Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 8, 2015)
Vijay Anand's favourite film, both as an actor and as a director, was Tere Mere Sapne. It was inspired by AJ Cronin's novel, The Citadel, on medical ethics, laying the foundation for the publicly funded National Health Service (NHS) in UK a decade later. In '38, a year after it was published, it was adapted as a film featuring Robert Donat, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Richardson and Rex Harrison. It was also the subject for many TV shows in the UK, US and Italy, and in India inspired films in three languages - Tere Mere Sapne (Hindi, '71), Jiban Saikate (Bengali, '72) and Madhura Swapnam (Telugu, '82).
The novel revolved around the moral degeneration of an idealistic doctor in Scotland as he moves from philanthropic research to a private practice and easy money, slowly drifting away from his school teacher wife, till a patient dies and he is accused of murder. That brings about a change of heart and a forceful argument in court ensures he's not struck off the medical register.
Goldie, as Vijay Anand was fondly called, believed that medical malpractices in India were not all that different from that in Scotland, having been a "case study" himself for almost a decade after being diagnosed with a kidney stone. "Two doctors fought over my commission and the operation was finally performed by a new surgeon who had been given a "break" to operate on Dev Anand's brother," he'd revealed bitterly.
Dev essayed the role of the protagonist, Dr Anand Kumar, with Mumtaz as his wife, Nisha. Goldie in a cameo played Dr. Jagannath Kothari, a village obstetrician who, disillusioned by the corruption in medical circles, takes to drinking. Mohan Churiwala, a close associate of Dev Anand's remembers a cousin of the brothers, Dr Avinash Chadda, a renowned surgeon who'd wanted to relocate to India, but frustrated by his experiences of what he saw here, returned to UK and settled there.
For his cameo, Goldie read up as many books as he could, so every action during the operations was medically correct. And since his busy actor brother couldn't spare as much time on prep, he got a doctor to supervise his scenes. "Tere Mere Sapne was perfect in every way," he later exulted, having got permission to shoot the climax where Dr Anand is battling to save his wife and child in the operation theatre of a real hospital when a caesarean delivery was underway.
In a departure from the novel, he'd introduced a new character, Maltimala, a leading Bollywood actress whose growing closeness to Dr Anand creates a rift between him and his wife. "That track was inspired by Vyjayanthimala and Dr Bali's romance, which was common knowledge in the industry. He'd started visiting her on the sets of Sangam when she complained of migraine and after a while had become her personal physician and a permanent fixture on her sets, eventually tying the knot with her," informs Churiwala, pointing out that Maltimala also suffered from headaches brought on by stress, exhaustion and anxiety and falls in love with Dr Anand for his soothing bedside manners.
Tere Mere Sapne had a hummable score by SD Burman with evergreen numbers like "Jaise Radha Ne Mala Japi" and "Ae Maine Kasam Li". For the latter, Goldie was the one who had come up with two lines that he had in mind: "Saans Teri Madira Madira Jaise Rajani Gandhaa, Pyaar Teraa Madhura Madhura Chaandani Ki Gangaa" and sounded out Dada Burman who promised to think of something along those line.
"At around 10.30 pm there was a call from him. I was surprised because it was common knowledge that he went to bed by 10 pm but apparently he'd been so inspired by the mukhda that the same night he came up with a tune," Goldie had reminisced, adding that he had then given the tune to Neeraj who was being introduced in the film telling him not to change the mukhda Goldie had written, bas aage likho.
The song that eventually took form was Ae Maine Kasam Li, Li, Ae tune kasam li, li Nahin Honge Judaa Hum, Ki Ae Maine Kasam Li. Saans Teri Madira Madira Jaise Rajani Gandhaa, Pyaar Teraa Madhura Madhura Chaandani Ki Gangaa, Nahin Honge Judaa Hum, Ki Ae Main Ne Kasam Li... It's hummed even today, 44 years after it was first heard.