Kabhi Kabhie - Love Is Life (1976)

Director:

Yash Chopra

Writers:

Pamela Chopra (story)
Sagar Sarhadi (written by)

Release Date:

27 January 1976 (India)

Genre:

Drama | Musical | Romance | Family

Tagline:

The most romantic film of 1976

Plot:

A love story spanning two generations... a film that happens SOMETIMES...

Plot Keywords:

Family Relationships | Local Blockbuster | Male Feet In Socks | Male To Female Footsie Playing | Hole In Sock

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

Shashi Kapoor	...	Vijay Khanna
Waheeda Rehman	...	Anjali Malhotra
Rakhee Gulzar	...	Pooja Khanna
Amitabh Bachchan	...	Amitabh Malhotra
Neetu Singh	...	Pinky Kapoor
Rishi Kapoor	...	Vikram 'Vicky' Khanna
Simi Garewal	...	Shobha Kapoor
Parikshat Sahni	...	Dr. R.P. Kapoor
Naseem	...	Sweety Malhotra
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Iftekhar	...	Mr. Malhotra (uncredited)
Deven Verma	...	Rambhajan (uncredited)

Directed by
Yash Chopra

Writing credits
Pamela Chopra		(story)
Sagar Sarhadi		(written by)

Produced by
Yash Chopra	....	producer

Original Music by
Khayyam

Cinematography by
Romesh Bhalla
Kay Gee

Film Editing by
Naresh Malhotra
Pran Mehra

Art Direction by
Desh Mukherjee		(as Desh Mukerji)

Costume Design by
Jennifer Kendal		(as Jennifer Kapoor)
Rajee Singh

Makeup Department
Mrs. Kusum C. Alim	....	hair stylist (as Kusum)
Vidyadhar Bhatte	....	assistant makeup artist (as Vidyadhar)
S.M. Jadhav Rao	....	associate makeup artist (as Jadhav Rao)
Pandhari Juker	....	makeup artist
Shyam Kansare	....	associate makeup artist (as Shyam)
Khatija Khan	....	hair stylist (as Khatija)
Rita	....	hair stylist
Deepak Sawant	....	associate makeup artist (as Deepak)
Ramesh Vardhan	....	associate makeup artist (as Ramesh Vardam)

Production Management
Anand Gosavi	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Chand Kapoor	....	assistant director
Dilip Naik	....	assistant director
Deepak Sareen	....	assistant director (as Dipak Sareen)
Ramesh Talwar	....	chief assistant director

Art Department
Marutirao V. Kale	....	assistant art director (as Maruti Kale)

Sound Department
Mangesh Desai	....	sound re-recordist
Chandrakant Naik	....	dubbing editor
M.A. Shaikh	....	audiographer
Kuldip Sood	....	associate: Mangesh Desai

Special Effects by
M.A. Hafeez	....	special effects (as M.A. Hafez)
Suresh Naik	....	special effects

Stunts
Kodi S. Irani	....	assistant thrills (as Khodi Irani)
M.B. Shetty	....	stunt coordinator: thrills (as Shetty)

Camera and Electrical Department
Habib Ahmed	....	assistant camera (as Habib)
Romesh Bhalla	....	camera operator
Surjeet Cheema	....	assistant camera (as Surjeet)
Vijay Hangal	....	still photographer
Pandu	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jaikishan	....	wardrobe (as Jaikishen)
Shashikant Shellar	....	wardrobe assistant (as Shashikant)

Editorial Department
Pradeep Mehra	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Robin Chatterjee	....	song recordist
Pamela Chopra	....	playback singer
E. Daniels	....	music assistant (as Enoch Daniels)
Jagjit Kaur	....	music assistant
Kishore Kumar	....	playback singer
Sahir Ludhianvi	....	lyricist (as Sahir)
Lata Mangeshkar	....	playback singer
Mukesh	....	playback singer
Chris Perry	....	conductor

Other crew
G.B. Baokar	....	chief technician
Aruna Bashir	....	dance assistant (as Aruna)
Anand Bhalla	....	production executive
Suresh Bhatt	....	choreographer (as Suresh Bhat)
N.S. Broca	....	business executive
Vas Dev Dheer	....	production controller (as Vas Dev Dhir)
S.S. Kabir	....	associate: G.B. Baokar
Manohar Naidu	....	choreographer (as Naidu)
V. Padmakar	....	technical supervisor
Sheela R.	....	dance assistant (as Sheela)
Bunny Reuben	....	publicist
V.P. Sathe	....	publicist
Jairam Shegde	....	production assistant (as Jairam)
Subhash	....	production assistant
Shakti Vaid	....	production executive

Thanks
Baba Naik	....	acknowledgment (as Mr. Baba Naik)
Panaji	....	acknowledgment

Production Companies

• Yash Raj Films

Distributors

• Yash Raj Films (2004) (India) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Prasad Productions Pvt. Ltd.

Other Companies

• Burlington  dress
• H.M.V.  soundtrack
• Hotel Oberoi Palace  acknowledgement: Srinagar
• Kachins  dress
• M/S. Bhardwaj Bhardwaj & Associates  acknowledgement
• Shiraz Travels  acknowledgement: Srinagar (as M/S. Shiraz Travels)
• Studio Diwakar  artwork

Also Known As:

"Kabhi Kabhie: Love Is Life" - India (English title) (long title)

Runtime:

177 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi | Urdu

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

India:U

Filming Locations:

Himachal Pradesh, India

Company:

Yash Raj Films

Trivia:

At the launch of the movie, the three lead men Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor all wore the same costume Kurta-pajamas.

Quotes:

Amitabh Malhotra:You, / grief for you, / desire for you / no longer exist. / My life seems to be drifting along, / without the need for companionship. / No path, / no goal, / no light is necessary. / In this dark void, / my life stumbles along. / And someday in this very darkness, / I shall lose myself.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Today's Special (2009)

Soundtrack:

Kabhi Kabhie

"Kabhie Kabhie" Dekho Abhie Hi

After directing action movies Joshila and Deewaar, Yash Chopra made Kabhie Kabhie with a theme that he is good at i.e. Love. The movie starts with the song "Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shaayar Hoon" and, ends with the song "Main Har Ek Pal Ka Shaayar Hoon". What lies between the two songs of the poet is a well told love story spanning two generations that shows the transformation of the poet from "Pal Do Pal Ka Shaayar" to "Har Ek Pal Ka Shaayar".

I have watched Kabhie Kabhie several times and, yet I have not got tired of this movie. The main reason for this is that as an audience I can associate to Kabhi Kabhie in different ways, to the characters, to the story, to the music or simply to the musings of the poet.

There are seven main characters and, all of these characters are natural and realistic that audience can feel each of the characters emotion and associate to them. Amitabh, Rakhee, Shashi Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman, Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh, Naseem, all of them have acted very well; but it is Amitabh who steals the show. Parikshit Sahni and Simi Grewal have supported well as the foster parents of Neetu Singh and, Deven Verma provides the comical relief (given a few scenes he leaves a good impression).

Yash Chopra has handled the theme of the movie very well and, has directed superbly. He keeps the story telling simple and linear, develops each character very well, and never goes far from the crux of the story even when touching issues like premarital relationship. Though brief, he also captures the capital Delhi nicely. I regard Kabhie Kabhie as Yash Chopra's best movie until now. He did break the grounds with "Lamhe" in terms of story but he is yet to surpass Kabhie Kabhie as director.

Music and songs have always been the strong point of Yash Chopra's movie. Kabhie Kabhie is among the top ones in that list. The credit goes to both Khayyam and Sahir. One may have to watch Kabhie Kabhie second time just to enjoy the music and songs. The songs melodiously rendered by Mukesh, Lata, Kishore and Pamela to date are chart busters. At the time when Kishore's voice was getting associated with Amitabh, Khayyam broke the trend by using Mukesh's voice to capture the soul and the depth in the poet's (or Sahir's) lyrics (note that in Trishul he did it again using Yesudas's voice for Amitabh).

Khayyam not only composed delightful music for beautiful songs written by Sahir, but also scored one of the best background music in Hindi cinema. The background music is very rich, consistent, pleasant and captures the mood of the characters so as to relate them to the audience. Khayyam has done it mainly by efficiently fiddling with two instruments, such as, two guitars (when Sweety introduces Vicky to Preeti and, when Amit, Anjali, Vicky, Sweety and Preeti are eating dinner), guitar and sitar (Amit and Anjali discussing in the bedroom while they are thinking about two different things and, the change when they talk about themselves; Preeti and Vicky arguing in the garden after Preeti comes to know about her mother), banjo and violin (when Anjali finds out about Preeti and Vicky's love) to describe a few.

It isn't that there are no weak moments in the movie. The story line does has some weakness; but the different strengths of the movie does not lets the audience feel or see them, or lets the audience to ignore them.

As a whole Kabhie Kabhie is one of the best movie that has graced the screens of Hindi cinema.