Who is the real hero of the wall? A unique truth emerged from Shashi-Amitabh’s friendship.

The 1975 film ‘Deewar’ is recorded as a milestone in the history of Indian cinema, which not only changed the storytelling style of Bollywood but also immortalized the Jugalbandi of two veteran actors – Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor. Even after decades, the question remains in the minds of the audience that who was the ‘real hero’ of this film? Did Vijay’s aggressiveness captivate the audience or did Ravi’s moral firmness balance the story?

The film’s writers Salim-Javed had conceived ‘Deewar’ as a conflict between two opposing ideologies. Vijay, who takes to the path of crime while fighting the system and society, and Ravi, who keeps law, honesty and duty paramount. These two characters are actually two poles, and ‘Deewar’, based on these two extremes, is still counted among the most talked about scripts of the country.

Vijay played by Amitabh Bachchan emerged as the voice of the youth of that era. His deep voice, the pauses, the rebellion hidden in his dialogues—all together made him the face of the ‘Angry Young Man’. Vijay’s struggle, rejection by the society and the anger growing within him was directly connected to the pain of the common audience. As a result, many of his dialogues are still part of popular culture today.

On the other hand, Ravi played by Shashi Kapoor was like the soul of the entire story. His character was a symbol of justice, morality and sensitivity. Dialogues like ‘Mere pas maa hai’ not only became the identity of the film, but are also recorded among the most memorable moments of Indian cinema. Shashi Kapoor added dignity and depth to the character with his simple determination and measured acting.

Interestingly, both the actors had deep respect for each other in real life too. In many interviews, Amitabh admitted that working with Shashi Kapoor was always a comfortable and inspiring experience. Shashi Kapoor also praised Amitabh’s energy and intensity as Vijay. There was no competition between the two artists, but a feeling of cooperation.

Experts believe that this balance is the real basis of the success of ‘Deewar’. If Vijay was the impatience of cinema, then Ravi was its conscience. If one took the story forward, the other gave it direction. This is the reason why there was no single hero in the film, but two such pillars which gave it the status of a classic.

Today, when the popularity of the characters of ‘Deewar’ is discussed, the opinions of the audience seem divided. Some people consider Vijay as the soul of the film, while others consider Ravi as the moral hero of the story. But film history experts say, “The hero of Deewaar is not just one person, but the contradictory combination of Vijay and Ravi, which made it great.”

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