When A Small Mistake By Kavita Krishnamurthy Gave This Sridevi-starrer An Iconic Song

People can hardly forget the Sridevi and Anil Kapoor starrer 1987 film ‘Mr. India’. Not only the film but the songs of this film also garnered immense appreciation from the viewers. But one song from this film gave Sridevi a new identity. Sridevi has given many hit songs along with many hit films in her career. One of the songs is Hawa Hawai from Mr. India. People have not forgotten this song till now, and it turned out to be a huge hit. This popular song was sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy. But do you know Kavita Krishnamurthy made a mistake in the lyrics while singing the song? Let’s take a look at the unknown story behind this superhit song.

The duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal composed the soundtrack of Mr. India with lyrics penned by Akhtar. The title of the song “Hawa Hawai”—initially “Kahate Hain Mujhko Hawa”Hawai”—obtained from an Urdu phrase, “Bhai kahan hawa hawai ghoom rahe ho?” But Akhtar used only the words hawa hawai because he felt it was “more interesting.” Initially the song “Hawa Hawai” was to be sung by Asha Bhosle, but Laxmikant-Pyarelal retained Krishnamurthy months later because they believed she was the “perfect” choice.

But in an interview, Krishnamurthy shared that she sang the wrong lyrics for the song. The singer said the lyrics of the song were ‘Jaanu Jo Tumne Jab Baat Chupayi,” but she sang “Jeenu Jo Tumne Baat Chupayi.” But the song was taken in the film with this mistake. The song became such a big hit that later Sridevi was also known as Hawa Hawai.

Mr India was a superhero film directed by Shekhar Kapur and produced jointly by Boney Kapoor and Surinder Kapoor under the Narsimha Enterprises banner. The story and screenplay were written by the duo Salim-Javed and featured Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, and Amrish Puri in the lead roles.

Mr India was a commercial success; it emerged as the second highest-grossing film of the year at the Indian box office; the film-trade website Box Office India estimated the total earnings at Rs 100 million. Mr. India was also an overseas box office hit in China upon its release there in February 1990.