Deewana Deewana Film

[Kristy Suzuki]

Goingdown memory lane with Rediff.com Senior Contributor, Roshmila Bhattacharya, the film's producer Guddu Dhanoa remembers how Shah Rukh came to replace Armaan Kohli in the film and went on to become a sensation.

"I was at the Badal, Bijli and Barkha theatres (in the Matunga West, north central Mumbai, area) after the film's release, and as soon as the song started playing, the audience went wild," Dhanoa recalls.

"There was a shower of chaar annas (25 paisa coins) being thrown at the screen, their tinkle music to my ears. I was also moved to tears when I saw people clamber on their chairs and dance with Shah Rukh and Divya Bharti, the song making them deewana too," he remembers.

But when I prodded, Shah Rukh informed that he had already signed five films, namely Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, Chamatkar, King Uncle, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa and Hema Malini's directorial, Dil Aashna Hai.

However, despite coming in late, Raja then carries the story forward, falling in love with the widowed Kajal, breaking off ties with his father when he tries to separate them, convincing Ravi's mother to persuade her daughter-in-law to start a new life with him and slowly, winning her heart, only for her first husband to return from the dead and complicate their lives.

I was in a quandary and on a flight to Chennai to see the special effects of Mani Ratnam's Anjali with Shekhar Kapur. I confided in him, informing him that I had been all set to start Deewana, but now, suddenly, I did not have a hero.

Manmohan Desai, who had bought the Delhi-UP territories for distribution, wanted us to change the ending, insisting Kajal go away with Ravi rather than continue living with Raja, but we stuck to our conviction.

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