I ran across a film shooting on Carter Road yesterday evening, a wedding set built for a remake of Victoria No. 203. It was the first day of shooting. The new version stars Om Puri, Anupam Kher, Amrita Arora and Jimmy Shergill. The hidden jewels idea was later used in Blue Streak and Anthony Kaun Hai?, among others.

After a daring diamond robbery, the thief, while attempting to double-cross his partners, is mortally wounded, and hides the diamonds in a lamp of a horse carriage (Victoria) No. 203… Raja and Rana are released from prison… come across the key and… set about trying to find the lock to this key… [Link]

The chemistry between Ashok Kumar and Pran is one of the best ever seen in Bollywood. There you are watching a crime thriller, glued to your seat, heart beating fast, anticipation in what’s gonna happen next and suddenly Kumar and Pran end up on your screen with key in hand and starting a riot… every time the diamonds get into his hands, Anwar Hussain gets a gun pointed to his head by a new person who snatches his diamonds. And you literally have tears in your eyes while laughing at a frustrated Hussain screaming “Tum log phir aa gaye” (You guys have come back again), when both Kumar and Pran jump back into his den…

Unfortunately this movie was the only gem given to us by the director - the late Brij, who did make movies before and after 203 but never could achieve anything close to it… [Link]

Producer Brij Sadanah gunned down his wife, daughter and son and later killed himself. The wife and daughter died, but Kamal survived somehow. This was result of a family feud. [Link]

In this song, Puri and Kher are being dragged away from a wedding by their friends. Clearly the songs have to be done before shooting begins:

It looked like boring work: repeated takes of the same song with no dialogue and lots of waiting around in between. It wasn’t in sync sound, so the song was played on a cheap boombox. The actors lip-synced, Kher’s hands flapping comicly. This particular scene looked like easy money for the actors.

A large crowd gathered to watch:

The director was in high spirits, joking with the actors, calling Puri ‘Omji,’ admonishing Kher to stop making Puri laugh during the takes, urging the crew to hurry: ‘We’re losing light!’

Director Ananth Mahadevan (Aksar, Dil Maange More):

Producer Kamal Sadanah, whose father made the original film, proves it isn’t just Americans who wear half-pants:

When Kamal started the remake of Victoria No. 203, he went looking for an original Victoria at places like Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Patiala and Jalandhar, till he almost gave up hope. He finally found a man in Patiala who created a new but original Victoria, which resembled the one in the original. The Victoria is now in Mumbai and will be used in the film. Meanwhile, director Ananth Narayan Mahadevan will start a 15-day schedule from 2nd January in Mumbai. [Link]

While the original had music by Kalyanji-Anandji, the new version has Kalyanji’s son Viju Shah composing the music… some of the old songs will be retained with Kishore Kumar’s voice being replaced by son Amit Kumar along with Udit Narayan. [Link]