Bollywood films Khel Khel Mein 1975: A Classic Blend of Romance, Comedy, and Thriller

Films Khel Khel Mein 1975: One of those Bollywood films of the 1970s that is still fresh in the memory not only for its story but also for the youthful energy and charm brought by its stars, especially Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh.

Released in 1975, the film stands at the juncture of romance, comedy and thriller and is often remembered as an epitome of the Rishi-Neetu pairing, be it on screen or off.

The film opens in the picturesque hills of Shimla, where Ajay Anand (Rishi Kapoor) joins a new college. He is a little shy and reserved. Two mischievous students of the college, Vikram (Rakesh Roshan) and Nisha (Neetu Singh) rag him in a playful manner but soon the three form a strong friendship.

One day, the students come across a rich but miserly jeweller (Jankidas). Just to teach him a lesson, the three friends write him a threatening letter demanding money and also write that if the money is not given, they will murder him. All hell breaks loose when the next day, the jeweler is actually murdered.

The three friends get scared. They think that now they can be blamed for the murder. They try to destroy the typewriter which they had used for writing the letter, but to their dismay the typewriter had disappeared . The three students also  get a feeling that a stranger is watching them 24 hours a day.

One day, one of the three friends, Vikram, also gets murdered. The other two students Ajay and Nisha are now even more scared and try to tell everything to the police, but the police do not believe them. Both of them come to know that their friend Vikram was involved with a club singer named Sherry (Aruna Irani). Ajay and Nisha want to meet Sherry to know about Vikram's killer but when they go to meet Sherry, Sherry is also found dead.

Ajay and Nisha come to know that Sherry was in cahoots with a dangerous criminal named Black Cobra and Vikram was Sherry's partner, Vikram had not disclosed this to his friend Ajay and Nisha. After a lot of struggle, Ajay and Nisha also come to know that the jeweller was murdered because he was being blackmailed by Black Cobra and fed up, the jeweller had threatened Black Cobra to tell everything to the police. Black Cobra was the one who killed Vikram and Sherry too, because he felt that Vikram and Sherry were extorting money using his name.

On the insistence of a police officer Inspector Bhupendra Singh, Nisha and Ajay collect all the solid evidence against Black Cobra and give it to him, but that police officer burns those evidences in fire and says that he is not a police officer but Black Cobra (Iftikhar) himself and now he will kill them along with destroying all the evidences. And when he was about to kill them  the stranger Charlie (Yunus Parvez) who was following Ajay and Nisha all the time arrives and saves them and reveals that he had hidden the typewriter so that no one can destroy this evidence.
Eventually Ajay and Nisha are proven innocent and promise that they will never do such dangerous pranks again.

The cast of the film is a big reason for its success. Rishi Kapoor, with his boyish charm and honesty, plays the role of the naïve Ajay very well. Neetu Singh is very pretty and enthusiastic as Nisha. The love chemistry between the two is clear and palpable. Rakesh Roshan succeeds in the role of Vikram. The other main actors in the film are Preeti Ganguly, Kamal Kapoor Chand Osmani, Lalita Pawar, Hari Shivdasani, Moolchand and Jagdish Raj.

Behind the scenes, Khel Khel Mein was directed by Ravi Tandon and written by Sachin Bhowmick.

The film's cinematography was done by M.R Vasudev showcasing the beauty of Shimla and Kashmir, especially in the song sequences. The editing by Vaman B Bhosle and Gurudutt Shirali keeps the pace of the film tight, especially when the film turns from comedy to thriller.

The music of Khel Khel Mein is superb, composed by R.D. Burman and lyrics by Gulshan Bawra. The soundtrack includes evergreen hits like "Khullam Khulla Pyar Karenge", "Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu" 'Aaye Lo Pyar Ke Din Aaye' sung by Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle. Apart from these songs, memorable tracks include Humne Tumko Dekha Tumne Humko Dekha Aise (Shailendra Singh) Sapna Mera Toot Gaya Tu Na Raha Kuch Na Raha (R.D. Burman, Asha Bhosle),

There are some interesting anecdotes associated with the making of the film. For instance, while shooting for the famous "Khullam Khulla Pyar Karenge" song in freezing cold Pahalgam, Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, who were dating at the time, reportedly drank a little cognac to stay warm before filming. This off-screen chemistry translated beautifully on screen, making their pair the most loved couple in Bollywood.

The music of the film was nominated for Filmfare Awards, but R.D. Burman did not get the award as he fell short to Rajesh Roshan's work in "Julie" and Asha Bhosle too, though nominated, did not win the award. Sulakshana Pandit won the award for her film 'Sankalp'.

Khel Khel Mein was not only a box office hit, it also left a memorable impact on Bollywood. It was a new take on the college romance genre, mixing light-hearted fun with mystery and crime. The film was so successful that it inspired remakes in other languages, including Malayalam ("Aruthu" in 1976), Hindi ("Khiladi" in 1992) and Marathi ("Bindahast" in 1999). This shows the global appeal of its story of how a simple prank can spiral out of control, leading to dire consequences.

The film's box office performance was strong for its time, cementing Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh as a hit pair.

The success of this film also contributed to the emergence of Rishi Kapoor as a romantic hero and established Neetu Singh as one of the leading actresses of that era.

One of the lesser known facts about Khel Khel Mein is that it was based on the French novel "Good Children Don't Kill" by Louis Thomas. This adaptation gave the film a unique twist, blending a Western thriller with Indian sensibilities.

The film's plot and the way it balanced humour and suspense was ahead of its time, and many Bollywood thrillers later adopted its style.

The film's portrayal of youth culture in the 1970s highlighted the excitement, confusion and carelessness of college life and how easily young people get caught up in things they don't fully understand.

Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh's real-life romance brought their scenes in this film to life. In several interviews, Rishi Kapoor mentioned how the cold weather brought the cast closer during the shoot, and how the fun they had off-screen translated into the romantic atmosphere of the film.

Director Ravi Tandon was known for his ability to mix different twists as a director and his ability to transform Khel Khel Mein from a comedy to a thriller is still praised by critics.

R.D. Burman's music in the film was youthful and energetic, his songs were not just fillers but carried the story forward and reflected the emotions of the characters. The dialogues of the film were written in simple, everyday language, which made it relevant to audiences across India.

This film proved that a film can be entertaining and thought-provoking at the same time, and audiences were ready for stories that went beyond the usual formula.

Inspired by this film, Abbas Mustan produced the film Khiladi in 1992 with a different twist and a completely different track.

In this film, Rishi Kapoor and Rakesh Roshan worked together for the first time and became best friends in the film industry with this film.

This was the first hit film of Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh when they were cast together as a pair.

Mithun Chakraborty played a small role as an extra actor in this film.

In the film Shaun of the Dead, the song 'Humein Tumko Dekha' from this film can be heard when Shaun is entering the paper shop.

Rishi Kapoor and Rakesh Roshan became Bollywood's best friends during the shooting of this film and their close friendship continued till 2020 when Rishi Kapoor passed away i.e. their friendship remained unbroken for 45 years.

Kader Khan while talking about this film said "One day, when I was going to work in my polytechnic, a man came to me and told me that he wanted me to write dialogues for his film too. He forced a heavy envelope in my hands. When I opened it, it contained Rs 21,000."

Ennio Morricone's score for Leone's cult classic western 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' was equally cult and hit. But do you remember the song that was played when Blondie (Clint Eastwood) and Tuco (Eli Wallach) were locked up in a prisoner of war camp? Remember? No? So let us tell you that the background song, 'Ek Sainik Ki Kahani' inspired Pancham Da to  compose and sing 'Sapna Mera Toot Gaya' in Rishi Kapoor-Neetu Singh starrer 'Khel Khel Mein'. But, as usual, he only took inspiration from it , the rest was Pancham's own imagination.

The famous song 'Ek Main Aur Ek Tu' from Khel Khel Mein was inspired by the nursery rhyme "If Your Happy And You Know It".

The song "Humein Tumko Dekha" was taken from Lord Paramour's international song "Russian Gospel".

Tere Bin Main Kuch Bhi Nahin, Jaane Jaana Se... was developed by R.D. Burman from the tune of this song which he had earlier used in the opening credits of the film "Khel Khel Mein" (1975).

This title track had the voices of Asha Bhosle and R.D. Burman, but it was not included in the audio release of "Khel Khel Mein" (1975).

It was reported that DJ Aqeel had put a remix of Humne Tumko Dekha in the album 'Ek Haseena Thi'.

According to reports, Radio Nasha says that the theme music of the film was used in the film "Jaane Jaan".

Song in Shaun of the Dead: According to IMDb, the song "Humne Tumko Dekha" is included in the film "Shaun of the Dead".

It is reported that: 30 years after the release of "Khel Khel Mein", Rishi Kapoor was seen romancing Dimple Kapadia in the remix version of the song "Khullam Khulla Pyar Karenge".

Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh got married in 1980 and have two children- daughter Riddhima Kapoor Sahni and son- actor Ranbir Kapoor.

Rishi passed away on April 30, 2020 after a battle with cancer.

The song remains a favourite among Bollywood fans. This is a film that can be watched again and again, not just for its story but also for the joy and nostalgia it provides.

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