Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor and Sridevi on the sets of Ram Avtar (1988)

Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Sunny Deol on the sets of Ram Avtar (1988). The film was an unofficial remake of Sangam (1964) and production started as early as 1984 - it was in scripting stage as early as that. The perils of bringing a 60's classic to the gaudy mid-80s, the Hindi film was in the works for years and poorer for it. 

There are so many similarities between the two movies that it'll take forever to list them all; the most obvious rip-off is of course the comedic attempts at seduction through the song Main ka Karun Ram Mujhe Buddha Mil Gaya by Vyjanthimala in the original, and Nigode mardon ka by Sridevi in the 1988 re-make. Its cute, Sri's cute but, hardly a classic like the OG. 

Oddly enough, during the making of the film, there was more drama behind the scenes than on-screen. Sunny Deol and Anil Kapoor famously got into a huge fight, the repercussions of which spilled onto the screen. Legend has it that Anil Kapoor's role kept getting extended as Kapoor wanted to gain audience sympathy and gave himself longer scenes and monologues. The more laconic Sunny Deol was an angry but silent observer who, during a fight scene in the film, took it to the next level by roughing up Kapoor; Anil Kapoor famously spoke to media outlets that Sunny Deol purposely choked him during the action scenes. Deol (obviously), denied it, and said he only did what his action-director told him to and couldn't help that his 'dhai-kilo-ka-haath' fell on Anil's puny neck.

Meanwhile Sridevi, who coincidentally shared the same birthday (not year!) as Sangam's leading lady Vyjanthimala, had gained a lot of weight from the beginning to the end of the film and rarely spoke about the movie thereafter. The stress of juggling multiple film shifts, she had six major releases in 1988 alone (two in Telugu and four in Hindi), which meant her diet went for a toss. The changes in script, the last minute - SPOILER ALERT - melodramatic scene of Anil Kapoor drinking poison dragged the final act in the film to tedious lengths. Sridevi said in interviews that she felt the movie should have been a lot shorter for a better run.

Despite its poor showing at the box-office (and a wallop by the critics), all the major stars of the film remained unscathed by its fate - and went on to greater success later on in the year. The music however had a much longer run as two of the songs were chart-busters that decade; the Ungli main Anghooti and Dil Le Liya songs, choreographed by Saroj Khan and performed by Sri.   

Update: Rare pic of the cast and crew of the film; producer Anil Hingorani, Sridevi, Anil Kapoor, Sunny Deol and film director Sunil Hingorani.

We have a huge gallery of images from the film here. Note the fashion and makeup of the 80s as sported by its leading exponent; Sridevi!