Raj Khosla's evergreen film 'Do Raaste' (1969)

The film 'Do Raaste' is one of the most loved old Bollywood films of the sixties. Released in 1969, the film is remembered for its family story, strong acting, beautiful songs, and the magic of the then top stars Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz.

"Do Raaste" means two different dilemmas that come in life. The film depicts the life of a simple, middle-class family in India.

Navendu Gupta (Balraj Sahni) was a young boy without a mother, his father remarried. When Navendu's step mother (Veena) saw the fear and doubt in the boy's eyes, she told him that he would always be like a real son to her. Many years later, the father, on his deathbed, asks young Navendu to make a promise. His father asked him to take care of his step-siblings and step-mother as if they were all of his own blood. Navendu kept that promise and responsibility until they all grew up, and he became like a father to them.

The family consists of his step-mother, his younger step-brothers Viju (Prem Chopra) and Satyen (Rajesh Khanna), his stepsister Geeta, his own wife Madhavi (Kamini Kaushal), and their children. Navendu works very hard to keep the family together and fulfill the promise he made to his father.

The younger brother Satyen is a college student. He falls in love with the vivacious, playful Reena (Mumtaz), their love story adds sweetness and hope to the film. But trouble begins when the other brother Viju, marries a stubborn girl Neela (Bindu). Neela is selfish and wants to break away from the joint family. She creates quarrels and misunderstandings, which breaks the family apart. The story of the film tells that only love, patience and sacrifice can heal any wound and bring everyone together again.

However, the day finally comes when these young siblings stand at the crossroads of life with different ideologies where they need to choose between the path of sacrifice and the path of selfishness. Do Raaste is the story of siblings who chose opposite paths.

The story depicts the nature of life in a lower middle class joint family and highlights the internal conflicts that can easily tear a family apart.

The heart of the film reflects love, sacrifice and the importance of staying together as a family even when times are tough.

Other cast members of the film include Asit Sen, Mehmood Jr., Jayant, Kumud Bole, Uma Dutt, Shah Agha, Johnny Walker, Mukri, Jayant, Mohan Choti, Tuntun and Leela Mishra.

The film is directed by Raj Khosla, who was known for making strong emotional films in those days. The story of this film is based on a Marathi novel named 'Nilambar' by Chandrakant Kakodkar. The screenplay is written by G.R. Kamath, and the dialogues are written by Akhtar Romani.

The music of 'Do Raaste' is its biggest strength. The songs were composed by the famous duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal and the lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi. The film has many hit songs like "Bindiya Chamkegi", (Lata Mangeshkar) Yeh Reshmi Zulfein (Mohammad Rafi) 'Chhup Gaye Sare Nazare Oye Kya Baat Ho Gayi', 'Dil Ne Dil Ko Pukaara' (Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar ), Apni Apni Biwi Par Sabko Gurur Hai (Lata Mangeshkar), Mere Naseeb Mein Ae Dost (Kishore Kumar) Do Rang Duniya Ke and Do Raaste (Mukesh) songs are still loved by people and are played at weddings or on the radio.

When Do Raaste released, it was a super hit at the box office. The film became one of the highest grossing films of 1969. It made Rajesh Khanna a superstar and his fans went into a frenzy at the premiere of the film. People came in huge numbers to see him and the excitement was so high that it led to a near stampede situation . The film was made on a modest budget but it earned a lot of money and was declared a superhit.

Behind the scenes, the film had many interesting moments. The producers were worried whether the family drama would attract the audience or not but the skilful acting and the emotional story won everyone's heart. It is said that during this time, the chemistry between Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz became so natural that many people thought that they were in love in real life. Balraj Sahni, who played the role of the elder brother, was respected by everyone on the sets for his discipline and dedication even behind the camera during the shooting.

Another unknown fact is that Raj Khosla made the film with his joint family and sacrifice as the theme and was inspired by real life stories of Indian families.

Another interesting thing is that the very old song "Ek Bangla Bane Nyara" was bought by the makers especially to use as the theme of the film which shows the dream of a happy family home.

According to reports, Sanjay Khan was the first choice to play Rajesh Khanna. But according to reports, his secretary quoted a very high price so the deal did not work out.

In this film, Rajesh Khanna was forced to sport a beard and moustache in some scenes as he had to sport a beard and moustache for his role in Ittefaq (1969) and they were shooting for both the films simultaneously.

This was one of the first films of Rajesh Khanna as a hero. This film was in the genre of family drama.

Mumtaz, who till then had played heroine in small and low budget films or second lead in big films, was playing heroine for the first time in a big and A grade film in this film. Her role was mostly limited to looking glamorous and singing songs.

This was also one of the early films of Bindu who played the role of an outspoken evil daughter-in-law and her role was very strong in the film. In fact Bindu had accompanied her brother in law Laxmikant Kudalkar (of music director duo Laxmikant Pyarelal) for the recording of his film. Director Raj Khosla saw her and asked Laxmikant who is Bindu and if she will be interested in doing his film. As a result Bindu signed the film and became a permanent vamp. Bindu did not want to play the villain at first. But she was suggested to do this role and her career took off. This film also got her a Filmfare Award nomination. After Bindu's character was appreciated filmmakers added villainous characters in their films especially for her.

The song Chup Gaye Sare Nazare was sampled in Ayvi's song Hide and Seek from the Luck Instrumentals album.

The song "Chup Gaye Sare Nazare" was sampled in Sukh Knight's song "Shutdown".

Though the film had many hit songs, Saigal's retro song 'Ek Bangla Bane Nyara' is like the theme song of the film. "Ek Bangla Bane Nyara" was the signature song of the film 'The President' (1937). Composed by R.C. Boral and Pankaj Malik and sung by K.L. Saigal, this song was shown playing on the record player in the beginning and climax of the film 'Do Raaste'. As it was played to underline the essence of the film in a significant way. Just like in 2020, RD Burman's songs have been played in many films like Jigra, Student of the Year etc.

Tu Jhoot Bolta Hai song from the film 'Chhota Sa Ghar' A portion of this song's tune may have been taken from "Yeh Reshmi Zulfein" ("Do Raaste", 1969).

This film was remade as 'Om Jai Jagdish'.

This film was based on Chandrakant Kakodkar's popular Marathi novel "Nilambari".

Bindu played the role of Nilambari.

Directed by Raj Khosla, "Do Raaste" was a 1969 Bollywood film known for its family drama and its success in making Rajesh Khanna a superstar. This glorious phase started with Aradhana in 1969 and continued till Haathi Mere Saathi in 1971. Rajesh Khanna's fan following during this period prompted the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to make a documentary on him in 1973 titled Bombay Superstar. The story of the film focused on the challenges of a middle class family, the importance of family relationships, respect for elders and the role of a mother.

This film was released between 1969 and 1971. It was one of Rajesh Khanna's 17 consecutive hits in the year 1971, which further cemented his status as a superstar. This included the two hero films 'Maryada' and 'Andaz', which were consecutive solo hits between 1969 and 1971. Due to his very young age, he became famous as 'Kaka' (children are called Kaka in   Punjabi).

"Do Raaste" was a blockbuster hit, grossing ₹65 million (US$8.59 million) in India and ₹65.9 million (US$8.71 million) overall. This made it the second-highest-grossing film of 1969 at the Indian box office, behind Aradhana.

In the United Kingdom, the film was released in 1970. It became the first Indian film to gross £100,000 in the U.K., which is equivalent to ₹900,000 (US$118,940.64). Its U.K. box office record was broken a year later by Purab Aur Paschim, which released in the U.K. in 1970.

In total, the film grossed an estimated ₹65.9 million (US$8.71 million) in India and the United Kingdom.

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