Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971)

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Hare Rama Hare Krishna

The 1970s saw Bollywood's first hippies and drugs in Dev Anand's film Hare Rama Hare Krishna (Praise Rama Praise Krishna). The film also introduced an actress that would go on to become a Bollywood icon: Zeenat Aman.

Hare Rama Hare Krishna was the most successful movie of 1971. Filmed almost entirely in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, the movie explores not only the theme of a broken family, but also a relationship between a brother and a sister, as well as drugs and the hippie movement. Many people assumed the film had been made with the involvement of ISKON, the movement for Krishna consciousness. The movie begins with scenes of drug use and a dancing woman, who we are told is the narrator's sister. The film then flashes back to the brother and sister playing happily as children, only to hear their parents arguing. This soon leads to a split in the family. The brother goes with the mother and the sister with the father, who re-marries.

As time passes, the brother goes in search of his sister and is informed that she no longer lives with the father and that she has moved to Nepal. Here, the brother Prashant not only finds love, but he also finds his sister Jasbir, who calls herself Janice. But he finds out that she has fallen into some bad company and takes drugs to block all memory of her past. With help of Shanti, his love, the brother tries to get his sister away from all this but has to overcome many obstacles as people try to stop him. During filming, Dev Anand asked Panchamda (the composer RD Burman) to compose something special for this film. Panchamda came back with the composition 'Dum Maro Dum', which became an instant hit.

The movie was ahead of its time with its realistic portrayal of drugs and the hippy movement. The music and songs, especially 'Dum Maro Dum', sung by Asha Bhonsle (who has sung with Boy George) were very popular. The film also rocketed the career of Zeenat Aman, who played the ill-fated sister. She would soon become an icon for teenagers, even though the sister's role was initially offered to another actress, Zaheeda, who rejected in favour of a role as the girlfriend. The role was offered to Aman, who was the daughter of one of the writers of Mughal-E-Azam, Amanullah Khan.