''Dance Dance'' is a 1987 Indian
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
-language
dance film
A dance film (also known as screen dance) is a movie in which dancing is used to reveal inspirational challenges and the central themes of the film, whether these themes be connected to narrative or story, states of being, or more experimental and ...
, directed and produced by
Babbar Subhash
Babbar Subhash is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who primarily works in Hindi films. He is known for his film collaborations with actor Mithun Chakraborty including ''Disco Dancer'' (1982), ''Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki'' (1984), ...
. The film is a musical and stars
Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty (born Gouranga Chakraborty; 16 June 1950) is an Indian actor, film producer, screenwriter, entrepreneur and politician who predominantly works in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. In a career spa ...
,
Smita Patil
Smita Patil (17 October 1955 – 13 December 1986) was an Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi and Marathi language, Marathi films. Regarded among the greatest and finest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, she was known for her ...
, and
Mandakini . It also stars
Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Cinema of India, Indian cinema and Theatre of India, theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himsel ...
,
Shakti Kapoor
Shakti Kapoor (born Sunil Kapoor; 3 September 1952) is an Indian actor and comedian who appears in Bollywood films. Known for his villainous and comic roles in Hindi films, he has featured in over 700 films. In the 1980s and 1990s, Kapoor team ...
, and
Om Shivpuri
Om Shivpuri (14 July 1938 – 15 October 1990) was an Indian theatre actor-director and character actor in Hindi films.
A National School of Drama, New Delhi alumnus, Shivpuri became the first chief of the National School of Drama Repertory C ...
in supporting roles. It is about a brother and sister who try to find success and become big singers.
Several scenes follow very closely those from the film ''
Fast Forward
To fast-forward is to move forwards through a recording at a speed faster than that at which it would usually be played, for example two times or two point five times. The recordings are usually audio, video or computer data. It is colloquiall ...
'', directed by
Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was a Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Among his ot ...
.
Plot
Radha and Ramu are siblings. Their parents Shyam and Sita are singers. Once, Shyam and Sita go to perform in
Jalpaiguri
Jalpaiguri (), is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jalpaiguri district as well as of the Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, covering the jurisdiction of the five districts of North Bengal. The city is ...
to earn some money, since they are in a poor status and they have to pay a monthly rent. While performing in Jalpaiguri wearing sexy and revealing clothes, Sita catches the eye of a rich and powerful man called A.M. Singh. He stops them mid-way home, kills Shyam and rapes Sita. Radha and Ramu are informed of their parents' deaths. The house proprietor banishes them and they become homeless. Years later, Radha and Ramu have achieved success and are popular singers now. Ramu falls in love with Janita and Radha marries Resham, who is their troupe member. They all sing and perform together. However, Resham becomes different and strange. He comes to abuse Radha. When Ramu discovers that, he tries to prevent him, but Radha does not allow him to do it. Radha finds out that she is pregnant. She comes to inform her husband and finds him with another woman in their bed. She reacts angrily and Resham beats her in such a cruel way, that she dies in the hospital. Ramu loses all interest in life, and even Janita, his new stage partner and lover, is not able to immediately pull him out of depression. In the name of Radha she succeeds. On the way to Jalpaiguri, where the next concert is to take place, Janita is attacked by Mr. Singh's minion, but she is saved by Sita. Having arrived in Jalpaiguri, Ramu recognizes his mother, who tells him what happened many years ago. Ramu organizes a big concert which will be dedicated to his sister. There, Singh appears and attempts to kill Ramu, but Resham, consumed by guilt, saves him and is shot. Singh attempts to kidnap Janita, but Ramu saves her just in time and takes revenge on Singh for his father's life and his mother's honor. Singh is arrested by the police.
Cast
*
Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty (born Gouranga Chakraborty; 16 June 1950) is an Indian actor, film producer, screenwriter, entrepreneur and politician who predominantly works in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. In a career spa ...
as Ramu "Romeo"
*
Smita Patil
Smita Patil (17 October 1955 – 13 December 1986) was an Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi and Marathi language, Marathi films. Regarded among the greatest and finest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, she was known for her ...
as Radha
*
Mandakini as Janita
*
Dalip Tahil
Dalip Tahil (born Dalip Tahilramani; 30 October 1952) is an Indian people, Indian film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for his work in ''Baazigar'' (1993), ''Raja (1995 film), Raja'' (1995), ''Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke'' (1993) and ' ...
as Brijmohan/Binjo
*
Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Cinema of India, Indian cinema and Theatre of India, theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himsel ...
as A.M. Singh
*
Om Shivpuri
Om Shivpuri (14 July 1938 – 15 October 1990) was an Indian theatre actor-director and character actor in Hindi films.
A National School of Drama, New Delhi alumnus, Shivpuri became the first chief of the National School of Drama Repertory C ...
as David Brown
*
Shakti Kapoor
Shakti Kapoor (born Sunil Kapoor; 3 September 1952) is an Indian actor and comedian who appears in Bollywood films. Known for his villainous and comic roles in Hindi films, he has featured in over 700 films. In the 1980s and 1990s, Kapoor team ...
as Resham
*
Satish Kaul
Satish Kaul (8 September 1946 – 10 April 2021) was an Indian actor in both Punjabi and Hindi movies. He acted in over 300 Hindi and Punjabi films and worked with Bollywood actors such as Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar and Shahrukh Khan amongst other ...
as Shyam, Ramu and Romeo's father
*
Sarala Yeolekar
Sarala Yeolekar is an actress of Marathi, Hindi and Gujarati cinema. She has acted in over 150 movies.
In Hindi movies, she is best known for her dance in the song "Zooby Zooby" in the movie '' Dance Dance'' (1987).
Selected plays and filmog ...
as Sita, Ramu and Romeo's mother
*
Chandrashekhar Vaidya as S.K. Arora, the owner of Super Casettes
*
Gita Siddharth
Gita Siddharth (7 August 1950 – 14 December 2019) was an Indian actress and social worker. She acted in mainstream Bollywood as well as art cinema, like '' Parichay'' (1972), '' Garm Hava'' (1973), and '' Gaman'' (1978).
She was best known ...
as the wife of S.K. Arora
*
Yunus Parvez
Yunus Parvez (1931/1932 – 11 February 2007) was an Indian actor who played supporting roles in over 200 films from 1963 to the 2000s. He is best known for his roles in films like '' Garm Hava'' (1974), ''Deewaar'' (1975), '' Trishul'' (1978), ...
as a film producer, in an uncredited guest appearance
Soundtrack
The music for ''Dance Dance'' is inspired by the
Italo disco
Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, pop, ...
style of the eighties and its well known artists such as
Modern Talking
Modern Talking was a German pop duo consisting of arranger, songwriter and producer Dieter Bohlen and singer Thomas Anders. They have been referred to as Germany's most successful pop duo, and have had a number of hit singles, reaching the to ...
. The main melody of "Zooby Zooby" mimics that of the song "
Brother Louie".
The singer
Alisha Chinai
Alisha Chinai (born 18 March 1965) is an Indian pop singer known for her Indi-pop albums as well as playback singing in Hindi cinema. She began her singing career with the album ''Jadoo'' in 1985, and by the 1990s she had become known as the ' ...
makes here one of her first
playback singing
A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync th ...
steps in "Zooby Zooby". Themes from ''
Chariots of Fire
''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 historical drama, historical Sports film, sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Summer ...
'' and ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' feature as
incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...
.
The song "Dil Mera Todo Na" is heavily derived by the English band
UB40
UB40 are an English reggae band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the Grammy ...
's "Don't Break My Heart".
The lyrics of all songs were written by
Anjaan, and music of all songs were composed by
Bappi Lahiri
Bappi Aparesh Lahiri (born Alokesh Aparesh Lahiri; 27 November 1952 – 15 February 2022), also known as Bappi Da, was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and ...
.
In 2009, the song Zooby Zooby remake by
Sourabhee Debbarma on her first album "''Meherbaan Sourabhee''" the music was remake by Harpeet Singh and Ajay Singha under label
Sony Music Entertainment India.
Thirty years after the original release, the song "Zindagi Meri Dance Dance" was re-discovered and had a second lease of life in director
Ashim Ahluwalia
Ashim Ahluwalia (born 1972 in Mumbai, India) is a film director and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut with the feature-length documentary ''John & Jane'' (2005), which had a world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival an ...
's 2017 gangster film ''
Daddy'' starring
Arjun Rampal
Arjun Rampal (born 26 November 1972) is an Indian actor and model who mainly works in Hindi films. He made his acting debut in Rajiv Rai's romance film ''Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat'' (2001) and has since gone on to Arjun Rampal filmography, act in ...
.
The re-release of the song was a huge success, becoming one of the top tracks of the year.
According to ''Cinestaan'', "In ''Daddy'', director
Ashim Ahluwalia
Ashim Ahluwalia (born 1972 in Mumbai, India) is a film director and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut with the feature-length documentary ''John & Jane'' (2005), which had a world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival an ...
gave a fitting tribute to Bappi Lahiri's composition 'Zindagi Meri Dance Dance' from
Babbar Subhash
Babbar Subhash is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who primarily works in Hindi films. He is known for his film collaborations with actor Mithun Chakraborty including ''Disco Dancer'' (1982), ''Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki'' (1984), ...
's ''Dance Dance'' (1987)."
Ironically ''
Zindagi Meri Dance Dance'' was left out of the
Babbar Subhash
Babbar Subhash is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who primarily works in Hindi films. He is known for his film collaborations with actor Mithun Chakraborty including ''Disco Dancer'' (1982), ''Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki'' (1984), ...
film ''Dance Dance'' although it featured on the vinyl album release at the time.
Ahluwalia wanted an authentic 80s Bappi Lahiri sound and not an overproduced remix.
Norwegian producer Olefonken reworked the song to be more dynamic for contemporary sound systems but kept many of the original elements including the original vocals of
Alisha Chinai
Alisha Chinai (born 18 March 1965) is an Indian pop singer known for her Indi-pop albums as well as playback singing in Hindi cinema. She began her singing career with the album ''Jadoo'' in 1985, and by the 1990s she had become known as the ' ...
and
Vijay Benedict
Vijay Benedict is an Indian former Bollywood playback singer who provided playback for over 35 Bollywood films in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Career
He made his debut as a singer for the hit 1982 film ''Disco Dancer'' singing the popular title s ...
as well as the original synth and drum machines.
The choreographer of Ahluwalia's first film ''
Miss Lovely
''Miss Lovely'' is a 2012 Indian drama film directed by Ashim Ahluwalia and set in the criminal depths of Mumbai's C-grade (horror and porn film) industry. Ahluwalia's debut feature follows the story of the Duggal brothers who produce sleazy se ...
'', was ironically Kamal Nath, who had also worked on B. Subhash's disco film ''Dance Dance'' and ''
Commando
A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines.
Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...
'' starring
Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty (born Gouranga Chakraborty; 16 June 1950) is an Indian actor, film producer, screenwriter, entrepreneur and politician who predominantly works in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. In a career spa ...
, both of which feature Bappi Lahiri soundtracks.
Another song from the Dance Dance soundtrack album "Zooby Zooby" was recreated by
Rochak Kohli
Rochak Kohli is an Indian music director for Bollywood films. He is famous for writing the song 'Karan's Saddle Point'. He made his music debut in Shoojit Sircar's romantic comedy '' Vicky Donor'' with " Pani Da Rang". The song was made in col ...
and sung by
Sukriti Kakar
Sukriti Kakar (born 8 May 1995) is an Indian singer born in New Delhi. Kakar rose to prominence after recording title song from the film ''Boss'' composed by Meet Bros which featured Yo Yo Honey Singh. Since then she has sung many songs most no ...
in the film ''
Naam Shabana
''Naam Shabana'' () is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Shivam Nair and written by Neeraj Pandey. The film is a prequel to the 2015 film ''Baby'' with Taapsee Pannu reprising her role as Shabana Khan alongside Pri ...
'' (2017).
In 2022, the song "Zooby Zooby" got a remake for film ''
Dhokha: Round D Corner'', sung by Zahrah S Khan and
Yash Narvekar
Yash Narvekar is an Indian playback singer, composer and lyricist who has written and sung "Mere Dil Mein" in the film ''Half Girlfriend'', "Teri Yaadon Mein" in Behen Hogi Teri, and "Gulabi 2.0" in ''Noor'' among a number of popular songs ...
with
Tanishk Bagchi
Tanishk Bagchi (born 23 November 1980) is an Indian music producer, composer, singer and lyricist in Hindi films. He is known for tracks like "Vaaste", "Bolna", "Ve Maahi", " Aankh Maarey" (recreated), " Dilbar" (recreated), "Jehda Nasha" (recr ...
as composer and
Kumaar
Rakesh Kumar Pal, known mononymously as Kumaar, is an Indian lyricist who works in Hindi cinema. Some of his songs include "Rula Ke Gaya Ishq", " Tu Bhi Royega", "Dil Ki Aadat", " Baby Doll', " Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan", " Sooraj Dooba Hain", "Lo ...
as lyricist.
Release
The film was a hit at the box office and fourteenth highest-grossing movie of 1987. A Russian-dubbed version of Dance Dance was released all across the Soviet Union in 1989 by Soviet film company Gorki Film Studio
References
External links
*{{IMDb title, 0317312
1987 films
1980s Hindi-language films
1980s Indian films
1980s romantic musical films
1980s dance films
Indian romantic musical films
Films directed by Babbar Subhash
Indian dance films
Films scored by Bappi Lahiri
Indian remakes of American films
Indian pregnancy films
Indian films about revenge
1987 musical films