1942: A Love Story

<p>The film is set in 1942, when the was declining in power. It was a time when many Indian citizens were either working for the British regime or rallying in underground meetings and protests against them. In this atmosphere, Narendra Singh ( ) falls in love with Rajeshwari Pathak ( ). Their romance is shown developing in spite of the political and social unrest at the time. Narendra’s father, Diwan Hari Pratap Singh ( ) is a loyal British employee working for the brutal British General Douglas ( ), who is infamous for tracking down and executing citizens who are believed to be revolutionaries. Rajeshwari’s father, Raghuveer Pathak ( ) is a revolutionary fighting against British rule, as he holds a grudge against Douglas for murdering his son. When Narendra asks Raghuveer for Rajeshwari’s hand in marriage, Raghuveer becomes livid. However, Narendra declares that he is willing to sacrifice everything for Rajeshwari and convinces Raghuveer of his love for her. Raghuveer relents but tells Narendra to talk to his father first. When Narendra does so, Hari is angry that his son has chosen the daughter of a revolutionary, but he pretends that he will do anything for Narendra’s happiness. However, Hari tricks Narendra into revealing Raghuveer’s secret location and leaks the information to Major Bisht ( ) and the British authorities. Soon, police barge into Raghuveer’s hideaway and try to kill him, only to find him waiting to light a bomb, killing both himself and the men. Rajeshwari, who was out at that time, realizes what has happened and runs away. She is taken into refuge by Shubhankar ( ), a compatriot of Raghuveer who has learned of his death. Under Shubhankar’s tutelage, Rajeshwari follows her father’s revolutionary path. Meanwhile, Narendra gets furious at his father for using him to kill Raghuveer and drive Rajeshwari away. Promising to make up to Rajeshwari and help her cause, Narendra pledges to become a revolutionary by severing all ties with his father; even Bisht’s daughter Chanda ( ) does the same after witnessing Bisht murdering her teacher Abid Ali Baig ( ), who is a revolutionary allied with Shubhankar, much to Bisht’s remorse. To prove his point, Narendra attempts to murder Douglas in front of the city but is caught in the act after shooting down a few soldiers. Narendra is then convicted and sentenced to hang for attempted murder. Douglas then orders his troops to fire at the town square, resulting in the deaths of several citizens, including Chanda. However, Shubhankar saves Narendra from being hanged, and Bisht develops a change of heart after witnessing Chanda’s death, helping Shubhankar and Narendra finish off Hari and the remaining loyalists and stabbing Douglas with a flagpole. With the loyalists dead, Narendra reconciles with Rajeshwari while Shubhankar hangs Douglas to death, avenging all those who perished under Douglas’ wrath. The film ends with Narendra, Rajeshwari, Shubhankar, Bisht, and the surviving citizens hoisting and saluting the Indian flag. Vinod told me that he only makes dark films. I said I have a love story and asked him to listen to it. I read him two or three ideas and he liked one and asked me to develop it. After a year’s hardship and constant quarrels and bickering, I finished the script and dialogues. Then one day Vinod called and said, ‘I don’t want a love story set in today’s time. What if we take this story and set it in another era?’ , one of the script writers of the film, had gone to the United States to meet her daughters Tanuja and (whom Vidhu Vinod Chopra would later marry) as they were studying there. Having watched Chopra’s film on video and being impressed with it, both of them asked their mother to write a story and approach him to direct it. Chandra had previously written and ; both were love stories. She knew Chopra made “dark films”, but decided to meet him. After returning, Chandra met Chopra at Natraj Studios. She made him listen to two or three of her ideas, among which he liked one and asked her to develop it. Chandra finished the script and dialogues by a year, until a day when Chopra himself called her and suggested that they should make a love story set in another era instead of the present time. This provoked Chandra, who could not sleep that night. However, she became excited in the next few days. Having grown up amidst the , she decided to place the story at that time. This formed the core plot for . had initially been offered the role of Narendra, but he declined. was then approached, who was hesitant to do the film and suggested and Aamir Khan for the role. However, he was later convinced. To prepare himself for the role, Kapoor worked hard — he lost weight, cut short his hair, trimmed his moustache and worked on his costumes to create the character. was under consideration for the role later portrayed by . He did not feature as he had already been playing lead roles. , being cast as Shubankar, gave financial assistance to the film. For instance, some (extra) houses built at the film’s set (which were first disapproved of by Vidhu Vinod Chopra due to the limited budget) were paid for by Shroff. Moreover, he also paid composer on behalf of Chopra when he made them listen the music of the film for the very first time. Chopra had crafted the role of Rajeshwari Pathak in accordance to , with lyricist also keeping her in mind while penning the lyrics for “Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To”. By the time the film was launched, Dixit had packed schedules, which subsequently prevented her inclusion in the film. , who had auditioned for the role of Rajjo’s sister (the role being later excluded), was then asked by Chopra to give a screen test. But, after seeing Koirala enacting a scene, Chopra deemed her a “terrible actress”. Koirala, however, asked him for a second chance. She went back home, practised her lines and came back prepared the next day. She pleased Chopra with her performance and was thereafter signed. was also one of those who had auditioned for the role. She was rejected on the spot. , who had previously worked with Chopra in (1989), was selected to portray Raghuvir Pathak. But he insisted on being cast as Shubankar, which caused a rift between him and Chopra. was later signed for the role. had also been briefly considered for the role of Shubankar, when Shroff developed date issues. The distributors, however, somehow made Chopra retain Shroff in the film. Since the production started in the early 90s, it was speculated that was to replace his brother Anil as the latter’s film (1991) had not been successful. Nevertheless, it did not materialize. for the film, being handled by , took place mainly at various locations in , including the district , , and the to depict pre-independence India. An artificial set resembling Dalhousie was created in the , since it was an expensive proposition to take the entire cast and crew there. It was erected by art director Nitin Desai at a cost of . According to Desai, many people told Chopra not to hire him, as he was a newcomer; yet Chopra had full faith in him The music composer of the film was who died before the release of the film, with lyrics by . The background score was by Manohari Singh and Babloo Chakraborty. R. D. won his last and Javed Akthar bagged the for “Ek Ladki Ko Dekha”. won his 5th consecutive for “Ek Ladki Ko Dekha” and won the for “Pyar Hua Chupke Se”, the first of her hat-trick feat. The soundtrack was #13 on the list of “100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks of All Time”, as compiled by The music in the introduction of the film is from ‘s . According to , with around 35,00,000 units sold, this film’s soundtrack was the year’s third highest-selling album, behind and . was released on 15 April 1994. It opened to positive reviews from critics, with praise drawn towards the cast performances, , and the by . had attended the preview screening of the film and congratulated Chopra for his endeavour.</p>