Haathi Mere Saathi - Quotes On The Film

Quotes On The Film

Tanuja said in an interview, “I showed them the film when Kajol was six and Tanishaa around three years old, and for two weeks Kajol did not speak to me!! ‘Mummy, you killed the elephant! Because of you, he had to die!’ screamed Kajol! And Tanishaa was annoyed too!” Tanuja loved working with the elephants after some initial apprehensions. “They really began to like me, especially the she-elephant who played Ramu. There is a sequence where he had to push me through a door and fight a snake that was about to bite the baby, but the elephant had got so fond of me that he refused to do so! Finally, they had to shoot separate close-ups of the elephant and my back and of me falling down!”

Javed Akhtar on being questioned as to how the film came about, said "One day, he(Rajesh Khanna) went to Salimsaab and said that Mr. Devar had given him a huge signing amount with which he could complete the payment for his bungalow Aashirwad.But the film was a remake and the script of the original was far from being satisfactory. He told us that if we could set right the script, he would make sure we got both money and credit. ‘I can’t do such a terrible script,’ he said. ‘And I can’t leave it because I need the money!’”Salim Khan said that the film came to them thanks to Rajesh Khanna, who had become a superstar and was approached by Mr. Devar directly and was signed for a huge amount, and had struck up a friendship with Salim and Javed who were associate writers on Ramesh Sippy’s under-production Andaz.

On its 40th anniversary on 5 May 2011, Pyarelal recalled,"Laxmi (Laxmikant) and Devar got along fabulously well! Devar had an innate music sense and a feel for rhythm, and he loved our title-track. But the tussle came up over the sad song, "Nafrat ki duniya", which was the only song sung by (Mohammed) Rafisaab in the film. I recall voicing my doubts. But Laxmi, the director and Rajesh Khanna were staunchly in favour of keeping that song. And the audience cried with the song and Anand Bakshisaab’s lyrics.”

The film was remade in Tamil in the year 1972 as 'Nalla Neram' (Good Time or Auspicious time) under same production banner 'Devar Films' directed by M.A.Thirumugam again with M. G. Ramachandran in the lead