Probashi- Cover Story
Probashi- Cover Story
Picture Abi Baaki Hai Mere Dost
Najmul ` Hassan eloped with Devika Rani , Himanshu Rai husband of Devika Rani and owner of Hindustan films convinced the reluctant Ashok Kumar to play the part of the hero in what was to be Ashok Kumar ’ s debut film Jeevan Naiya in 1936 . Ashok Kumar ’ s next film Achyut Kanya that very same year was a hit and rest is history . Music for Achyut Kanya was given by Indian cinema ’ s first women music director Saraswati Devi ( alias of Khorshed‐ Minocher‐Homji ). Incidentally Devika Rani belongs to the famous Tagore family . Both Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani are winners of the Dadasaheb Phalke award .
Sant Tukaram ( 1936 ) This Marathi film was the first Indian film to win an international film award when it was adjudged the best film at the Venice Film Festival in 1937 . It took Indian Cinema to wait for another 20 years before another Indian film Aparajito directed by Satyajit Ray would win the Best Film award at Venice in 1957 . Sant Tukaram broke box office records by being the first Indian film to run in a single theatre for more than a year .
Kismet ( 1943 ): Post Achyut Kanya the phenomenon of Ashok Kumar was on the ascent , and he ruled the forties as the superstar of Indian cinema . In Kismet for the first time on Indian screen was seen the antihero , something which we will see repeatedly in Hindi cinema notably Dev Anand in Guide , Amitabh in Deewar , Shahrukh Khan in Baazigar . Kismet went on to create a record for the highest grossing film in India with total collection of more than a crore and can be termed as the first Indian Blockbuster . It ran in a cinema hall in Kolkata for over three years . The British government almost banned the movie for the song “ Hindustan hamara hai ” which was considered
The scene ( left ) featuring Nargis and Raj Kapoor from film Barsaat inspired the logo of RK Films ( right )
as a challenge to the British rule in India . Lyrics were by Kavi Pradeep and music by Anil Biswas .
Neecha Nagar ( 1946 ): Chetan Anand ’ s Neecha Nagar became the first Hindi film which got an international award ; it got recognition at the Cannes Film Festival . This film is considered to be the starting of the Indian parallel cinema movement , which was taken admirably forward by Satyajit Ray , Rhitwik Ghatak , Mrinal Sen , and Shyam Benegal etc . Based on the novel Lower Depths by Maxim Gorky , Neecha Nagar depicts the struggle of slum dwellers to live with dignity . Rated amongst the ten best Indian films both in technical and thematic criteria Neecha Nagar remains one of India ’ s most under rated film . The film was a failure at the box office . Neecha Nagar marked the debut of Ravi Shankar as music director .
Barsaat ( 1949 ): The magic of Raj Kapoor started with the film Barsaat , his first major hit as Director . The film revolves around two love stories‐ Pran ( Raj Kapoor ) with Reshma ( Nargis ) and Gopal ( Prem Nath ) with Neela ( Nimmi ). Two heroes with opposite personalities , while Pran stands for principles , Gopal is philandering . The film tracks the relationship of both the couples , while Raj Kapoor and Nargis have a happy ending , Premnath and Nimmi relationship is marred with unreciprocated love and faith . Barsaat established the hit pair of Raj Kapoor and Nargis and they went on to act in sixteen films together . The stupendous financial success of Barsaat funded the RK Studios from where in coming years would come many a blockbusters . The duo of music directors Shankar‐ Jaikishan were introduced in this film and would remain the constant feature of RK films till Jaikishan died . Also was introduced the actress Nimmi in this film . The soundtrack of Barsaat was a tremendous hit and songs like Jiya Beqarar Hai and Hawa Mein Udta Jaye continues to warm many a hearts even today .
Awaara ( 1951 ): Awaara the most successful film of RK studios is the story of street rogue and social riffraff Raju estranged from his rich father . Raju ’ s life intermingles with that of Nargis who comes from a privileged background . Raju ’ s mannerisms are modelled on Charlie Chaplin which was further developed in RK film Shree 420 . The song Awaara Hun ya gardish mein hun asmaan ka taara hun caught