Daag (1973 film)

Daag – A Poem Of Love
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Yash Chopra
Written by	Story: Gulshan Nanda Dialogue: Akhtar-Ul-Iman
Based on	The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
Produced by	Yash Chopra
Starring	Rajesh Khanna Sharmila Tagore Raakhee
Cinematography	Kay Gee
Edited by	Pran Mehra
Music by	Laxmikant Pyarelal
Production company	Yash Raj Films
Distributed by	Yash Raj Films
Release date	27 April 1973 (1973-04-27)
Running time	146 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Daag: A Poem of Love (transl. Smear) is a 1973 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film produced and directed by Yash Chopra in his debut as a producer, which laid the foundation of Yash Raj Films (which till today the biggest production house in India). It is an adaptation of the 1886 Thomas Hardy novel The Mayor of Casterbridge. The film stars Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore and Raakhee in lead roles, with Madan Puri, Kader Khan, Prem Chopra and A. K. Hangal.^[1]

Daag was made at the peak of Rajesh Khanna's craze and became a blockbuster at the box office.^[2] The music by Laxmikant Pyarelal dominated the charts for the year. The film was later remade into the Telugu film Vichitra Jeevitham (1978).^[3] This film was Kader Khan's debut as an actor.^[4]

At the 21st Filmfare Awards, Daag: A Poem of Love received 7 nominations, including Best Film, Best Actor (Khanna) and Best Actress (Tagore), and won 2 awards – Best Director (Chopra) and Best Supporting Actress (Raakhee).^[5]

Chopra used Raakhee's character name 'Chandni' from this film also in his later films Silsila (1981) and Chandni (1989).