“Aadhi Raat” (1950) was a Kuldip pictures production. It was directed by S K Ojha. This movie had Ashok Kumar and Nargis in lead roles with Jeevan, Kuldeep, Neelam, Arif, Tiwari, Pratima Devi, Cuckoo etc also in it.
The movie had nine songs in it. Eight of them were composed by Husnlal Bhagatram and one by Hansraj Bahl.
This review is written by Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh
BEQASOOR-1950, a Madhukar Picture film was directed by K.Amarnath,who also wrote its story.The screen play and dialogues as well as some lyrics were by Ehsan Rizvi. The producer was M.R.Navalkar.
Ghanashyam(Yakub) was a very nasty and malicious person who hated his younger brother because he was more educated. When his father dies, he throws his bother Brij(Ajit) and mother(Durga Khote) out of the house to enjoy the shop, business and property, along with his equally nasty wife(Geeta Nizami).
Brij comes to Bombay. He gets a job as a Police Sub Inspector. Once he meets Usha(Madhubala) who runs away from her brother to avoid forced prostitution. They marry. Brij is promoted as Inspector and posted in his town. He catches the Manager of Ghanashyam for Black marketing. Ghanashyam is very angry. He lays a trap and Brij is caught for taking bribe. Also Usha’s character is questioned.
Brij goes to jail.Usha, with the help of neighbours and friends turns the tables on Ghanashyam and he goes to jail, while Brij comes out(as if there is only one bed available in jail).
Now, our new generation readers may not know anything about who was Geeta Nizami, so a short note on her-
GEETA NIZAMI was born as Rasheeda begum in 1925 in Punjab province. She was educated and knew Urdu and English very well. She started her film career with Panna-1944 opposite Jairaj as a Heroine.
She acted in about 5 films as Heroine but was relegated to secondary roles soon. She did only 13 films namely Panna, Village girl, Room no.9, Sassi Pannu, Moti, Paroo, Gajre, Rehnuma, Beqasoor, Actor, Karwat, Ek tha Ladka and Hulchul(1951).
She migrated to Pakistan in April 1952, married one Altaf Hussain, an Imort Export Trader and settled in Karachi. She neither did any film nor she was apporoached by any producer. She died on 28-4-2008.
This review is written by Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh
Hamara Ghar-1950 was one of such films in which the message of benefits of integrated family benefits was very strongly depicted. The film was made by ‘Hindustan Chitra’ and was directed by Nanabhai Bhatt ( father of Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt). Music was by Chitragupta. The cast was Durga Khote, Umakant Desai, Veera, Agha, Meena Kumari, Geeta Bose, David, Jankidas, Ramesh Gupta etc. There were only 7 songs in the movie which were sung by Rafi, Geeta, Kishore and Shanti Sharma. Lyrics were by Anjum, Rammurthy Chaturvedi and Bharat Vyas.
The story was built around a happy family of 5 brothers, their wives and their Mother-Durga Khote. It is a joint family, with all its benefits and shortcomings. One of their relatives, a brother of a Bahu, tries to break the family by instigating the brothers to take their shares and get separated from each other. When this news reaches the mother, she calls all the sons together and gives them a lecture exhorting them to remain united. One of her dialogues in this lecture became very popular in those days. It was-
” SANGHATIT GHARON SE HI SANGHATIT RASHTRA BANATA HAI ” ( Only United families make an United Nation).
After this dialogue, people in the theatre used to clap, whistle and shout with approval ! Her dialogues were quite lengthy as she gave them examples from History. This lecture was the Highlight of the film.
After many ups and downs,twists and incidents,the film ends on a happy note,throwing the instigator out of the house and after a Group photo with ‘Mother India’ in the centre.
The details are provided by Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh
I had seen this film,not once but many times. It was full of trick scenes and It had become a cult film.Trilok Kapoor,who acted the part of lord Shiva was rumoured to have a real snake around his neck during the film shooting. Nirupa Roy who played the role of Uma,was quite scared of snakes and it became a problem.Finally,an artificial snake was used,when their joint shots were shot.
HAR HAR MAHADEV-1950 was produced and directed by Jayant Desai under the banner of Jayant Desai Production. With this one film alone Jayant Desai became a millionnaire in those days.
It was also the FIRST film where the pair of Trilok Kapoor and Nirupa Roy became a hit as Shankar-Parvati and they played this role in 6 subsequent films.
The film had songs written by Ramesh Shastri-who had written the famous song of BARSAT-Mera lal dupatta malmal ka.
His song in this film ‘Kankar kankar se main puchhun shankar mera kahan hain’ became a hit.It was sung by Geeta Dutt.
This is a story,when Tarakasur, the king of demons invades the land of gods,to avenge the insult meted out to his mother by Indra. Tarakasur wins the war and all Gods are kept in captivity-including the offender Indra.
Lord Vishnu and Bramhadev know,only Lord Shiva can defeat Tarakasur but he is in Tapascharya(Meditation). Kamdev is sent to lure Shiva from his meditation, but Shiva is so angry that, opening his Third Eye, he burns Kamdev. Now only Uma,the daughter of king Himalaya can save the world, Uma(Nirupa Roy) start penance to propituate Shiva(Trilok Kapoor).
Due to her earnest bhakti and devotion, Shiva relents and breaks his Meditation. Shiva and Uma get Married and later lord Sshiva destroys Tarakasur,releasing all the Gods.
On this auspicious day of Mahashivratri,the marriage of Shiv-Parvati is solemnised in the midnight.
The film Munimji has a very nise song depicting the marriage details.
This review is written by Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh
JOGAN(1950) a Ranjit movietone film was a big hit in those days. There was a strange thing about this movie, that in the credit list of the movie they used to show a big Question Mark instead of any name. For many years, this was a mystery and no one knew the answer, till one day, before his death in 1999, Kidar Sharma revealed the story behind the STORY of Jogan, thus-
” The man who wrote the story declined to take the credit, at the last minute. He was the great CHANDULAL SHAH himself.
He saw one English movie, in which the Hero falls in love with a Nun and tries to get her out of celibacy. He wanted to make its Hindi version. He called two of the best directors of that time, viz. Nitin Bose and Mahesh Kaul and told them the ‘one line story’- disturbing the sanyas of a Jogan.
Both of them laughed loudly and said no film can be made on this. That precise time I entered the room and heard this. Bose and Kaul left and the servant brought a Paan for Chandulal.I asked him “Main Beeda uthaun ?” meaning, may I take the challenge ?
Chandulal said,”Remember, my financial condition is so bad that I have only one month’s ration at home. If you fail Ranjit will be destroyed.”
I accepted the challenge. I made this movie in just 29 days, working Day and Night. I wanted to prove to Bose and Kaul that I was not a fool. They had said(after hearing my challenge) that ‘fools rush where Angels fear to tread’
The film was a Hit. ”
The story of Jogan was that Vijay(Dilip Kumar) falls in love with Surabhi(Nargis), a Jogan who sings in a temple every day. When he follws her daily, she tries to dissuade him , but he would not listen to it. She has become a Jogan after her marriage is fixed with an old man and she tries to commit suicide, is saved by Maha Maa(Pratima devi) and made a Jogan. Finally, she disappears and after few years Vijay gets a letter from her that she loved him, but has committed suicide.
This review is written by Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh
Lajawab-50 was a Variety pictures’ film. This was a firm belonging to Ashalata(Mehrunnisa) Biswas, the First wife of Anil da. The director was J P Advani and the Lyricists were, Prem Dhavan, Shekhar(actor Shekhar),and Dr,Safdar ‘Aah’ Sitapuri.
The cast of the film was, Sohan, Rehana, Kuldip, David, Kavita, Pran, Iftikhar, Prem Dhavan, Randhir etc.
The story of the film was-
Roma is a spoiled, pampered daughter of a rich businessman. She thinks that money can buy everything. Once, while driving through a nearby village, she kills a goat under her car. Saloni, the owner comes there. Roma offers her money as a compensation. There is a hot discussion between the two. Finding Roma a heartless person, Saloni curses her that she will never get true love in life till she knows what it is.
Roma is engaged to rich Sohan. But unfortunately, Sohan incurs loss in business and becomes a pauper. Roma breaks her engagement and gets engaged to his cousin Ramesh, who is very wealthy. Kailash,a true lover of Roma is spurned by her and goes away to Africa. Sohan, dejected, leaves the town and goes to nearby village where he meets Saloni and love develops between the two. On the day of marriage or Roma, her groom Ramesh dies in accident. All his wealth goes to Sohan and he becomes rich again.
Meanwhile Kailash comes back. Now he has become a millionaire. He once again proposes to Roma. Roma realises her mistake and also remembers Saloni’s curse. She and Kailash go to Saloni, who advises her to understand the value of life, money and love. Roma repents.
Finally Sohan and Saloni and Kailash and Roma reunite.
“Preet Ka Geet”(1950) was directed by Girish Trivedi for Kalakaar Chitra, Bombay. The movie had Sulochana Chatterjee, Prem Adeeb, Gulab, Shashikala, Kukku, Badri Prasad, Shyam Sundar, Munshi Khanjar, Urvashi etc in it.
The movie had eleven songs. Premi was the lyricist. Music was composed by Shyam Babu Pathak.
This review is written by Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh
PYAAR KI MANZIL, produced by Super Team Federal productions, directed by Keki Mistry had Music by Husnlal Bhagatram and Lyrics were provided by Rajinder Krishna, Shevan Rizvi and Tariq Lucknowi. Story/screenplay/Dialogues were by Azam Bazadpuri.
The cast included Rehman, Munawwar Sultana, Pratima Devi, Gope, Janakidas, Ramesh Sinha, Kamal etc.etc.
The story is, Rehman is a Lawyer, who loves Munawwar Sultana, having met her accidently after a ‘Takrana’ takes place. As usual,her father is against this match as they are not only from different caste, but also Rehman is not yet rich. Lovers suffer, meanwhile Rehman earns name, fame and money in his practice. After a few more minor hiccups, the lovers reach their Pyaar Ki Manzil ‘successfully’.
This review is written by Sudhir Kapur
It is produced under the banner of Ram Krishna Pictures and is directed by poet Ramesh Gupta. And yes, all the sixteen songs in this film have been written by Ramesh Gupta. The cast of actors includes Mridula, Bharat Bhushan, Shashi Kapoor (Sr.), Sheila Naik, Baby Tara, Lakshman, Ramkrishna Chaubey, Tribhuwan Sinha, Kamlesh Thakar, Om Prakash Vyas, Shapurji, Aathwale amongst others. There are four music directors who share the credits for composing the 16 songs.
The details are provided by Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh
SAMADHI-1950 was a patriotic drama based on Netaji’s INA struggle in the far east. A filmistan film,it paired the popular jodi of Ashok Kumar and Nalini Jayawant. They had a magical auro in their pairing.It was said that both had an attraction towards each other. I think it must have remained for a long long time. After both were retired, their bungalows in Chembur were next to each others and they used to exchange pleasantries very often.
Listening to the call of Netaji to the Indian youths to join the INA for the sake of motherland, Shekhar(Ashok kumar) abondones a wealthy life and joins INA. After initial trg. he is sent to Singapore. His brother Suresh(Shyam) is a Capt. in the British Army and posted in Singapore only.Suresh is roped in into the British spy ring headed by the “BOSS”(Mubarak) and with Dolly(Kuldip Kaur) a dancer.Lily(Nalini Jayawant) is Dolly’s sister.Shekhar falls in love with Lily.The BOSS uses this link to infiltrate INA’s intelligence. In the ensuing War,Suresh and Shekhar face each others. Shekhar gets shot and is left considered dead. Shekhar,however survives and helps his army to round up British ships.ultimately,while blowing up a bridge on Indo-Burma border,Shekhar dies.
When the film released in 1950, Baburao Patel wrote in FILMINDIA-May issue,that the film was a “BAKWAS’ and meaningless and outdated as India had already got Independence. The audience,however did not agree,and the film was a hit.
The music,perticularly the song,”Gorey gorey,o banke chhorey” by Lata and Amirbai was on everyone’s lips. Another song,’Kadam kadam badhaye jaa’ was based on a similar song sung in INA in reality.There was a song on Netaji also in it “subhash chandra ke naamse Hindusthan ka naam….’
Bollywood movies 