In 1979, my wife Prakash and I were on a world tour when she chanced upon an interesting Japanese film about a husband having a clandestine affair with his secretary. I wanted to give the otherwise serious subject a humorous turn. The story is about the happily-married Sanjeev who cannot resist his secretary, Ranjeeta. He was the obvious choice for the role; he was unarguably the best. Also a close friend, he had a keen desire to work with me but somehow I could not create a role for him in any of my earlier projects. But in this film he suited the role to the T. When I discussed the project with him, he was thrilled.

A comedy film was not a hot proposition then, so I couldn’t pay him his usual exorbitant rate. He suggested he settle for 20 per cent of the overflow if the film was a success.

There was a certain understated quality in Sanjeev’s acting. For instance, he always opened his coat button once he steps outside his house, symbolising relief at his freedom away from his wife’s prying eyes. Sanjeev imbued so much life in the scene, it became one of the highlights of the film.

Innerwear outscores

We had decided to shoot the song Thande thande pani mein in the bathroom with Sanjeev practically bare. He immediately went on a diet but unable to overcome his passion for food, he gained weight instead. On seeing the rushes, Sanjeev insisted that we re-shoot because his mother didn’t like it. Though I was completely satisfied, I showed him in a lungi and vest now. But he agreed on retaining the former.

Another scene is where Sanjeev has to catch an early morning flight but discovers that all the clocks in the house are not working. So he sings a weird song in the middle of the night, waking up his neighbours who tell him what the time is while admonishing him. I decided to shoot the scene at midnight and somehow got the inmate of the houses near the bungalow to also co-operate; instead they agreed to be a part of the shoot.

Controversial climax

The film was completed in 30 days and that was a record of sorts because matching the stars’ dates and completing the post-production work is not so easy. What I like the most about the film is it’s climax where Sanjeev just gets out of the Ranjeeta affair, promises his wife to change his flirtatious ways but on entering his office, encounters his new secretary Parveen Babi and is back to his old ways again. Though many tried to convince me that I should show a reformed Sanjeev in the end, I stuck to this climax.

After a private screening, Tarachand Barjatya came up to me and predicted that the film would fail miserably at the box-office since the theme was unsuitable for Indian society. Contrary to that, the film clicked. Sanjeev Kumar was thrilled on seeing the overwhelming response of the audience. As promised, I gave him the 20 per cent of the overflow, which he admitted was much more than he earned from any other film.

Sequel woes