Naseeb

Manmohan Desai brought together almost the entire film industry for the "John Jani Janardhan" song sequence.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

This was Amitabh and Shatrughan's last appearance together; in an interview, Amitabh claimed he disliked Shatrughan's habit of arriving late.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Apparently, the film was the first whose trailer was shown on Doordarshan before its release.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Manmohan Desai initially wanted the Amar Akbar Anthony trio to headline this film once again. However, Shatrughan Sinha took the place of Vinod Khanna after the latter went on a break from films.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

Neetu Singh signed on for the film and shot one scene. She later left the film when she married, and Kim replaced her.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

During the shooting of Manmohan Desai's "John Jaani Janardan" song, Raj Kapoor was given the responsibility of guiding and directing all the guest film stars.

BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

Anees Bazmee plays a young Shatrughan Sinha.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Shatrughan Sinha could not get the steps right in the Rang Jamake song, and Manmohan Desai decided to have a stand-in artist perform the dance in his place.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

A glass house was built for the lodging of Shatrughan Sinha's and Amjad Khan's characters; it was one of a kind and was later destroyed.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The film was one of the rare films to gross over 1 Crore per territory. By 1984 there were only 13 All-Time Earners [1 Crore per territory], 9 of which starred Bachchan himself, and Naseeb was one of them.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The film was one of the 'All-Time Winners' and received the highest rating then available from Trade Guide [equivalent to today's All-Time Blockbuster].

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Yusuf Khan's character was again called Zibesko, after the character had become famous under that name in Manmohan Desai's earlier film Amar Akbar Anthony (1977).

EASTER EGGS & REFERENCES · SOURCED

The star-studded song was shot at R. K. Studios and the shoot lasted a week. Showman Raj Kapoor played a significant role in the song and during the shoot. The week-long shoot was a gala event.

BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

"Zindagi Imtihaan Leti Hain" was sampled from "Still I'm Sad" by Boney M.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Parveen Babi was signed, but Reena Roy later replaced her.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Shatrughan Sinha's dialogue "saalo tumne to mera bhav hi badha diya" in the film, although it comes at a highly emotional point in the film, drew big applause in cinemas.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

It is one of the few films in which Jeevan did not play the villain.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Reena Roy was never cast as Amitabh's love interest in Hindi films. Naseeb and Andhaa Kanoon are the only two films she appeared in with him. In Naseeb they portrayed a brother-like relationship. In Andhaa Kanoon she had no scenes with him. The Punjabi film Vilayati Babu was the only time they were paired together.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Manmohan Desai signed Shakti Kapoor for Naseeb because Feroz Khan was playing the main villain in Kurban. During the making of Kurban, Feroz Khan had recommended Shakti's name to several major producers.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

To give distributors an idea of how expensive the film could be, Manmohan Desai first shot only 3 reels of Naseeb. The distributors then told Desai to continue with the project.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Because so many guest film stars were involved in the shooting of the song "John Jaani Janardan", two identical sets were built. Amitabh rehearsed on the other set to save time.

BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

Naseeb was planned as a sequel to Amar Akbar Anthony, and Manmohan Desai wanted Vinod Khanna, but when he left those films Shatrughan took his place.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Much of the background music for the scene was reused in Desh Premee.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Naseeb was shot at the same time as "Shaan", which also starred Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Ranjeeta Kaur was angry with Kim because she had signed the film. She felt Kim had used her influence to take the role from her.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Shakti Kapoor and Kader Khan were also to appear in the 1997 film Naseeb; Shakti was to play a minor villain and Kader Govinda's accomplice.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

In the November 1984 issue of Showtime magazine, Rishi Kapoor stated that his role in Naseeb was nothing. He felt he had gotten a better deal with Amar Akbar Anthony. He knew what to expect because in an Amitabh film everyone played a supporting role.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

It is the only film in which Amitabh appeared with Kim.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Although Prem Chopra was older than Kader Khan, he played his son.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

During the making of Naseeb and Desh Premee, two films Manmohan Desai was making with Amitabh Bachchan, Ghajab and Sarforosh were shelved.

PRODUCTION STORY · SOURCED

The title song was so popular that Yash Johar released a film in 1981 called "John Jani Janardhan" (Ringo), starring Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborthy (in place of Randhir Kapoor) and Kamal Haasan. Manmohan Desai was to direct the film. It was shelved after the announcement.

PRODUCTION STORY · SOURCED

Manmohan Desai described Naseeb as his biggest and most expensive film. He stated that he would never again be able to make a film on that scale.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Manmohan Desai said: "People say I am an expensive producer. I sell the distribution rights territory by territory at a very high cost. That is true. But I do not sell my films at gunpoint. The money I spend is visible in my films. It is an open business. My film Naseeb is like a buffet where everyone can take what they want. For that film, to picturise a song called John Johnny Janardan, I had to shoot nearly a hundred shots involving the best stars in the film. Guest appearances."

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

It is the only time Amitabh Bachchan appeared on screen with Raj Kapoor. (No dialogue.)

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

It is the only time Amitabh Bachchan appeared on screen with Rakesh Roshan. (No dialogue.)

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

It is the only time Amitabh Bachchan appeared on screen with Simple Kapadia. (No dialogue.)

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

It is the only time Amitabh Bachchan appeared on screen with Vijay Arora. (No dialogue.)

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

This was Kim's first major film, and it brought her many big offers.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Vinod Khanna was the original choice for the role played by Shatrughan Sinha. After seeing the final product, people agreed that Shatrughan was the better choice. The script required Hema Malini to reject Shatrughan Sinha and ultimately choose Amitabh; had Vinod Khanna played the role, his handsome looks would have made the situation unbelievable. This was why Vinod did not sign Dostana.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

After making a big film like Naseeb, Manmohan Desai decided to make Coolie, a low-budget film.

PRODUCTION STORY · SOURCED

During the sequence song of Chal Mera Bhai, a poster for Coolie featuring a picture of Amitabh Bachchan was visible on the wall. At the time, it had not been announced or known that Coolie would be the next film.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

In Naseeb, Manmohan Desai cast Asrani in a special appearance as a director. In Toofan, he cast Jagdeep as a director in the song Don't Worry Be Happy.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Shashi Kapoor's wife Jennifer held a very deep grudge against Manmohan Desai. It went so far that when Manmohan's son Ketan married Shammi Kapoor's daughter Kanchan, she refused to attend the wedding and stopped her whole family from going too. What had happened was this: Manmohan Desai had signed Shashi Kapoor for Dharam Veer and then dropped him because of Shashi's bad luck at the box office. They later resolved their differences, and Shashi was doing Manmohan Desai's Suhaag. When Vinod Khanna dropped out of Naseeb, it was Shashi Kapoor who signed the film. Shashi always stepped forward to help Manmohan. Manmohan later abandoned Shashi Kapoor without any warning and signed Shatrughan Sinha.

LIFE & FAMILY · SOURCED

The scene shows Jeevan and Shubha Khote planning one evening to watch the 1972 hit film Jawani Diwani, starring Randhir Kapoor (Rishi Kapoor's elder brother) and Jaya Bhaduri (Amitabh Bachchan's wife). The film had been released a year before Zanjeer, the film that made Amitabh Bachchan famous. Viju Khote (Shubha Khote's brother) also made a friendly appearance in the film, where he came to propose marriage to Reena Roy.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

Naseeb's dialogues were remixed by Amit and San J of The X Zecutive. This was the first time Naseeb's dialogues had been re-edited. It was for the Garma Garam Amitabh album. This was in 1990.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Shatrughan Sinha's dialogues were sampled by DJ HMD from Wtf! Bollywood in the song "Me No See Indiano".

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

This was Manmohan Desai's last highest-grossing film that he directed with an ensemble cast alongside Amitabh Bachchan.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Kim said: "What can I say about Naseeb? It was one of the most defining moments of my life; a phone call came wanting to introduce me to Manmohan Desai. My instinctive reaction was that this shouldn't happen. We had a delightful conversation and then he sent me a message saying I was in. I became part of the project because Neetu Singh, who was shooting for two scenes, was marrying Chintu (Rishi Kapoor) and leaving the school. Initially, I felt like a fish out of water on the sets, working with big stars for the first time. He said, 'So just be yourself, but in Hindi,' and told me he wanted my character to be a fast-talking, cheerful girl. During the hottest part of the summer, some of us had headaches by the end of the day and were so sunburnt that my white and black Eliza Doolittle costume was Manji's. I felt I was a conceited type, the exact opposite of Chintu with his Charlie Chaplin look; the costume was so tight that I was stuck inside the hat all day. Since there were metal frames around it, dancing was really hard when none of it was visible on screen. I had a great time working with everyone, including many villains, and after the film I formed a close friendship with Reena Roy."

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

At 3:11 in Naseeb's song "Rang Jamake Jayenge" (Shatrughan Sinha's dance), from 0:01 to 0:05, it is inspired by the comic Czech song "Jozin z Bazin". The song was sung by Ivan Mladek.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The music at 0:04 in "Rang Jamake Jayenge" from Naseeb was reused in Coolie. The music appears in the scene where Rishi Kapoor first meets Mukri at the newspaper press.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Hema Malini rides a motorcycle for the first time in Naseeb. She was one of the first female protagonists to ride a motorcycle in films.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

This was Shakti Kapoor's first film with Amitabh Bachchan.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Amrish Puri is seen playing the piano for a minute; he played the piano in Ghayal.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Before going on his date with Shobha Khote, Jeevan is heard singing a song. The lyrics are "Yeh Jawani Hain Deewani Tu Aaja Mere Rani, Main Aaya Main Aaya, Main Aaya Mere Rani Main…". Over the years, people thought Jeevan was singing a different variation of Kishore Kumar's "Yeh Jawani Hain Diwani" from the film Jawani Diwani. But in reality, Jeevan was singing his song to the melody of the theme music of the old American classic TV series "Dick Van Dyke - end title sequence". Jeevan's "Main Aaya Main Aaya Main Aaya" part was the main part inspired by the TV show's theme music.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Radhika Bartake heard from members of Naseeb's unit that they were looking for an actress to play opposite Rishi Kapoor. Radhika got this information and told her mentor Sawaan Kumar Tak. She had a contract with Tak and needed his permission to sign the film. She ignored his wish and the matter ended there.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Amitabh Bachchan was never in a full-fledged film featuring several well-known actors who also appeared in John Jaani Janardan, but he shared a scene with Rakesh Roshan, Simple Kapadia, Komila Virk, Vijay Arora and Raj Kapoor.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Only in Naseeb. This song was actually supposed to be sung by Usha Uthup, and she even rehearsed for it. However, in the end the song was given to Lata Mangeshkar.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Jeevanprabha Desai died in April 1979. There are two versions of her death. One version states that she suffered food poisoning at home. Another version states that she took her own life due to depression.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

After completing the climax of the film Roti (1974), Kader Khan came to meet Manmohan Desai. Manmohan Desai said to himself that this fool had come again. Kader Khan asked him whether he had said something, since he could read lips. Lip reading was later used in this film, when someone tries to read the villain's lips.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

As of 2024, Naseeb was the last film in which Amitabh and Shatrughan Sinha appeared together (excluding the delayed Yaar Mere Zindagi). Amitabh played the brother of everyone from Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Sunil Dutt, Manoj Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Randhir Kapoor and Vinod Mehra. However, he was never cast as Shatrughan Sinha's brother in any film. Rajesh Khanna made 2 films with Amitabh in which they were friends. Jeetendra made only 1 film with Amitabh in which they were friends.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The song "Dil Leke Jaan Leke" from Na Tum Jaano Na Hum samples from 0:33 of the song "Rang Jamake" in Naseeb from 1:18.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The location of the scene in which Reena Roy (Julie) goes to commit suicide and Rishi Kapoor saves her is the same location used in Manmohan Desai's next film, Desh Premee, in which Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini starred as the lead and the female lead. The location in Desh Premee was the scene immediately after the interval in which the police van crashes and divers search for Amitabh Bachchan's body.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

On screen Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan, and behind the camera Mohammed Rafi, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Anand Bakshi and Manmohan Desai. The best of the Indian film industry came together for a song sequence in this film. Apart from Om Shanti Om, which missed out on Mohammed Rafi and Laxmikant Pyarelal despite being good but full of big lies, no second sequence of this kind exists.

BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

The background music used at the climax, when each of the villains (Amrish Puri, Shakti Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Kader Khan and Yusuf Khan) takes up a medieval weapon to attack Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Rishi Kapoor and Pran, was the same music later used in BR Chopra's TV series Mahabharat. This music was used in several battle scenes, including the Kauravas' attack on Panchal and the battle between the Chedi and the Yadavas during Rukmini's abduction. The same applied to the music in the part near the end of the climax, in the building opposite the restaurant, where the women are with the firemen and the men are to trigger a wire so they can enter the building safely. The beginning of the background music used was later used in Mahabharat in the episode in which the Kauravas and Pandavas grow up and are introduced to the citizens of Hastinapur.

EASTER EGGS & REFERENCES · SOURCED

In his scene with Kim, when Rishi Kapoor catches her smoking, he indirectly swears and then tries to blow the smoke out of his mouth, and when he tells Shobha Khote about her dirty mind, there was an indirect allusion to sexual intercourse in this scene.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The Rahbani Brothers' song "Arabian Holiday (Ya Ghozayel)" was used in the film. This song was included on the album RON GOODWIN and His Concert Orchestra: MUSIC FOR AN ARABIAN NIGHT / HOLIDAY IN BEIRUT. It appears in the film while Deepak watches a dancer. Ye Bhi Koi Roothne Ka Din Hai - Film: Solva Saal (1958). The music belongs to S. D. Burman. Given that Solva Saal was released in 1958 and the Arabian Night music premiered in 1959, it is possible that the senior Burman was inspired by the original version of the Arabian Holiday titled 'Ya Ghozayel', composed by the Rahbani Brothers. The title music of the film Badal (1985) also samples "Ya Ghozayel". In Naseeb's "Rang Jamake Jayenge" (audio version) at 3:15, the "Arabian Holiday - Ya Ghozayel" melody is recreated.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The song XI Manifesto "Jon Jani Jonathan" is a cover version of John Jani Janardhan.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Amitabh and Shatrughan Sinha worked together in Dostana, which was released a year earlier and also featured a love triangle, and in both films Amitabh gets the heroine.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Amitabh Bachchan sang the song Chal Mere Bhai in his own voice.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

During the shooting of this film, Rishi Kapoor was filming for Karz and had high hopes for it, but things did not go well and Rishi fell into depression and did not want to shoot for Naseeb, but he had to report to the set.

BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

The background music at the moment when Amjad Khan fakes a heart attack in Naseeb and falls out of the car was inspired by the music at exactly 0:56 in the song Yaar Ki Khabar Mil Gayee from Ram Balram (audio version 8 minutes).

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

When Sachin whispers good news about Satte Pe Satta into Amitabh's ear, Amitabh cheers loudly. When Amitabh proposed to Hema Malini in Naseeb, he repeated the same loud cheer and she accepted.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Usha Uthup was initially to sing the song Mere Naseeb Mein and also rehearsed it. However, the final version was sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED