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Amitabh Bachchan shares memories from 'Yaarana' set on film's 40th anniversary

Mumbai - The Bollywood star called it a "magnificent film".

Published: Sat 23 Oct 2021, 12:46 PM

Updated: Thu 30 Nov 2023, 2:27 PM

By
Nithin Belle

Bollywood buffs will surely recall this famous scene from the hit Amitabh Bachchan film Yaarana. Dressed in white pants and a shirt, with a red scarf knotted around his neck, Bachchan strummed a white guitar and danced around a huge stadium with tens of thousands of spectators watching the spectacle.

The song Saara Zamaana Haseeno Ka Deewana was shot at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose indoor stadium, right next to Eden Gardens, and the crowd went berserk cheering Bachchan as actress Neetu Singh danced away. Amitabh famously changed over to a shining black outfit with in-built lights for the latter part of the song featured in the film Yaarana, that released in 1981.

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A post shared by Amitabh Bachchan (@amitabhbachchan)

Forty years later, the superstar recalled the ‘magnificent film’ on his Instagram page. “40 years of this magnificent film .. this song shot in NS Stadium in Kolkata .. first time ever any shooting done here .. And the frenzy of KOLKATA’s crowd .. no where else in the entire World (sic),” wrote Bachchan.

The blockbuster film had remarkable songs featuring Amitabh including Saara Zamaana, Chookar Mere Mann Ko and Tere Jaisa Yaar Kahaan, as well as melodious music by Rajesh Roshan.

In his blog, Amitabh recalled the shoot. “The stadium packed beyond limits, the police and the forces having a tough time controlling the crowds and an altercation with the forces and the crowd member resulting in the audience ripping the cemented seats of the stadium and throwing it in the bowl of the arena, resulting in our leading lady getting extreme anxiety pangs and insisting on leaving the location, in tears and going back to Mumbai,” recalled the actor.

Things worsened when they emerged from the stadium to return to the hotel. “Around 20,000 excited fans ran along with us and surrounded the car carrying Neetu ji and myself,” he remembers. “And then the worst happened… the car broke down and refused to start… the police contingent came alongside, the police van backed into us and asked us to step out and step into the van for protection, but it was an impossible task.”

And then the most amazing thing happened. “The fans realising that the car had broken down, virtually lifted the car off the ground and pushed lifted it to hotel… What a moment … could never thank the fans enough and express gratitude for their love,” reminisced Bachchan.