I Am Falling In Love With A Stranger

To dream of replacing Amitabh is much easier than actually doing it. It requires a combination of talent, self-belief & tenacity that few are capable of. 

Tenacity? Yes, excluding Anand - where his introvert Dr. Bhaskar Banerjee proved to be a perfect juxtaposition for Rajesh Khanna to walk away with all laurels, it was only after delivering a series of flops (which could have made anyone else decide to look for an alternate career) that Amitabh could get Zanjeer, his 13th movie, and the first role that started shaping him as a rebellious young man. 

Post Zanjeer, there were a number of good performances - like Abhimaan, Majbiir, Mili & Chupke Chupke. Yet, he was still a hero for the feel good small budget cinemas. Then came 1975 - the year in which his brooding performances in two mega budget movies and their super success finally put him on the road to being called Super Star. One was Sholay, and just before that, at the beginning of the year, was Yash Chopra's Deewar.

Pancham already had composed for a number of movies starring Amitabh but Deewar was different. Here, the role had no, absolutely no, possibility of a song for Amitabh. The movie however had an interesting night club scene just before Amitabh is on his way to meet - nonchalantly - a probable death. 

RD used the situation for an English number, penned by Pancham himself & sung by Ursula Vaz. The composition is interesting & in two parts. The first part - of a romantic ambiance where a very beautiful Parveen Babi gets introduced in the movie & strikes a conversation with Amitabh. The composition here is suitably centered around Bossa Nova & Jazz in a lilting slow tempo, with refrains from instruments that include Trumpet, Piano & Drums. However, half way through the sequence, the time for words get over, tempo changes & gives way to a composition to match the suspense the situation carries. 

The end result is superb & pleasant, as while Amitabh survives & finds a soulmate in Parveen, we get a very hummable number: I am falling in Love With A Stranger:

A Note: Since the movie sequence has the song only in background, I am putting up the song & the composition itself:
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