Amitabh Bachchan made his Bollywood debut with the film Saat Hindustani in 1969, which turned out to be one of the major flops of his career. He then appeared in Reshma Aur Shera (1972) as a mute character, which also failed at the box office. Despite gaining some recognition with Anand (1971) alongside Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan experienced a string of flops that made producers and directors hesitant to cast him. After the blockbuster with Zanjeer in 1973, he started getting offers again.
In 1982, Manmohan Desai planned to make a film called Desh Premee, intending to cast both Amitabh Bachchan and Raaj Kumar in lead roles. However, he reportedly felt threatened by Amitabh Bachchan’s rising popularity and his close relationship with the director. Concerned about bias towards Amitabh Bachchan’s role, Raaj Kumar expressed his hesitation to the director.
Although the director intended to give both actors equal screen time, he wanted to reduce Amitabh Bachchan’s role slightly and compensate him with a higher payment to keep him satisfied. When Raaj Kumar came to know about this decision, he became furious and decided to back off from the film. Despite Manmohan Desai’s attempts to convince him, Raaj Kumar remained stubborn and exited the project. Shammi Kapoor eventually replaced Raaj Kumar in Desh Premee.
It was the fifth collaboration between Manmohan Desai and Amitabh Bachchan. The film fell short of the standards of the duo’s previous films, received mixed reviews and became a moderate success at the box office. The film celebrated its silver jubilee in Hyderabad.
The film is dedicated to the memory of Mohammed Rafi, who sang the title song of the film, and lead actor Uttam Kumar, both of whom died shortly before the film’s release. This was the only film in which music director Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar performed as a playback singer for a song. All the songs were penned by Anand Bakshi.
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