The World of Salil Chowdhury

Akdin Raatre was the brave attempt of Salil Chowdhury and the bengali stage actor Shombhu Mitra and Amit Moitra to 'translate' Jaagte Raho. It was Raj Kapoor who was providing the funds and he had great respect and expectations from Salil, Shombhu Mitra and Amit Moitra. Shombhu Mitra and Amit Moitra were the pillars of the radical theatre group 'Bohuroopi' of Bengal in those days. Shombhu Mitra was a great playright and a stage actor and Salil was a very respected composer. The fact that these two decided to produce 'Akdin Raatre' and Raj Kapoor trusted them was quite unbelievable. And they did a brilliant job. 'Akdin Raatre' was very successful and it was one of those rare films where Bombay and Calcutta together created something unique.
'Jaago mohana preetam' remained the centerpiece. Lata was superb in both versions and even now it's one of the best film songs ever and it's one of Salil's best compositions.
I don't really know which version was made first. But, rumour has it that the Bengali film was first to be made. Apparently, Manna Dey expected to be asked to sing "zindagi khwaab hai" but somehow Salil decided to let Mukesh sing it. Was it because Motilal who was a cousin of Mukesh ? I have no idea. It is also rumoured that Motilal picked up a lot from Chhobi Biswas who played the same role of an inebriated gent.in the Bengali version. 'Ei duniyaay bhaai sabhie hoy' wasn't a copy of 'Zindagi khwaab hai' but equally sitirical and had a typical bengali feeling. Sandhya Mukherjee blended beautifully with her 'Lo se waai waai' . In 'Jaagte Raho' Asha sang that superb melancholic song 'Thandi thandi sawan ki pukaar' and Sandhya Mukherjee expressed same pathos in 'Se gaan aami jaai je bhule' in 'Akdin Raatre'.
Since 'Akdin Raatre' was totally based in Calcutta and not in Bombay, it didn't have to have that classic Bhangra song 'oy aiwe.n duniyaa dewe duhaai' from 'Jaagte Raho'.