Haathi Mere Saathi () is a 1971 Indian Hindi-language drama film, directed by M. A. Thirumugam, with screenplay written by Salim–Javed and dialogues by Inder Raj Anand. The movie has a Disneyesque appeal with an Indian twist. Haathi Mere Saathi was the biggest hit of 1971 going by box office collections, and was also critically acclaimed. The film stars Rajesh Khanna and Tanuja. The film at that point in time was the biggest hit ever made by a South Indian producer in Hindi.
The story was written by producer Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar who is of Tamil origin and owned Devar Films in Tamil Nadu. Thevar also played a small cameo in the film. Directed and edited by Thevar's brother M.A.Thirumugham, it had music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and lyrics by Anand Bakshi. The film was also the first collaboration of Salim-Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar), who were officially credited as screenplay writers. The film was based on Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar's 1967 Tamil movie Deiva Cheyal. After the success of this movie, Thevar remade it in Tamil again in 1972 as Nalla Neram. This film is counted among the 17 consecutive hit films of Rajesh Khanna between 1969 and 1971, by adding the two-hero films Marayada and Andaz to the 15 consecutive solo hits he gave from 1969 to 1971.
Plot
Orphaned Raju, in the company of four elephants, has to perform with them at street corners, in order to survive. The back-story is that as an orphan, they have saved his life from a leopard. In time, he makes it big, and starts Pyar Ki Duniya (The World of Love), a zoo in which various wild animals reside along with his elephants, among whom Ramu is closest to him. Slowly he amasses a fortune, and is able to build his own private zoo, housing tigers, lions, bears, and of course the four elephants. He treats all the animals as his friends. He meets with Tanu, and both fall in love. Tanu's rich dad, Ratanlal, is opposed to this alliance, but subsequently relents, and permits the young couple to get married. However, trouble looms soon after as Tanu feels neglected. Things worsen when their child is born, and Tanu, fearing physical harm to her child from the elephants, tells Raju to choose between the elephants and his family. When Raju chooses his lifelong friends over wife and son, Ramu decides to bring the estranged couple together, but to save the family and the child from the villainous Sarwan Kumar, he sacrifices his life.
Cast
Rajesh Khanna as Raj Kumar "Raju" Tanuja as Tanuja "Tanu" Madan Puri as Ratanlal Sujit Kumar as Gangu K. N. Singh as Sarvan Kumar Mehmood Junior as Chhote Naaz as Paro David as Johny Abhi Bhattacharya as Mr. Kumar Jayakumari Chinnappa Thevar in a cameo appearance
Soundtrack
Development
Javed Akhtar on being questioned as to how the film came about, said "One day, he Rajesh Khanna went to Salimsaab and said that Mr. Devar had given him a huge signing amount with which he could complete the payment for his bungalow Aashirwad. But the film was a remake [of Deiva Cheyal] and the script of the original was far from being satisfactory. He told us that if we could set right the script, he would make sure we got both money and credit. "I can't do such a terrible script," he said. "And I can't leave it because I need the money!'".
Box office
Haathi Mere Saathi was the highest-grossing Indian film of 1971. In India, its net income was and its total domestic gross was (), equivalent to () with inflation.
The film was an overseas blockbuster in the Soviet Union, where it sold 34.8million tickets in 1974. The film's overseas Soviet gross was 8.7millionrubles (, or ), equivalent to US$ million () with inflation. The film's total worldwide gross (including India and the Soviet Union) was (), equivalent to () in 2017.
Awards
Earlier titled Pyar Ki Duniya, the film also won a special award from the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) for lyricist Anand Bakshi. Its music on HMV (as Saregama was known then) won a Silver Disc for its sales, making it the first-ever Indian gramophone record to do so.
Reception
Times of India noted that 40 years down the line, Haathi Mere Saathi remains unmatched in its enduring magic, and Hindi cinema has yet to make another children's feature to match its stature and success.