Mumbai, Sep 25 (IANS): Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan revisited the making and initial reception of one of the most iconic scenes in Hindi cinema as he spoke about the legendary “Aaj khush toh bahut hoge tum” sequence from Deewaar.
Talking to actor Rajkummar Rao on Kaun Banega Crorepati Season 18, Amitabh Bachchan recalled that audiences at the film’s premiere initially laughed when they heard the now-famous dialogue, before the theatre fell into stunned silence.
The conversation took place after Rajkummar Rao recreated Amitabh’s iconic temple monologue from Deewaar on the sets of KBC. As Rajkummar delivered the lines facing the actor who originally played Vijay, Amitabh Bachchan reflected on the unusual response the scene received when the film was first screened.
Recalling the moment, Bachchan said, “Sir, jab yeh dialogue bola gaya tha premiere ke din tab log hasne lage kyuki kisi bhi kirdhar ne bhagwan se iss tarah se baat nahi ki hain aur Vijay ka character hain ki voh bhagwan mein nahi manta aur uski maa bimaar hain, voh mandir ki seedhi pehli baar chadhta hain aur fir kehta hain ki ‘Aaj khush toh bohot honge tum’.” (Sir, when this dialogue was spoken on the day of the premiere, people started laughing because no character had ever spoken to God in this manner. And Vijay’s character is someone who does not believe in God, and his mother is ill. He climbs the temple steps for the first time and then says, ‘Today, you must be very happy.’)
Amitabh Bachchan had previously spoken about the audience’s reaction to the scene, recalling that there was a “snigger and a gentle laughter” at the premiere because viewers initially thought it was a joke. He said that within seconds, however, the laughter stopped and the audience froze.
The scene remains one of the defining moments of Deewaar, in which Amitabh Bachchan played Vijay Verma, a man who grows up facing poverty and humiliation and eventually enters the criminal underworld.
In the temple sequence, Vijay, who does not believe in God, turns to the divine when his mother is critically ill. His emotional confrontation with God culminates in the now-iconic line, “Aaj khush toh bahut hoge tum.”
Directed by Yash Chopra and written by Salim-Javed, Deewaar starred Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Nirupa Roy, Neetu Singh and Parveen Babi. Released in 1975, the film went on to become a landmark of Hindi cinema.
The film’s screenplay and dialogues also earned Salim-Javed many accolades and honours in the story, screenplay and dialogue categories in 1976.
