Gulzar's Aandhi clocks 50 years on February 13.
Subhash K Jha tells you more about this political classic.
1975 was the year of Sholay and Jai Santoshi Maa, Deewaar and Chupke Chupke.
It was also the year of Aandhi, which brought the legendary Suchitra Sen out of Calcutta for a rare foray into Hindi cinema.
Her first Hindi film since Asit Sen's Mamta in 1966.
Gulzar's 1st choice to play the politician in Aandhi was Vyjayanthimala, but she had retired.
Sanjeev Kumar was keen to work with Suchitra Sen.
Gulzar had 3 releases in 1975: Khushboo, Mausam and Aandhi, all masterpieces.
When Gulzar narrated Aandhi to Sanjeev Kumar, his reaction was, 'Yaar, yeh toh heroine ki kahani hai. When will you make a movie for me?'
Aandhi won Sanjeev Kumar the Filmfare award over Amitabh Bachchan (Deewaar).
Suchitra Sen lost to Laxmi (Julie).
The Emergency was on and word spread that Aandhi was a bio-pic on Mrs Gandhi.
After 23 weeks in the theatres, Aandhi was banned by the government.
More than anything else, Aandhi is today remembered for its music by R D Burman.
Selecting the best from the 3 Lata-Kishore duets Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi Shikwa, Tum Aa Gaye Ho Noor Aa Gaya Hai and Iss Mod Se Jaate Hain is an impossible task.
RD was shocked when Aandhi wasn't nominated for the Filmfare award.
Aandhi was about the price a woman has to pay for her career.
Ironically, Gulzar separated from wife Raakhee as she wanted to pursue her film career after marriage.