When we talk about the films of the 70s, the image of velvety romance or the 'Angry Young Man' usually emerges in our minds. But a film released in 1975 brought the fragrance of the soil of our country and the border, along with romance mixed with the smoke of gunpowder, onto the screen, which made the chest of every Indian swell with pride.

The film was 'Aakraman'.

Was this film, produced by Jagdish Kumar and directed by J. Om Prakash, only a war movie? No. Rather, it was an ocean of emotions in which waves of love, hatred, and martyrdom were rising together.

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The thin line between love and duty-

The story of the film revolves around an interesting love triangle. Major Ajay Verma (Sanjeev Kumar) and Lieutenant Sunil Mehra (Rakesh Roshan) are both captured by the love of the same girl, Sheetal (Rekha). The real drama begins when the Indo-Pak war breaks out. The enemies are firing at the border, and the fire of personal enmity is burning inside the border. When Sunil Mehra finds out that Ajay has proposed marriage to Sheetal, he fumes with anger and vows to take revenge.
But as soon as the cannons roar on the battlefield, Sunil realizes that personal enmity cannot be bigger than the duty to the country. The end of the film is very heart-touching. Major Ajay Verma becomes a victim of the Pakistani sentry's deceit and is martyred. The tricolor falls on him. This scene brings tears to the eyes of the audiences even today.

The magic of Rajesh Khanna and the soul of the music-

Even though Sanjeev Kumar and Rakesh Roshan were in the lead roles in this film, the 'extended guest appearance' of superstar Rajesh Khanna was considered the life of this film. His acting as a disabled Punjabi soldier 'Karnail Singh' and the two songs filmed on him made a home in the hearts of the audience. The Hindustan Times and Mayapuri also wrote that the character of Rajesh Khanna was very inspiring.

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The music of Laxmikant-Pyarelal and the voice of Kishore Kumar made the film an immortal patriotic movie. Whether it was the energetic song 'Dekho Veer Jawanon' or 'Fauji Gaya Jab Gaon Mein', these songs beautifully expressed the feelings of the soldiers stationed at the border. Apart from this, other songs of the film - Chhoti Umar Mein (Kishore Kumar), Woh Ek Haseen Ladki (Kishore Kumar), Yeh Mausam Aaya Hai (Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar) and Qawwali Gaayenge (Mahendra Kapoor, Asha Bhosle) also became very popular.

Unknown facts, trivia, and stories from behind the scenes

The hat-trick 'guest appearance' of Rajesh Khanna: Very few people know that after 'Andaz' (1971) and 'Anuraag' (1972), 'Aakraman' was the third such film of Rajesh Khanna in which he did a cameo or guest appearance. But his popularity was such, that his face on the poster looked as big as the main actors.

A glimpse of the real war: The last days of the 1971 Indo-Pak war were shown in this film which actually led to the birth of Bangladesh. A lot of hard work was done to keep many scenes of the Air Force and Army shown in the film close to reality.

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The pain of Ashok Kumar-

Ashok Kumar played the character of a father in the film whose son has been martyred in the 1965 war. The interesting thing is that, the character of his son was never shown in the film. That pain was made to be felt only through his memories and talks.

The changed style of actress Rekha-

Rekha was changing her image in the mid-70s. Her simplicity and seriousness as Sheetal in 'Aakraman' surprised everyone. The glamorous Rekha of that era appeared as a sensible, next-door girl in this film.

The seriousness of Sanjeev Kumar-

Sanjeev Kumar was always known for playing characters older than his age. In this film, he also showed stability as a 'mature' Major. This created an excellent balance against the youthful anger of Rakesh Roshan.

Apart from Sanjeev Kumar, Rakesh Roshan, Ashok Kumar, Rekha, and Rajesh Khanna, Farida Jalal, Sujit Kumar, Asrani, Keshto Mukherjee, and Mumtaz Shanti are also in excellent roles among the other actors.

An interesting story of the making:

It is said that during the climax, when the tricolor falls on Sanjeev Kumar, director J. Om Prakash took many retakes to make that scene perfect. He wanted the manner of the tricolor falling and the facial expressions of Sanjeev Kumar to look completely respectful. Actually, it was shown at the end of the film that Major Ajay Verma (Sanjeev Kumar) attains martyrdom while defending the country.