World Elephant Day- Haathi Mere Saathi

Haathi Mere Saathi is a 1971 film, directed by M. A. Thirumugam, with the 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 movie was remade in Tamil as Nalla Neram in 1972.

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.