38 Years Of Laawaris (22/05/1981)

38 Years Of Laawaris (22/05/1981)

Laawaris is a 1981 drama film directed by Prakash Mehra. The film became known for its song “Mere Angene Mein Tumhara Kya Kaam Hai” rendered twice: the first time by a young Alka Yagnik, who earned her first Filmfare nomination as a best female playback singer, and the second time by Amitabh Bachchan. The second version became very popular due to Bachan’s comedic performance in drag.

The lyrics pay tribute to all kinds of wives, be they fat, tall, short, dark, or fair skinned. Even today, the song is popular among audiences. Laawaris starred Amitabh Bachchan, Amjad Khan, Zeenat Aman, and Raakhee. In Urdu, “Laawaris” loosely means bastard or orphan. Although the word still has negative connotations, they are not as extreme as in English.

The story revolves around an orphan who stumbles over reality in the search of his parents.

The film was an “All Time Highest Earner” that year, got the highest verdict present at that time from the Trade Guide (Bollywood box office magazine), and was among those rare movies which crossed 2 Crore (200,000) per territory. There were only 13 All-time earners (Crossing 1 Crore per territory) movies till 1984, and Laawaris was among them.

It earned additional Filmfare nominations for Best Actor (Amitabh Bachchan) and Best Supporting Actor (Suresh Oberoi).