''Ek Duuje Ke Liye'' () is a

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

Indian

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

romantic

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

film directed by K. Balachander. A remake of Balachander's

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

film ''

Maro Charitra ''Maro Charitra'' () is a 1978 Indian Telugu-language romantic tragedy film written and directed by K. Balachander. It stars Kamal Haasan and Saritha in the lead with Madhavi appearing in prominent roles. The film deals with cross-cultural ...

'', it stars

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali f ...

and

Rati Agnihotri Rati Agnihotri (born 10 December 1960) is an Indian actress, known for acting in Hindi, as well as in Telugu and Tamil language films. Her roles in the cult-tragedy film ''Ek Duuje Ke Liye'' (1981) and the drama film '' Tawaif'' (1985) earned ...

as a pair of lovers from different families who oppose their relationship, and go to dire lengths in an attempt to break them apart. It features Madhavi and

Rakesh Bedi Rakesh Bedi is an Indian film, stage and television actor. He is known for his comic roles in films such as ''Mera Damaad'' and '' Chashme Buddoor'' (1981). He has also appeared in television shows like ''Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi'' (1984), ''Shrimaa ...

in supporting roles. ''Ek Duuje Ke Liye'' was released on 5 June 1981, and grossed over at the box office, making it one of the highest-grossing Indian films of its year. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised the film's score—particularly the single "

Tere Mere Beech Mein "Tere Mere Beech Mein" ("Between You and Me") is an Indian Hindi song from the Bollywood film ''Ek Duuje Ke Liye'' (1981). The song was composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal. Anand Bakshi was the lyricist of this song and he won a Filmfare Award for B ...

" sung by

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

and penned by

Anand Bakshi Anand Bakshi (21 July 1930 – 30 March 2002) was an Indian poet and lyricist. He was nominated for the Filmfare award for Best lyricist a total of 40 times, resulting in 4 wins. Early life Anand Bakshi (Bakshi Anand Prakash Vaid) was bor ...

—and the performances of the cast. At the 28th National Film Awards, it won Best Male Playback Singer (

). At the

29th Filmfare Awards The 29th Filmfare Awards were held in 1982. Films belonging to the Parallel Cinema and Indian New Wave won most of the awards at the ceremony, signaling a trend where filmmakers and audiences were moving towards more meaningful cinema. ''Ek Du ...

, it was nominated for thirteen awards—including

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

—of which it won three: Best Lyricist (Bakshi),

Best Screenplay Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

(Balachander) and Best Editing. ''Ek Duuje Ke Liye'' is regarded as a " classic film" in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

, and one of the best Hindi-language films of all time. It has inspired several Indian and Western actors and singers, such as

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage producti ...

, who notably sampled instruments from "Tere Mere Beech Main" for her 2004 single "

Toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a sub ...

Plot

The movie is about the love between a Tamil man, Vasu (

), and a North Indian woman, Sapna (

), who are neighbors in Goa. They come from totally different backgrounds and can hardly speak the other's language. When Vasu and Sapna admit their love, there is chaos in their homes as they face an unexpected test of their love. The movie begins with an old, ruined building near the beautiful beach of Goa. The dilapidated walls of the building are covered with many names, but two names stand apart from the rest---Vasu and Sapna. Vasu is a happy, carefree young man who belongs to a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

family. He resigns his job after his boss scolds him and he returns to his home in Goa. His orthodox Tamilian father is always at loggerheads with the Hindi-speaking neighbour family. The family has a beautiful daughter named Sapna, a college student. While being followed on her way home by a creepy bookstore clerk (who'd earlier shown her a book of nude photos), Sapna sees Vasu jogging and starts a one-way conversation with him. Seeing this, the bookstore clerk retreats. Sapna thanks Vasu for pretending to be her friend, but he reveals that he doesn't understand Hindi. Vasu wants to make friends with her. He tries to meet her later pretending his motorcycle has broken down but he crashes and ends up in the hospital. Impressed, Sapna sends him a gift: a ceremonial mask with her name on it and asking his name. Despite the nasty conflicts between their families, Vasu and Sapna fall deeply in love with each other. They get to know each other, experiencing the joy and innocence of first love. One day, however, Sapna fairly misunderstands Vasu when he forcefully kisses her and is offended and breaks up with him. Despite Vasu's efforts to make her understand his love, Sapna ignores him and remains angry. A week later, Sapna finds Vasu awake all night looking at her window hoping that she would forgive him. Heartbroken at seeing him like that, Sapna forgives him and signals him by turning her room light off and on repeatedly. They meet the next day and Sapna expresses her love for Vasu by kissing his hand. The lovers unite and visit the beaches, forts, waterfalls and scenic places of Goa. While returning home late at night, Vasu's motorcycle runs out of petrol. They pose as a newly married couple and ask for a lift in a car. To their shock, Sapna's father is in the car and he takes her home immediately. Vasu and Sapna keep meeting each other and fall in love even more. One day when Sapna returns from college after meeting Vasu, she finds the lewd bookstore clerk at her home. The man has secretly clicked pictures of her and Vasu together and shown them to her parents. Burning with rage, Sapna's mother forbids her from seeing Vasu and accompanies her everywhere. Heartbroken, Vasu makes a plan and stealthily meets Sapna during her college lunch break. They go to a hotel for lunch and Vasu pauses the elevator halfway to spend some time with Sapna. He sings a love song for her using his broken Hindi. This leads to an amused crowd at the hotel lift listening in. They are reprimanded by the guard as they exit. Vasu and Sapna's families find out. In anger, they lock up Sapna at home and Vasu's father scolds him. Despite the opposition, Vasu boldly goes and meets Sapna in her home in the presence of her parents and expresses his love for her. Sapna's mother screams and claims that Vasu is ruining their family honor. Finally, both the families meet and Vasu and Sapna affirm their love for each other. Their families agree to allow them to marry on one condition – that they separate from each other for one year without any contact or communication. Afterwards, if they still want to be together, they can get married. Vasu and Sapna reluctantly agree to the contract. Vasu goes to

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

for a job, while Sapna stays behind in Goa. During their year of separation, Vasu writes a letter every day to Sapna, in which he expresses his pain and love, but doesn't send it to her because of the contract. He learns to speak Hindi fluently from a young widow named Sandhya. To drown his pain of separation, he also learns classical dance from Sandhya. On the other hand, Sapna visits all the places where she and Vasu used to go which brings back old memories. She also visits a rocky hill by the beach, where their names 'Vasu' and 'Sapna' are painted on the highest rock. In order to make Sapna forget Vasu, her mother destroys the cassette tape that he had given her. The mother also burns her only photo of Vasu which Sapna crumbles into her tea and drinks in defiance. In response, Sapna writes Vasu's name on every inch of her bedroom wall, making her family even more angry. Sapna goes on a college trip to

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka– ...

, where her mother sends her cousin Chakram to spy on her. Chakram wants to marry Sapna, but she doesn't like him. Coincidentally, Vasu also comes to Mangalore due to a job assignment. He spots Sapna and follows her to her hotel room, but bumps into Chakram, who lies that he and Sapna are married. A shocked Vasu meets Sapna's college friends and asks about her, but they mistakenly say Chakram and Sapna are soon to be married. Vasu is heartbroken and proposes to Sandhya, thinking that Sapna was unfaithful to him. Sandhya is surprised but accepts and fixes their wedding date. Later she finds in his room all the letters he wrote to Sapna, and discovers the truth. Sandhya goes to Goa and meets Sapna and learns that she is not married and is still waiting for Vasu. Seeing their true love, Sandhya sacrifices her love and decides to unite Vasu and Sapna. She tells the truth to Vasu and cancels their wedding, urging him to go to his beloved Sapna as their one-year contract was completed. Sandhya's older brother hears that the wedding is cancelled and thinks that Vasu abandoned his sister. In a drunken, angry state, he phones his criminal friend in Goa and asks him to 'completely get rid' of Vasu. When Vasu arrives back in Goa, and is about to meet Sapna in their favorite beach spot, Sandhya's older brother's criminal friend and a gang brutally beat up Vasu. Meanwhile, Sapna is heading to the beach to meet Vasu. The lascivious bookstore clerk tries to attack her, Sapna tries to escape him and falls from the second floor. The bookstore clerk seeing her almost dead from the fall, still violently rapes hers! Sapna and Vasu meet after the clerk and the goons flee. However, Vasu is badly injured. Distraught, feeling they can't live without each other, they join hands and leap off the cliff together, a symbol of doomed love.

Cast

as Vasudevan "Vasu" *

as Sapna * Madhavi as Sandhya *

Raza Murad Raza Murad (born 23 November 1950) is an Indian actor who appears primarily in Hindi films. He has over 250 Bollywood film credits. Murad has also appeared in Bhojpuri and other regional-language films and on Hindi television. Early life He ...

as Danny *

as Chakram *

Poornam Viswanathan Poornam Viswanathan (15 November 1921 – 1 October 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil films. He started performing on stage at age 18. He worked as a reader for All India Radio and went on to act in films such as ''C ...

as Vasudevan's Father * Satyen Kappu as Jagannath * Shubha Khote as Mrs. Kundanlal *

Asrani Govardhan Asrani (born 1 January 1940), popularly known simply as Asrani, is an Indian actor and director whose Bollywood career has spanned five decades. He has acted in over 350 Hindi films. Asrani has played the lead roles, character roles ...

as Hari *

Arvind Deshpande Arvind (from sa, अरविन्द ') is a common Indian masculine name meaning lotus. The name is of Hindu origin. Its variants include Aravind, Aravinda, Aravindan, and Aurobindo (). Meaning ' means sun in the Sanskrit language. In pa ...

as Kundanlal * Athili Lakshmi as Vandana *

Sunil Thapa Sunil Thapa ( ne, सुनील थापा) is a leading Nepalese actor who has appeared in Nepali, Bollywood and Bhojpuri films. He started his career with the Bollywood movie ''Ek Duuje Ke Liye''. He is an enigmatic figure in the Nepali ...

as Librarian

Production

The production team had earlier thought of titling it ''Ek Aur Itihas'', but it went on to become ''Ek Duuje Ke Liye''. Leading lad

and supporting heroine Madhavi were cast in the film after appearing in director K. Balachander's previous Telugu film ''

'' (1978), which ''Ek Duuje Ke Liye'' was based on. The leading actress

was relatively unknown at the time, and did not appear in ''Maro Charitra''.

Music

The music was composed by

Laxmikant–Pyarelal Laxmikant–Pyarelal were an Indian composer duo, consisting of Laxmikant Shantaram Patil Kudalkar (1937–1998) and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (born 1940). He is known by the nickname “Pyromaniac” due to his flaming style of music. Laxmikan ...

and the lyrics were written by

. It was the first Hindi film for

South Indian South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

singer

; the composers were initially against including him, feeling that the "

Madrasi Madrasi, also spelled as Madrassi, is a term used as a demonym and a regional slur for people from southern India. In earlier usage it was a demonym to refer to the people of Madras Presidency; however this use of the term is now outdated. S ...

" would not do justice to a Hindi composition, but Balachander cited that if the lead character played by Haasan could not speak Hindi well, then even if Balasubrahmanyam blemished the song, it would "capture the character." Two portions of "

" were later

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

in the 2004

song "

" as part of its

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

Release

''Ek Duuje Ke Liye'' was released on 5 June 1981. In 2015, ''Ek Duuje Ke Liye'' was screened at the Habitat Film Festival. It grossed over at the box office, which made it one of the highest-grossing Indian films of 1981. ''Ek Duje Ke Liye'' received acclaim from critics, who especially lauded the performances of Hasaan and Madhavi, as well as the performance of newcomer Agnihotri, who achieved her breakthrough in the role. Additionally praised was the film's score, and the single "

", which was sung by

and written by

, was singled out for acclaim.

Accolades

29th National Film Awards The 29th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1981. Ceremony took place in Apr ...

: * Best Male Playback Singer –

for "

: * Best Lyricist –

for "Tere Mere Beech Mein" (Won) *

– K. Balachander (Won) * Best Editing – N. R. Kitoo (Won) *

–

L. V. Prasad Akkineni Laxmi Vara Prasada Rao (17 January 1907 – 22 June 1994), known professionally as L. V. Prasad, was an Indian film director, producer, actor, and businessman. He was one of the pioneers of Indian cinema and is the recipient of the Dad ...

(Nominated) * Best Director – K. Balachander (Nominated) *

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to the ...

–

(Nominated) *

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

–

(Nominated) * Best Supporting Actress – Madhavi (Nominated) * Best Comedian –

(Nominated) * Best Music Director –

(Nominated) * Best Lyricist –

for "Solah Baras Ki Bali Umar" (Nominated) * Best Male Playback Singer –

for "Tere Mere Beech Mein" (Nominated) *

Best Story Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

– K. Balachander (Nominated)

References

External links

* * * {{Romeo and Juliet film adaptations 1981 films 1980s Hindi-language films Films directed by K. Balachander Hindi remakes of Telugu films Films scored by Laxmikant–Pyarelal Films set in Goa Indian romance films Films with screenplays by K. Balachander Films based on Romeo and Juliet Films shot in Goa 1980s romance films Hindi-language romance films