Duniya Na Mane(1937)

V.Shantaram’s ‘दुनिया न माने’ was released in 1937 when the status of Indian women was very low. Nirmala(Shanta Apte) is an orphan, brought up by her uncle and aunt, get her married to an old man for money. Nirmala believes she is marrying a young man and sees her aged husband’s face for the first time during the wedding ceremony. Nirmala is a rebel and refuses to accept Vakilsaheb (Keshavrao Date) as her husband. The only support comes from Susheela, her husband’s educated, progressive daughter from his previous marriage.

Her defiant stand against her husband puts him in a fix as he gets mocked for marrying an unwilling young woman. He can’t win her over either by force or reasons, since she refuses to submit to injustice.

Eventually, her husband sees the error of his ways and decides to free Nirmala from this unjust marriage. Vakilsaheb wipes off the vermilion mark of marriage, leaves home and commits suicide. In a letter to her before leaving home, he apologises to Nirmala and advises her to remarry.

‘Duniya Na Mane’ was made with the passion and sensitivity that was a hallmark of Shantaram’s early films. Actress Shanta Apte was perfectly cast as Nirmala, since she was also known to be a firebrand in real life. Whenever films about strong women and important issues are listed, ‘Duniya Na Mane’ will find a place right at the top as a landmark film.

Achhut Kanya(1936)

Himanshu Rai made ‘अछूत कन्या’ way back in 1936. His in-house team comprised of actor Ashok Kumar, His German Director Franz Ostein and his star-wife Devika Rani.

‘Achhut Kanya’ is a story told in flashback of a man waiting at a railway crossing wanting to kill his wife when he spins into his past. A love story unfolds –that of Pratap, the son of a Brahmin grocer Mohan and Kasturi, the daughter of a Harijan railway crossing guard. The tragic series of events as the repercussions (including mob violence) lead to a violent emotional and social conflagration in a village graphically showed how the lovers were trapped in the social milieu of pre-independence rural India in the ‘30s. Rebellion was impossible and conformism equally unthinkable as the lovers could not suppress their own emotions, though they had to agree to marry others within their own respective strata.

It was with ‘Achhut Kanya’ actually that the stereotyped Indian village girl of Hindi films was born. The film made the spectacularly lovely star, Devika Rani, achieve the reputation of an actress. She did just 14 films ih her entire career, but ‘Achhut Kanya’ remains her signature film for all time. Ashok Kumar too became star and came to roost in Hindi Cinema with this film.

‘Achhut Kanya’ was a much-talked film that marked the emergence of committed social films in India. It made a potent comment on the rampant casteism prevalent in society at that time. Ashok Kumar’s duet with Devika Rani, “Main ban ki chidiya banke ban ban dolun re” became a rage.

‘Achhut Kanya’ was shown at a special screening for the then Congress President Jawaharlal Nehru and other Congress leaders including Sarojini Naidu.

Dr. Kotnis ki Amar Kahani (1946)

There are very few films made on the lives of significant people which do complete justice to their real life characters. V. Shataram’s valiant effort “Dr. Kotnis ki Amar Kahani ” was an exception.With “डॉ. कोटनिस की अमर कहानी” he attempted to represent the life of a brave Indian doctor, struggling to save lives in a foreign country.

Dwarknath Kotnis (played by V. Shantaram) was a significant name during the Second World War. The Indian government sent him to China during the period where he performed the role a savior. When the war was on, he offered remedy and cure for the injured. Eventually, he even settled down with a Chinese girl. The crux of the story was that even though Kotnis died in China battling against a serious epidemic, his Chinese wife came to India with her little baby.

The film was notable because it was one of the first to combine real-life footage along with the Studio Shot portions. V. Shantaram made a strong political statement with this movie and it’s commendable that he managed to receive appreciation from all political forces that time. The film was actually produced after Shantaram received a special license from the authorities to make a movie that illustrated the noble efforts of War heroes.

V.Shantaram’s depiction of Dr.Kotnis will go down in history as one of the most significant film made in India before Independence.

Devdas(1935)

This was older P.C.Barua New Theatres’ classic, starring K.L.Sehgal, Jamuna, Rajkumari, Pahadi Sanyal which had dialogues and lyrics by Kidar Sharma and cinematography by Bimal Roy.

Devdas(Sehgal) is in love with Parbati(Jamuna), his childhood friend and daughter of the poor neibouring family. Devdas goes away to Calcutta for higher studies, and Paro’s marriage is fixed with an old man with grown up children.

Though she loves Devdas, their difference in status makes marriage to him well impossible. While Devdas differs, she has to obey her father, marry the man chosen for her and suffer the fate of a docile hindu wife. Devdas, distraught on losing her and also because he couldn’t do anything to prevent it, takes to drink.

Chandramukhi(Rajkumari) falls in love with him and give up her profession to try and save him. Par, hearing of his decline comes to see him to persuade him not to throw his life away as an alcoholic. Devdas sends her back saying that in the hor of final need, he will come to her. When his end is near, Devdas travels to Paro’s village and dies outside the walls of her house.

K.L.Sehgal’s songs in the film were great hits-“Balam aaye baso mere man mein” and “Dukh ke din ab beete nahin”. The film’s non-theatrical treatment was praised at the time and established Barua as a top filmmaker.

Aag(1948)

The struggling actor that was Raj Kapoor, was at the crossroads of his own life when he started this film. This film marked the beginning of R.K.Films, the foremost production banner in the country.

On the 6^th of February 1947, Raj Kapoor launched the film with a small mahurat and pooja at Eastern Studios, Worli. Shooting began on 6^th July 1947 and the film was released exactly a year later at Shimla.

‘Aag’ questioned the existing parameters of what constituted good character. It explored the psyche of a man who was consumed by a desire for a brighter, more intense life. At the same time, it reflected on the concept of physical v/s inner beauty, beauty v/s ugliness and body v/s soul.

Raj Kapoor claimed that the film reflected the brighter spots as well as the shadows of his life. Three women come into his life at various stages in the film-Kamini Kaushal, Nigar and Nargis. The film traced his relationships with them, intermingled with his ambitions and progress in life.

‘Aag’ was a milestone in its own way. Among the cast were Raj’s relatives, mama (maternal uncle) Vishwa Mehra, Kamal Kapoor, brother-in-law Premnath and brother Shashi Kapoor.

During the making of the film, Raj noticed two musicians who assisted Ram Ganguly. For his next film ‘Barsaat’, Raj Kapoor signed them as composers and in later years, they were to become pillars of R.K.Films and usher in a revolutionary new style in music-Shanker and Jaikishan.

Andaz(1949)

Mehboob Khan’s ‘Andaz’ had many distinctions to its credit. It remains Hindi Cinema’s first significant love triangle. It was the first major Naushad-Lata Mangeshkar collaboration. It was also the film that brought together two men who were to become titans in the acting field-Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor. Mehboob Khan’s tight grip on the narration saw this romantic tragedy achieve huge success, armed as if was with the sheer charisma of its three principal players, Nargis, Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor, each of whom was to grown individually into a legend. Nargis was stunning and looked ethereally beautiful. The film is replete with passionate romantic scenes as well as the memorable screen confrontation between Dilip Kumar as the loser, and Raj Kapoor as the spoilt playboy who pays for his stupidity with his life. Both the actors put its stupendous performances. The music by Naushad was a major highlight of the film, and so were the lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri.

Starting my Blog with 'Alam Ara'

Ardeshir Irani’s ‘Alam Ara’ is not just a movie-it is a legend. Movie history records it as the first Indian talkie.

The first Indian talkie, ‘Alam Ara’ was released on March 14, 1931, at the Majestic Cinema in Bombay. It was advertised as “All Living, Breathing 100% Talking Peak Drama, Essence of Romance, Brains and Talents Unheard of, under One Banner”.

The film had the first ever film singer W.M.Khan, the first hit number “De de khuda ke naam pe” among its 10 songs, a real-life princess Zubeida as heroine, the handsome Master Vithal as hero and young Prithviraj Kapoor as villain.

There were huge crowds outside the theatre. Tickets were sold ‘in black’. According to reports, “Police aid had to be summoned to control the crowds.