
For his second film, filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya took nearly two years to write Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!. Originally, the film was to be a love story just like his debut project Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), but it wasn’t working. His father Rajkumar Barjatya pointed him in the direction of Nadiya Ke Paar and the rest, as they say, is history for Rajshri.
Made on a modest budget, Nadiya Ke Paar became a surprise hit for the production house. Moonis also wrote the screenplay and dialogues. The film follows two brothers, Omkar (Inder Thakur) and Chandan (Sachin), who live with their uncle (Ram Mohan) and make a living through farming. When their uncle falls ill, Chandan goes to summon the doctor from a neighbouring village when he meets the mischievous Gunja (Sadhana Singh).
She and her elder Rupa (Mitali) are, in fact, the village doctor’s daughters and soon there is a genial connection between both families. The villages are separated by a river, hence the title. Gunja’s father (Vishnukumar Vyas) suggests a union between Omkar and Rupa and soon the families are joined by marriage. The all-male household is transformed by the arrival of Rupa.
Chandan and Gunja initially have an antagonistic relationship, pulling pranks on one another, but it soon blossoms into romance. However, this relationship remains unknown to the rest of the family. This becomes an issue when Rupa dies tragically. Like in the 1994 film, Rupa has a fatal fall down a flight of steps.
The elders suggest that Omkar marries Gunja so that his motherless baby boy can grow up with a proper maternal presence. The two young lovers sacrifice their happiness for the sake of the family balance, but Omkar realizes what’s going on and puts things right.
Nadiya Ke Paar, which also stars Sheela Sharma, Leela Mishra and Ranjana Sachdev, features characters speaking in Bhojpuri and stressing on an anti-dowry tradition. There are sincere performances by the ensemble cast, and Sachin is especially heartfelt as the obedient, helpful younger brother.
The film also features memorable songs and lyrics by Ravindra Jain which highlight the simplicity and beauty of village life. In the feature, Chandan and Gunja often ask each, ‘Hum tumhare hai koun [who am I to you]?' which clearly stands out in its inspiration for Sooraj on his 1994 film.
Interestingly, A History of the Indian Novel in English, edited by Ulka Anjaria, states of Mishra's novel, 'It is hard to imagine that this delicately crafted, subtly realized novel about the negotiations of desire and responsibility with the framework of an extended family in rural Uttar Pradesh became the basis for Bollywood's first glittering global hit, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! [Nadiya Ke Paar] retained the novel's rural milieu but changed the ending to a happy one in which the hero, Chandan's older brother Omkar, on learning about Chandan's prior relationship with his fiance, Gunja, steps aside so the couple can be united.'
It adds that in the 1994 film, 'Mishra's novel became almost unrecognizable as its source; even as the realistic setting of Nadiya Ke Paar was replaced with the majestic palaces and beautiful landscapes of HAHK, against which the hero and heroine enact numerous lavish song-dance routines. When a conflict arises, it is resolved with such ease that it's hard to see any link between the film's facile take on social relations and Mishra's original text, with its trenchant critique of feudal family mores.'