''Kal Aaj Aur Kal'' () is a 1971 Indian

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

-language film produced 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 directed by his son

Randhir Kapoor Randhir Raj Kapoor (born 15 February 1947) is an Indian actor, film producer and director who worked in Hindi cinema. He was an established actor of the 1970s and received two Filmfare Award nominations. However, his career declined in the ea ...

. The film's USP is the appearance of three generations of the famous

Kapoor family The Kapoor family
The New York Times. 30 April 2020. is a prominent Indian show business fa ...

. The film stars

Prithviraj Kapoor Prithviraj Kapoor (born Prithvinath Kapoor; 3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) was an Indian actor who is also considered to be one of the founding figures of Hindi cinema. He was associated with IPTA as one of its founding members and establish ...

(in his acting debut) and his real-life wife-to-be

Babita Babita Shivdasani-Kapoor (born 20 April 1947), also known simply as Babita or Babita Kapoor, is a former Indian actress who appeared in Hindi-language films. The daughter of actor Hari Shivdasani, she is the first cousin of her contemporary a ...

. It was also the last

Shankar Jaikishan Shankar may refer to: People *Shankar (name), including a list of people with the name * Sankar (writer) (Mani Shankar Mukherjee), Bengali writer * L. Shankar, Indian violinist * S. Shankar, Indian film director commonly credited as Shankar *Sanka ...

score in a

film. This film came after the heavy debacle 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 ...

'', which was Raj Kapoor's dream project. It more than made up for his loss although it was still only a moderate success at the box office. The film marked one of Prithviraj Kapoor's final films as he died the following year of the film's release.

Plot

The title is an allegory to the ideological clash between three generations: Kal (Grandparent – representing the past), Aaj (Parent – representing the present), and Kal(Youth – representing the future). Diwan Bahadur Kapoor (

) is the father of Ram Bahadur Kapoor (

). Ram's son Rajesh (

), who had been sent to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

for higher studies, returns to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Diwan Bahadur has promised his childhood friend that Rajesh's marriage will be done with the latter's granddaughter, Laxmi. However, Rajesh is in love with his girlfriend Monica "Mona" (

),and objects to the marriage alliance by his grandfather. Both the grandfather and the grandson stick to their guns, little realizing that Ram is the real sufferer in the clash. Ram finds himself in trouble when Diwan threatens to leave if Rajesh marries Mona and Rajesh threatens to leave if Diwan makes him marry Laxmi. Unable to decide whether he wants his father or son, Ram leaves his home, leaving the grandfather and grandson blaming each other. Ram's friend gives him a idea, where he pretends to only want to stay in a hotel and drink a lot. Rajesh and Diwan see his state and decide to pretend to have sorted their issues. The overjoyed Ram throws a party in celebration, however, he overhears his father and son talk about the act. Angered, he leaves the party. Soon later, Diwan falls sick. He tells Rajesh and his father that he's happy with everything except not getting to see his grandson's wedding. The sad Rajesh decides to give up his love for his grandfather's happiness. He tells Mona the news and she accepts his decision and is ready to come to his wedding. At the wedding, he marries Laxmi but can't see Mona at all. Diwan asks him why he looks so sad and tells the bride to lift up the veil, revealing that the girl he married wasn't Laxmi but Mona instead. Diwan tells him that if he was ready to sacrifice so much for him, so he must sacrifice a little bit for Rajesh. After marriage, Rajesh scatters his grandfather's ashes and his son is born, with Ram happy at becoming a grandfather.

Cast

as Diwan Bahadur Kapoor *

as Ram Kapoor *

as Rajesh Kapoor *

Babita Kapoor Babita Shivdasani-Kapoor (born 20 April 1947), also known simply as Babita or Babita Kapoor, is a former Indian actress who appeared in Hindi-language films. The daughter of actor Hari Shivdasani, she is the first cousin of her contemporary a ...

as Mona *

Achala Sachdev Achala Sachdev (3 May 1920 – 30 April 2012) was an Indian actress who appeared in classic films of Hindi language film industry. She was from Peshawar and started her career as a child actor. She later became known for mother and grandmother ...

as Achala *

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

as Munshi *

Iftekhar Sayedna Iftekhar Ahmed Sharif (22 February 1924 – 4 March 1995), often mononymously credited as Iftekhar, was an Indian actor who mainly worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for his role as a police officer. Career Iftekhar was born in ...

as Ram's Friend *

Roopesh Kumar Roopesh Kumar (16 January 1946 – 29 January 1995) was a character actor in Bollywood films, especially known for his role as a villain in over 100 Hindi films from 1965 to 1995. He is widely remembered for his comic negative roles in the film ...

as Sunny

Soundtrack

All music composed by

Shankar–Jaikishan Shankar–Jaikishan (also known as S-J), were an Indian composer duo of the Hindi film industry, working together from 1949 to 1971. They are widely considered to be one of the greatest ever music composers of the Hindi film industry. After Jaiki ...

, in their last collaboration with

R. K. Films R. K. Films was an Indian film production company based in R. K. Studio, a film studio, both established by and named after the Bollywood actor Raj Kapoor. It was headquartered at Chembur, Mumbai. Founded in 1948, one year after India gained ...

. Three months prior to the film's release, Jaikishan passed away due to

cirrhosis of the liver Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

. Nonetheless, three Kishore Kumar numbers from the soundtrack became subsequent hits. These were the solo, ''Bhanware Ki Gunjan'', and a couple duets with Asha Bhosle, ''Aap Yahan Aaye Kisliye'' and ''Tick Tick Tick Chalti Jaye Ghadi''.Mohan, Madan, ''Raga Rock''
/ref>

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0330505, Kal Aaj Aur Kal 1971 films 1970s Hindi-language films Films scored by Shankar–Jaikishan R. K. Films films 1971 directorial debut films