''Bobby'' is a 1973 Indian Hindi-language

musical romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

, produced and directed by

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (pronunciation: �aːd͡ʒ kəpuːɾ born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of th ...

, and written by

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (7 June 1914 – 1 June 1987) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, novelist, and journalist in Urdu, Hindi and English. He won four National Film Awards in India. Internationally, his films won the Palme d'Or (Golden ...

. The film stars Raj Kapoor's son,

Rishi Kapoor Rishi Raj Kapoor (4 September 1952 — 30 April 2020) was an Indian actor, film director and producer who worked in Hindi films Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry base ...

, in his first leading role, opposite

Dimple Kapadia Dimple Kapadia (born 8 June 1957) is an Indian actress predominantly appearing in Hindi films. Born and raised in Mumbai by wealthy parents, she aspired to become an actress from a young age and received her first opportunity through her father ...

in her debut role. The film became a blockbuster, the top-grossing Indian hit of 1973, the second-top-grossing hit of the 1970s at the Indian box office, and one of the top 20 highest-grossing Indian films of all time (when adjusted for inflation). It also became an overseas blockbuster in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, where it drew an audience of 62.6 million viewers, making it one of the top 20 biggest box office hits of all time in the Soviet Union. The film became a trend-setter. It was wildly popular and widely imitated. It introduced to Bollywood the genre of teenage romance with a rich-versus-poor clash as a backdrop. Numerous films in the following years and decades were inspired by this plot. ''Indiatimes Movies'' ranks ''Bobby'' amongst the 'Top 30 Must See Bollywood Films'. The film was remade in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

as ''Parvaz dar Ghafas'' in 1980. ''Bobby'' was Dimple Kapadia's first and only film of the 70s era. As she left the film industry following her early marriage, before returning back to proper movies in the mid-80s till the present date.

Plot

The story is about the love between two

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

teenagers of different classes—Raja 'Raj' Nath (

), the son of a rich

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

businessman Ram Nath ( Pran), and Bobby Braganza (

), the daughter of a poor

Goan Goans ( kok, गोंयकार, Romi Konkani: , pt, Goeses) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Indo-Portuguese, an ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

fisherman Jack Braganza (

Prem Nath Prem Nath Malhotra, better known as Prem Nath, was an Indian actor and director, who was best known for his works in Hindi films. Nath made his debut with the film ''Ajit'' (1948), and went on to appear in over 100 films throughout his career. ...

). Raj returns from his boarding school. Upon his return, his parents throw a party to celebrate his birthday. Raj's former governess Mrs. Braganza (

Durga Khote Durga Khote (14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was an Indian actress, beginning as one of the foremost leading ladies of her times, she remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starring in around ...

) comes by with her granddaughter Bobby to give him a present, but Raj's mother Sushma Nath (

Sonia Sahni Sonia Sahni is an Indian actress who worked in Hindi language films. Her debut film was '' Johar-Mehmood in Goa'' with actors I. S. Johar and Mehmood. Her other notable films are '' Maalik (1972 film)'', '' Buddha Mil Gaya'', '' Bobby'', ''Dhara ...

) ignores Mrs. Braganza, which leads her to leave the party with Bobby in a rush. Raj opens his gifts the next day and finds Mrs. Braganza's gift, so he decides to meet her in person. Reaching there, Bobby opens the door for him, and it is

love at first sight Love at first sight is a personal experience as well as a common trope in literature: a person or character feels an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction for a stranger upon first seeing that stranger. Described by p ...

for him. During that visit, he mixes his book with Bobby's, so he goes to meet her at the library to exchange the books, and from that, both start their friendship. Raj and Bobby decide to go to see a movie, but find out it is a full house. Then Raj gets an idea to go to a party. At the party, Bobby sees Raj talking to Sushma's dance partner Nima (

Aruna Irani Aruna Irani (born 3 May 1946) is an Indian actress, who has acted in over 500 films throughout Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati cinema, playing mostly supporting and character roles. She has won two Filmfare Awards for Best Supporting Act ...

) privately and thinks he is in love with her, so she breaks off her relationship before running off to Kashmir. However, Raj comes by to Kashmir and clears up the misunderstanding, prompting Bobby to resume her relationship with him. Despite Jack and Mrs. Braganza being very supportive of Raj and Bobby's relationship due to Raj's friendly nature, Raj learns that the matter is not taken kindly by Ram, who abhors the idea of his son falling in love with the daughter of a poor fisherman. Upon Raj's insistence, Ram invites Jack over to initiate talks of Raj and Bobby's relationship. But instead, a feud ignites when Ram insults Jack and accuses him of using Bobby's beauty and charm to trap Raj for his money; he even offered Jack a bribe of cash to stop Bobby from seeing Raj. Jack gets offended by this accusation and retaliates by insulting Ram before leaving in a huff with Bobby, forbidding her to hang out with Raj again. To ensure of Bobby's safety, Jack sends her and Mrs. Braganza to live in

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

. Raj gets angry at Ram for driving Bobby away; this was further intensified when he learns that Ram intends to have him marry a mentally-challenged wealthy girl named Alka 'Nikki' Sharma (

Farida Jalal Farida Jalal (born Farida Sami; 18 May 1950) is an Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi films. In a film career spanning almost fifty years, Jalal appeared in over 200 films. Best known for her character-driven roles in independent cin ...

) to establish business ties with her rich father Mr. Sharma (

Pinchoo Kapoor Pinchoo Kapoor (1927 – April 28, 1989) was an Indian actor born in Rawalpindi, Punjab, British India in 1927. He acted in many Hindi films during the 1970s and 1980s. His film career lasted from 1969 to 1989. He is best remembered for his rol ...

) without even consulting Raj; even Sushma and Nima aren't supportive of the idea as well. On the advice from Nima (who sympathizes with Raj on the issue), Raj cuts off all ties to his father and drives off to Goa to reunite with Bobby, who runs away with him. As Sushma blames Ram for driving Raj away, the latter advertises a reward of $25,000 for anyone who can help find Raj. Upon spotting Raj and Bobby while seeing the reward on a local newspaper, a local greedy goon named Prem Chopra (

Prem Chopra Prem Chopra (born 23 September 1935) is an Indian actor in Hindi and Punjabi films. He has acted in 380 films over a span of over 60 years. He has a soft-spoken diction despite being a villain in most films. His 19 films, with him as antagonist ...

) decides that he wants the money so he and his goons kidnap Raj and Bobby. When the teens try to escape, Prem starts beating up Raj while having his goons to restrain Bobby. Eventually, Jack comes to the rescue by attacking Prem, who orders his goons to beat up Jack in retaliation. However, this was witnessed by an arriving Ram and the police, who furiously beat up and arrest Prem and his goons while Raj and Bobby escape. Deciding that they don't want their fathers to interfere in their relationship anymore, Raj and Bobby attempted to commit suicide by jumping over a waterfall after chewing out Ram for antagonizing Jack and starting the feud in the first place. However, a horrified Ram and Jack dive in and rescue both teens from being drowned. Having realized the folly of the feud that almost drove both teens to death, a remorseful Ram and Jack agreed to end the feud by giving their blessings to Raj and Bobby's relationship, promising never to interfere with it again. With their relationships reconciled, the teens and their fathers happily head back home to their families.

Cast

launched his second son Rishi Kapoor in this film; he wanted a new heroine to complement the young love story.

and

Neetu Singh Neetu Kapoor (born Harneet Kaur), is an Indian actress who is known for appearing in Hindi films throughout the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. In 2012, Singh was inducted into the Walk of the Stars, an entertainment hall of fame at Bandra ...

were auditioned for the role of Bobby Braganza, but Dimple was finally selected.

Production

In an interview in 2012, Rishi Kapoor stated, "There was a misconception that the film was made to launch me as an actor. The film was made to pay the debts of ''

Mera Naam Joker ''Mera Naam Joker'' () is a 1970 Indian Hindi romance drama film, directed, edited and produced by Raj Kapoor under his banner R. K. Films, and written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. The film stars Raj Kapoor as the eponymous character, with his son ...

''. Dad wanted to make a teenage love story and he did not have money to cast

Rajesh Khanna Rajesh Khanna () (; born Jatin Khanna; 29 December 1942 – 18 July 2012) was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who worked in Hindi films. He is called as the "First Superstar of Hindi cinema", he consecutively starred in a record ...

in the film".

Filming

Some scenes were shot in

Gulmarg Gulmarg (), known as Gulmarag (; ) in Kashmiri, is a town, hill station, popular skiing destination, and notified area committee in the Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is located at a distance of from Baramulla and from S ...

. One scene was shot in a hut in Gulmarg, which became famous as the 'Bobby Hut'. A few scenes towards the end of the movie were shot on Pune-Solapur highway near

Loni Kalbhor Loni Kalbhor is a village 11 kilometres east of the City of Pune, Maharashtra, India. Geography The village lies on the northern side at the foot of the Sinhagad- Bhuleshwar mountain range, a West to East spur of the Sahyadri mountains. The ...

where Raj Kapoor owned a farm.

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by the Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo. The lyrics were written by

Anand Bakshi Anand Bakshi (21 July 1930 – 30 March 2002) was an Indian poet and lyricist. He was nominated for the Filmfare award for Best lyricist a total of 40 times, resulting in 4 wins. Early life Anand Bakshi (Bakshi Anand Prakash Vaid) was born ...

Rajkavi Inderjeet Singh Tulsi Rajkavi Inderjeet Singh Tulsi (2 April 1926 – 11 May 1984), was an Indian patriotic poet, Bollywood lyricist, and author. His writings in Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu covered every aspect of life, including religion, romance, labor's life, country' ...

, and

Vithalbhai Patel Vithalbhai Patel (27 September 1873 – 22 October 1933) was an Indian legislator and political leader, co-founder of the Swaraj Party and elder brother of Sardar Patel. Early life Born in Nadiad, in the Indian state of Gujarat, Vithalbhai ...

. Lyrics penned by Anand Bakshi except where noted.

Box office

In India, ''Bobby'' was the highest-grossing film of 1973, earning 11

crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

. It was also the second-highest-grossing film at the Indian box office in the 1970s, second only to ''

Sholay ''Sholay'' (, ) is a 1975 Indian Hindi-language action-adventure film directed by Ramesh Sippy, produced by his father G. P. Sippy, and written by Salim–Javed. The film is about two criminals, Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) ...

'' (1975). Adjusted for inflation, it grossed 398 crore in 2011 value,Worth Their Weight In Gold! (70's)
, ''

Box Office India Box Office India is an Indian film website. Its traffic ranking in India is 83,665 . A new Box Office India website went live on 20 January 2014. About Box Office India was launched on 10 June 2003. Its uses Whois privacy to anonymize its ow ...

'', 3 November 2011 equivalent to in 2016 value. As of 2011, it is one of the top 20 highest-grossing films of all time in India.Top 50 Film of Last 50 Years
, ''

'', 3 November 2011 Overseas, ''Bobby'' was very successful in the

when it released there in 1975, due to Raj Kapoor's popularity in the country. ''Bobby'' drew 62.6million admissions at the Soviet box office, making it the second-best-selling film on the Soviet box office charts in 1975,''Indian Films in Soviet Cinemas: The Culture of Movie-going After Stalin''
page 89,

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes 140 ...

, 2005 the most popular Indian film of the 1970s, the second-biggest foreign film of the decade, the sixth-biggest box office hit of the decade, the second-most-viewed Indian film of all time (after Raj Kapoor's ''

Awaara ''Awaara'', also written ''Awāra'', ur, , Āvārā, group=n, name=HindiUrdu and known overseas as ''The Vagabond'', is a 1951 Indian Hindi crime drama film, produced and directed by Raj Kapoor, and written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. It stars R ...

''), the sixth-biggest foreign hit of all time, and one of the top 20 biggest box office hits of all time. The film's success launched Rishi Kapoor into an overnight movie star in the Soviet Union, much like ''Awaara'' had done for his father Raj Kapoor. Similarly, the film was very successful in

Southeast Asian Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

countries such as

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. It was popular among non-Indian audiences in these countries, despite a lack of local language

dubbing Dubbing (re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production, often in concert with sound design, in which additional or supplementary recordings are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production sou ...

subtitles Subtitles and captions are lines of dialogue or other text displayed at the bottom of the screen in films, television programs, video games or other visual media. They can be transcriptions of the screenplay, translations of it, or informati ...

upon its initial Malaysian release. It was among the most popular foreign films in Malaysia at the time, along with

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

films such as ''

The Big Boss ''The Big Boss'' (, lit. "The Big Brother from Tangshan"; originally titled ''Fists of Fury'' in America) is a 1971 Hong Kong action martial arts film produced by Raymond Chow and starring Bruce Lee in his first major film in a lead role. Th ...

'' (1972). In China, the film was released in 1990.

Critical reception

The Illustrated Weekly of India ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'' was an English-language weekly newsmagazine publication in India. It started publication in 1880 (as ''Times of India'' Weekly Edition; later renamed as ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'' in 1923) and ceasin ...

'' wrote upon release that despite a new style, "the story formula remains the same as ever". The review further noted that despite some gimmicks, the film's commercial appeal may be attributed to the "two fresh-faced, delightful youngsters", later praising the performances, including the lead pair who "act with natural ease and freshness", Premnath who is "outstanding as the expansive, volatile Mr. Braganza", but accused Pran of being typecast.

Awards

21st Filmfare Awards The 21st Filmfare Awards were held in 1974. ''Anuraag'' won Best Film, but fail to win any other awards, a feat which was repeated by a few films in the 1970s. ''Bobby'' led the ceremony with 14 nominations, followed by ''Zanjeer'' with 9 n ...

: ;Won * Best Actor – Rishi Kapoor *

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

– Dimple Kapadia (tied with

Jaya Bhaduri Jaya Bachchan (''née'' Bhaduri; born 9 April 1948) is an Indian actress and politician. She is a member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Samajwadi Party, serving four terms since 2004. Known primarily for her work in Hindi and Bengali ...

for '' Abhimaan'') * Best Male Playback Singer – Narendra Chanchal for "Beshak Mandir Masjid" * Best Art Direction – A. Rangaraj * Best Sound Design – Allauddin Khan Qureshi ;Nominated *

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

– Raj Kapoor *

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

– Raj Kapoor * Best Supporting Actor – Prem Nath * Best Supporting Actress – Aruna Irani * Best Music Director – Laxmikant Pyarelal * Best Lyricist – Anand Bakshi for " Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Band Ho" * Best Lyricist – Anand Bakshi for "Main Shayar To Nahin" * Best Lyricist –

Vitthalbhai Patel Vitthalbhai Patel (21 May 1936 – 7 September 2013) was an Indian poet, lyricist, and senior Congress leader known for his contributions in social services and politics as well as for penning several Hindi film songs, including "Na Maangu Sona ...

for "Jhoot Bole Kava Kate" * Best Male Playback Singer –

Shailender Singh Shailendra Singh is an Indian playback singer and actor. He sang several Hindi and a few Marathi songs during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was very close to Mehmood Ali. Early life Shailendra Singh was born on 4 October 1952 in Mumbai, I ...

for "Main Shayar To Nahin" 1974

BFJA Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards commonly referred as BFJA Awards, is given by The Bengal Film Journalists' Association. The BFJA is the oldest association of film critics in India, founded in 1937 to serve the developing film journalism ...

Awards: * Best Male Playback Singer (Hindi Section) – Shailender Singh for "Main Shayar to Nahin" * Best Audiographer (Hindi Section) – Alauddin Khan Qureshi

Controversy

In his 2017 autobiography ''Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored'', Rishi Kapoor revealed that he paid someone to win him an award for Best Actor. Although it is inferred as

Filmfare Award The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

, he said in an interview that "I did not write a Filmfare Award n the book I have not said any names. I have said I bought 'an award'".

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 1973 films 1970s Hindi-language films 1970s Urdu-language films 1970s romantic comedy-drama films Indian romantic comedy-drama films Films directed by Raj Kapoor Indian romantic musical films 1970s romantic musical films Films scored by Laxmikant–Pyarelal R. K. Films films Indian interfaith romance films Films with screenplays by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Hindi films remade in other languages 1970s teen romance films Urdu-language Indian films Films set in Mumbai Films set in Jammu and Kashmir Films shot in Mumbai Films shot in Jammu and Kashmir 1973 comedy films 1973 drama films Indian teen romance films