RMIM Archive Article "218".
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
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# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: Year in Hindi Films 1948 (Part 2)
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# Posted by: Surjit Singh, dussh@ttacs.ttu.edu
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1948 A year in Hindi Movies Part B
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chandralekhaa
This all-India success took 5 years and Rs. 30 lakh to
make. It was produced and directed by the first Indian movie
mogul, Thiruthuraipundi Subramania Srinivasan, S. S. Vasan
to you. He was born on March 10, 1903 and died on August 26,
1969. His father died when he was young, and he could not
complete his education. He began procuring ads for magazines
and bought Ananda Vikatan,a poorly-selling weekly, which he
made into a success. He bought a film studio in an auction
and so Gemini Films was born. He became a director with
chandralekhaa, a trilingual. This movie was one of those
costume dramas, starring T. R. Rajkumari, Ranjan and M. K.
Radha. In a most memorable sequence, Rajkumari performs an
elaborate dance on drums, out of which Radha's soldiers
burst out. Then follows the longest sword duel in Indian
cinema. The movie was more than 3 hours long. The longest
Indian movie is meraa naam joker (1970), which was 4 hrs and
15 mts long, which pales in comparison with 85 hrs of the
longest movie ever made, The Cure for Insomnia (US 1987).
The music of chandralekhaa, provided by S. Rajeshwar Rao,
was influenced by Carnatic, Hindustani, Bharatnatayam, Latin
American, Portuguese folk music and a Strauss waltz.
Other countries
The first Pakistani movie, terii yaad, (in Urdu)
produced by Dewan Pictures, directed by Dawood Dewan,
starring Asha Posley and Nasir Khan was released this year.
The first bangladeshi movie was mukh o mukhosh (1956)
directed by Jabbar Khan. The first Nepali movie was
Harishchandra (1951) and first Sri Lankan movie was Banda
Nagarayata Pemineema (1953).
Back to some more Indian happenings in 1948.
aag
The first production of R. K. Films, directed by Raj
Kapoor, starring himself and three popular heroines of the
day, nargis, kaaminii kaushal and nigaar. This was the first
movie of Inder Raj Anand who wrote the story. Before this,
he wrote plays like diivaar and Gaddaar for Prithvi
Theaters. The movie has some beautiful songs and music by
Ram Ganguly. My favorites are
kahiin kaa diipak kahiin kii baati - shamashaad and shailesh
kaahe koyal shor machaaye re - shamashaad
zindaa huu.N is tarah ki - mukesh
the first two by bahazaad laKanavii and the third by
majaruuh. (Note: see correction in the next part of 1948)
anokhaa pyaar
This movie has 2 of the first 3 Lata-Mukesh duets [the
third one MD'ed by Gulaam haidar being, "ab Darane kii koii
baat nahii.n, angarezii chhoraa chalaa gayaa" in majabuur
(1948), a movie that also features the first Lata-Geeta
duet,"har shai pe javaani hai"]. Starring Dilip Kumar,
Nargis and Nalini Jayawant, anokhaa pyaar was the first
movie to have records featuring Lata in 10 out of 11 songs.
Out of these, 5 songs were sung by the MD anil bisvaas's
wife miinaa kapuur, who fell ill during the recording of the
discs, lucky break for the young Lata. I just love all the
songs; here they are:
1. gha.Dii gha.Dii puuchho naa jii - lata
2. mere phuulo.n me.n chhipii hai javaanii - lata
3. mere liye vo Game intazaar chh.D gaye - lata/miinaa
4. ai dil merii vafaa me.n koi asar - lata/miinaa & iraa naagarth
5. ab yaad na kar bhuul jaa ai dil vo - lata/miinaa & mukesh
6. yaad rakhanaa chaa.Nd taaro is suhaanii - lata/miinaa
7. yaad rakhanaa chaa.Nd taaro is suhaanii - lata & mukesh
8. jiivan sapanaa TuuT gayaa - lata
9. jiivan sapanaa TuuT gayaa - mukesh
10. bholaa bhaalaa rii moraa balamaa naa - lata
11. ek dil kaa lagaanaa baaqii thaa - lata/miinaa
The lyricists were nepaalii for number 1, bahazaad for 2,3,
shams aziimaabaadii for 4,5, ziyaa sarahadii for the rest.
anokhii adaa
Mehboob produced and directed this love triangle
starring prem adiib, surendra and nasiim, who gets amnesia
in a train accident. I like prem adiib's carefree acting and
all the 13 songs by naushaad. I constantly hum the 3 mukesh
solos,
manzil kii dhun me.n jhuumate gaate chale chalo
ye pyaar kii baate.n ye safar bhuul naa jaana
kabhii dil dil se Takaraataa to hoga,
the 2 duets
bhuul gaye kyo.n de ke sahaaraa - shamashaad, mukesh
kyo.n unhe.n dil diyaa, hay ye kyaa kiyaa - shamashaad, surendra
and 2 umaa devii solos
kaahe jiyaa Dole ho kahaa nahii.n jaaye
dil ko lagaa ke hamane kuchh bhii naa paayaa
all written by shakiil. At one point in the movie, surendra
says, with a twinkle in his eye, to nasiim, "mai.n usase
kahii.n achchhaa gaa sakataa huu.n" referring to adiib who
mouths the mukesh songs.
aazaadii ke raah par
saahir ludhiaanavii wrote possibly his first 4 songs
for this movie,"jaag uthaa hai hindustaan", "mere charakhe
me.n jiivan kaa raag sakhii", "badal rahii hai zindagii",
"bhaarat jananii terii jay ho, vijaya ho". The movie had 2
more songs, "dil fidaa karate hai.n, qurbaan jigar karate
hai.n" by the famous freedom fighter raam prasaad bismil
and, "jha.N.Daa uu.Nchaa rahe hamaaraa" by shyaam laal gupt.
do kaliyaan
The first hindi movie directed by the famous Marathi
director, Rajaram Dattatreya Paranjape was a remake of his
Marathi "balidaan". An excellent actor and director, he was
born on April 24, 1910 in Miraj. Starting as a stage actor,
he joined Natyamanvantar in 1934. His first screen acting
role was in Baburao Painter's Savkari Pash (1936). He was
the "Paul Muni" of the Indian cinema. In other words, he
totally absorbed himself in the roles he played.
ghar kii izzat
Nice social starring Dilip and Mumataaz Shanti, with
jIvan playing the poor brother of the heroine. Music by
Gobind Ram is pleasing. I enjoy
baaG me.n koyaliya yahii gaaye re - shamashaad & zoharaa
merii duniyaa ke Gariibo jaago, jaago jaago- shamashaad & chorus
vaah re zamaane kyaa rang dikhaaye - rafii
the last sung by Dilip when he is sad and takes to drinking.
Apparently the following song was hurriedly inserted after
naathuuraam killed our father:
saarii duniyaa ke sarataaj, teraa amar - shamshaad, miinaa, chorus
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Well, we reached the g's today. Soon we will continue with the rest
of the alphabet. Enjoy!
Surjit Singh, a diehard movie fan(atic), period.
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian