Haathi Mere Saathi (1971)

Orphaned Raju, in the company of four elephants, has to perform with them at street corners, in order to keep alive. Slowly he amasses a fortune, and is able to build his own private zoo, ... See full summary »

Director:

M.A. Thirumugham (as M.A. Thirumugam)

Writers:

Javed Akhtar (screenplay) (as Saleem-Javed), Inder Raj Anand (dialogue)

Stars:

Rajesh Khanna, Tanuja, David Abraham

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rajesh Khanna	...	Raj Kumar 'Raju'
Tanuja	...	Tanuja
David Abraham	...	Johnny Chacha (as David)
Sujit Kumar	...	Gangu
K.N. Singh	...	Sarwan Kumar
Madan Puri	...	Ratanlal
Abhi Bhattacharya	...	Mr. Kumar - Raju's father
Randhir
Bihari	...	(as Behari)
Gurnam Singh
Devar
Mehmood Jr.	...	Chhote / Jhamurey
Kumari Naaz	...	Paro (as Naaz)
Jaya Kumari
Udaya Kumari

Storyline

Orphaned Raju, in the company of four elephants, has to perform with them at street corners, in order to keep alive. Slowly he amasses a fortune, and is able to build his own private zoo, housing tigers, lions, bears, and of course the four elephants. He treats all the animals as his friends. He meets with Tanu, and both fall in love. Tanu's dad, Ratanlal, is opposed to this alliance, but subsequently relents, and permits the young couple to get married. Tanu is unhappy with the amount of time Raju spends with his animal friends, and this causes some bitterness between them. Things do not improve when a child is born, as Tanu fears that one day the child will be harmed by one of the animals, and hence Raju is told to make a choice between his animal friends or his wife and son.

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Plot Keywords:

elephant | fear | baby | zoo | love | 

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 2017 film by the same name based on animal adventure was announced with Rana Daggubatti.The title paying tribute to this film.

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Connections

Referenced in Mili (1975)

User Reviews

After 30 years, I still loved this movie!

I first saw this film in India when I was 5 years old. I remembered that I really liked it then, and was quite pleased to find it 30 years later via the Internet.

I'm glad to say that it has lost none of its magic. The story of Raju and his elephant buddy Ramoo makes for a truly unique film. The best way I can sum it up, without giving too much away, is that it is reminiscent of older Disney films, but with a uniquely Indian feel. Suffice to say, there are not many countries in the world where a story of a man growing up with elephants could be told in such an effective manner. The trained animal sequences alone are worthy of films such as "The Bear".

With regards to the inevitable singing and dancing in a Bollywood production, the songs are wonderful and there are far fewer of them than in standard Bollywood fare. Additionally, as opposed to the more modern Indian films, the dancing is refreshingly non-professional and consists mostly of the hero and heroine scampering about and waving their arms - which only adds to the overall charm of this film.

Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

1 May 1971 (India)

Also Known As:

A Força do Destino

Filming Locations:

Vauhini Studios, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Company Credits

Production Co:

Devar Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

170 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)