Masoom (1983) : The Incredible Story Behind the Classic Film

1. The film almost had a completely inexperienced director

Producer Devi Dutt, the younger brother of legendary filmmaker Guru Dutt, wanted to make a film with Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi.

Shabana suggested her then-boyfriend Shekhar Kapur as director. The surprising part? Shekhar had never directed, assisted a director, or formally studied filmmaking.

2. Shekhar Kapur came from a legendary film family

Shekhar’s uncles—Chetan Anand, Dev Anand, and Vijay Anand—were among the greatest filmmakers in Indian cinema. Dev Anand and Guru Dutt had even started their careers together and remained close friends. Despite this strong legacy, Shekhar himself was still an untested newcomer.

3. The story was improvised during the narration

When Devi Dutt asked Shekhar to narrate his story in 15 minutes, he quickly lost interest in the original idea. During the meeting he noticed a copy of Erich Segal’s novel Man, Woman and Child in the office and began incorporating elements from it into his narration. The revised idea impressed Devi enough to approve the film.

4. Javed Akhtar was the first choice for the script

Javed Akhtar was initially approached to write the screenplay, but after quoting a high fee he declined the project.

The makers then approached Gulzar, who not only wrote the script and lyrics but also made a cameo appearance in the film as the man whose wrongly parked car blocks Naseeruddin Shah during the climax.

5. Many people thought the film would fail

The movie lacked typical commercial elements—no action scenes, no villain, and no big-name playback singers. In fact, during post-production the makers were advised to record a version of one song with Lata Mangeshkar just so the soundtrack could feature a famous singer and help attract audiences.

6. The film launched future stars

Among the child actors was Urmila Matondkar, who later became one of Bollywood’s biggest leading actresses with films like Rangeela. Jugal Hansraj later appeared in several films and even reunited with Urmila in Aa Gale Lag Jaa. The youngest child actor, Aradhana Srivastav, eventually chose not to pursue acting as an adult.

7. Saeed Jaffrey had already conquered international cinema

Before entering Bollywood, Saeed Jaffrey had worked with famous directors like James Ivory, John Frankenheimer, and John Huston. He performed Shakespeare across the United States, trained at Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio, and appeared on Broadway in New York and London’s West End.

8. A famous song had an unlikely choreographer

The playful song “Huzur Iss Kadar” featuring Saeed Jaffrey and Naseeruddin Shah was choreographed by Shekhar Kapur himself. Kapur openly admitted he was a terrible dancer, but his amateur choreography perfectly captured the carefree drunken dance between the two friends.

9. R.D. Burman proved his critics wrong

At a time when many believed R.D. Burman’s best years were over, he delivered one of his finest soundtracks with Masoom. Songs like “Tujhse Naraz Nahin Zindagi,” “Lakdi Ki Kathi,” “Do Naina Ek Kahani,” and “Huzur Iss Kadar” became timeless classics.

10. The risky project became a classic

What began as a risky film with an inexperienced director and no commercial formula eventually became one of the most loved films of its time—and launched Shekhar Kapur on a journey toward becoming an internationally acclaimed filmmaker.