chhalia
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chhalia was released in the year 1960, some songs of the official soundtrack are dum dum diga diga by mukesh, chhalia mera naam by mukesh, teri raahon mein khade hain by lata mangeshkar. listen the soundtrack online !
chhalia
is a 1960 hindi film which has raj kapoor, nutan, pran, rehman, bupet raja and shobhna samarth in lead roles. we have one song lyrics and one video song of chhalia. kalyanji and anandji have composed its music. lata mangeshkar has sung these songs while qamar jalalabadi has penned its lyrics .
kalyanji got his break as an independent music composer with subhash desai’s samrat chandragupt (1958) and six films later, took on his younger brother anandji as his partner with madari (1959). the next year, their fortunes changed with another subhash production, chhalia (1960) directed by subhash’s younger brother manmohan. their songs such as ‘dum dum diga diga’ and ‘chhalia mera naam’ have become evergreen classics since then .
physically and emotionally shattered, shanti tries to commit suicide after leaving anwar in a remand home, but is rescued by an outlaw, chhalia (raj kapoor) who as time and events progress, flips for the lady. liberty can always lead to licence, especially in hindi cinema. rehman lands in delhi to settle old scores with chhalia, and threatens to kidnap shanti. the bloody fight that ensues between the two adversaries eventually ends in a truce. the hurried climax, set amidst dussera festivities, has chhalia bringing about a rapprochement between the estranged couple, and himself walking into the infinity, while rehman is reunited with his sister on the return train .
he said an increasing number of young boys and girls were being diagnosed with sub - mucous fibrosis, a pre - malignant condition, primarily caused by the use of paan, chhalia, gutka, mainpuri and their other concoctions besides smoking .
the tragic - comic story of chhalia, a naive, simple - minded young man who comes to the city and witnesses the harsh side of life; and falls in love with a young woman named shanti, only to... see full summary »
internationally, he said, the cancer of the mouth and throat was the sixth most common cancer while it was the second most common cancer in the subcontinent. its incidence was a little more common in girls because of the widespread use of chhalia, he added .
calling paan shops as cancer shops and their salesmen as death traders, he urged the government to ban the production, sale and advertisements of chhalia products and organise awareness - raising programmes at the community level. he also urged the media to highlight the hazards associated with these products .
these bitter disappointments lead shanti to resolve to end her life, but the suicide note she composes accidentally falls into the hands of chhalia (raj kapoor) and he intercepts and saves her. a lovable con - man, chhalia is kapoor’s chaplinesque “raju” in all but name (to underscore this point, he strolls several times past posters for his own earlier films !), with ill - fitting trousers and jacket, comical walk, a penchant for small children and dogs, and an establishing song in the grand awara and shri 420 tradition. its refrain goes ,
chhalia
is manmohan desai' s first film, with telltale signs of the emerging showman' s narration skills. the story is set around the partition era when kewal (rehman) leaves behind his newly wedded wife shanti (nutan) in lahore, for reasons not divulged to the viewer. shanti makes it to india a few years later with her little son, in the hope of being reunited with her husband. kewal is overjoyed to meet his wife and son, but everything goes wrong when the boy introduces himself as
anwar
. as for his father' s name, he replies
abdul rehman
. kewal abandons his wife and son. after leaving the boy in an orphanage, shanti tries to kill herself but is rescued by chhalia (raj kapoor), who shelters her. chhalia falls in love with shanti only to learn of her previous marriage and her son .
some of their famous songs are yeh mera dil pyar ka deewana, govinda aala re, meri desh ki dharti, chhalia mera naam, dam dam diga diga, har kisi ko nahi milta, kya khoob lagti ho, pardesiyon se na ankhiyaan milana, salaam - e - ishq meri jaan, and zindagi ka safar .
among his memorable movies are
azaad
,
madhumati
,
devdas
,
dil diya dard liya
,
ram aur shyam
,
aadmi
,
ziddi
,
munimji
,
amardeep
,
jab pyar kisise hota hai
,
chori chori
, and
chhalia
.
among films set in east and west punjab during the partition, that examine the representations of railways are chhalia (1960), gadar ek prem katha, train to pakistan (1997) and 1947 earth (1999). trains became contested sites where existing and new identities were negotiated, and where nationalism supplanted local identities and regional politics .
summary: desai’s directorial debut is an unlikely drama about india’s partition. shanti (nutan) is married to kewal (rehman) in lahore on the eve of independence. when the nation is divided, shanti’s family and her husband migrate to delhi, leaving her behind. she finds shelter for five years with the afghan bandit abdul rehman (pran) who has a sister of shanti’s age across the border. shanti bears a son, anwar (moppet raja), and when she travels to delhi with her child her husband disowns her, as does her father. she finds shelter with another generous criminal, chhalia (kapoor), who falls in love with her. abdul rehman comes to delhi to pursue an old feud with chhalia and threatens to kidnap shanti. after an extended fight sequence, the two bandits call a truce. on the train back to pakistan, rehman is reunited with his sister. chhalia arranges a reconciliation between shanti and kewal, renouncing his own chance at happiness. the film alludes to aspects of realism derived from radical literature as well as from kapoor’s presence (cf. phir subah hogi, 1958), but desai seems impatient with the finer points of plot structure, a tendency that would later lead to his virtual abandonment of temporally coherent plots in the bachchan films of the 70s and 80s. the film had several hit songs including the communal - harmony number chhalia mera naam, sung by mukesh .
chhalia is a 1973 hindi - language indian feature film directed by mukul dutt and starring navin nischol, nanda, shatrughan sinha, rajendra nath and helen. the film was amongst the last films of actress nanda in lead roles in 1970s when she had reduced her work after starring in several film from 1950s. the film did not do well on box office .
[ chhalia is available on dvd from the indian distributor shemaroo and the international firm baba digital. although some of shemaroo ’s discs have image quality superior to those of the same films marketed by international copyright - holders (e. g. , shemaroo’s shree 420 looks better than the yashraj films version), their chhalia unfortunately comes with all the continuity problems noted above, and one can only hope that this does not mean that the sole available print of this film has the same faults. to the company’s credit, though, image quality is quite good for what survives, and although the subtitles contain some of the irritating abbreviations favored by text - messagers (e. g. , “ur” for “your”), they are fairly accurate, and (wonder of wonders !) are provided for songs as well. the baba digital dvd has equally good overall image quality, but even worse continuity problems, with sections of songs missing. however, its subtitles are better than those of the shemaroo version. take your pick! given its gutsy theme, chhalia is an important film to watch, warts and all. ]
enter fate in the form of abdul rehman khan, who has journeyed to india in search of his lost sister and also to settle some old (unexplained) score with chhalia, which he plans to do by abducting the lovely young woman in chhalia’s company (recall that khan has never laid eyes on shanti during the five years she stayed with him). pran gives a strong performance as the pathan heavy, including an impressive fight scene with chhalia, but he is finally bested and then further devastated by the knowledge that the woman he planned to dishonor is his own adopted “sister. ” when he is told that he must return to pakistan, as his visitor’s permit is about to expire, his dazed and pathetic queries: pakistan? pakistan kahaan hai? hindustan kahaan hai? (“pakistan? where is pakistan? where is hindustan / india? ”) offer one of the film’s most touching moments, suggesting the bewilderment, at the lunacy of man - made boundaries, of the insane hero of saadat hasan manto’s famous short story “toba tek singh. ” yet there is a “lost - and - found” surprise waiting for him, too, aboard the lahore - bound train .
the tragic - comic story of chhalia, a naive, simple - minded young man who comes to the city and witnesses the harsh side of life; and falls in love with a young woman named shanti, only to find out that she is married but separated from her husband, kewal, and adopted son, anwar. he puts all he can in an effort to locate kewal and re - unite the family .
the entry of this odd but familiar hybrid character (who is at once both “poor” and “middle class, ” brimful of love, and a “criminal” who is apparently not much of a success at crime) into a semi - realist narrative about repatriated partition abductees may seem an odd turn, but it feeds a subplot set in a satisfyingly surreal old delhi, where chhalia resides in a hovel set atop a crumbling city wall .
his first film after partition was
ziddi
in 1948 in which he acted alongside evergreen hero dev anand and kamini kaushal. his performances have received acclaim in films like azaad, madhumati, devdas, dil diya dard liya, ram aur shyam, aadmi, ziddi, munimji, amar deep, jab pyar kisi se hota hai, aah, chori chori, jagte raho, chhalia and jis desh men ganga behti hai among others .
it remains for chhalia to renounce his own love for shanti and bring about her reunion with her husband and son. though this denouement may have been taken for granted, the film effects it through a bang - up finale set during the climax of the delhi ramlila — the annual re - enactment of the story of rama and sita — when a huge effigy of ravana, rama’s demonic adversary and the abductor of rama’s wife, is set afire at an outdoor fair .
the tragic - comic story of chhalia (raj kapoor), a naive, simple - minded young man who comes to the city and witnesses the harsh side of life; and falls in love with a young woman named shanti (nutan), only to find out that she is married but separated from her husband, kewal (rehman), and adopted son, anwar. he puts all he can in an effort to locate kewal and re - unite the family .
lahore (1949), starring nargis and karan dewan and directed by ml anand, was the earliest film that had partition as its backdrop, while pakistan first explored the tragedy in masud parvaiz’s beli (1950). some other important films revisiting partition in the first decade - and - a - half since the two countries got their independence include saifuddin saif’s sensitive pakistani punjabi film, kartar singh (1959), manmohan desai’s raj kapoor - nutan starrer chhalia (1960) and yash chopra’s dharamputra (1961) .
the title song, “chhalia mera naam” (mukesh), became common lore on the streets, as some of the other qamar jalalabadi songs like “dum dum diga diga”, “mere tute hue dil se” (mukesh), “teri rahon mein” (lata mangeskar), “baje payal cham cham” (lata), “meri jaan kuch bhi kijiye” (lata - mukesh), and the climatic “gali gali seta roye” (mohammed rafi) set to music by kalyanji - anandji. the 112 - minute black and white movie had competent cinematography by n. satyen .
chhalia welcomes shanti — who has now lost her son to an orphan boys’ school, where the teacher is in fact his own father, kewal — into this “home” (after first removing the western pin - ups from its walls) and she begins a new life as his chaste housekeeper. knowing little of her past, he slowly falls in love with her (celebrated in the joyous rainy season song dam dam diga diga [ “everything is soaked” ] in which kapoor dances gene kelly - like, but with a purloined umbrella, amidst a torrential downpour) .
manmohan desai was the neglected genius of classic bollywood: the three - hour / six - song / catch - all action melodrama. his way was made smooth by his father and brother, both of whom were in the industry, but neither of whom made it out of the b - grade rut. desai began his career with characteristic panache by casting raj kapoor and nutan in chhalia, which turned out to be a huge hit. but it was with the coming of amitabh bachchan that desai was to come into his own. but ah, that’s a story that belongs to the 1970s .
here the film invokes another rama story, known to all indians and already implicit in chhalia: that of rama’s later rejection of his pregnant wife because of suspicion that she may have been unfaithful to him during her captivity, and that the child she carries may not be his. whereas in the ramayana it is the poet - sage valmiki who finally attests to sita’s purity before rama, here it is chhaliya - kapoor as india’s conscience, and naturally he does it through a song, heavy with mythological allusions, about the plight of abducted women (gali gali seeta, “in every lane, sita
)
the real protagonist of “chhalia” is shanti (nutan) who is married off to kewal (rehman) on the eve of partition. but while the two families move away to delhi from lahore, she inadvertently is left behind, and is forced to share roof with abdul rehman (pran) who has a sister of shanti’s age in india. when she returns to india five years later with her son, she is first welcomed by the husband with open arms but disowned when the child identifies himself as anwar, and his father as abdul rehman. even her own father refuses to give her shelter, though in the years she had lived with abdul rehman she hadn’t even seen his face .
starring: raj kapoor, nutan, pran director: manmohan desai writer: inder raj anand country: india language: hindi synopsis: the tragic - comic story of chhalia, a naive, simple - minded young man who comes to the city and witnesses the harsh side of life; and falls in love with a young woman named shanti, only to find out that she is married but separated from her husband, kewal, and adopted son, anwar. he puts all he can in an effort to locate kewal and re - unite the family. this full hindi movie is for free online watch streaming / download as well. enjoy & stay connected with us! - subscribe to youtube channel: urltoken powered by: catrack worldwide (urltoken )
he acted in more than 50 films included shahjehan (1946) as shahjahan, taj mahal (1963 film) as emperor jahangir (salim) with veena as noor jahan, pyar ki jeet (1948), roomal (1949), paras (1949), badi bahen (1949), phir subah hogi (1958), choti bahen (1959), chhalia (1960), chaudhvin ka chand (1960), ghunghat (1960), dharmputra (1961), mere mehboob (1963), baharen phir bhi aayengi (1966), dil ne phir yaad kiya (1966), dil diya dard liya (1966), dulhan ek raat ki (1967), aabroo (1968), mere hamdam mere dost (1968) shikar (1968), intaquam (1969), majboor (1974), dost (1974) and dil... aakhir dil hai (1982) are his hit films .
the story is set around the partition era when kewal leaves behind his newly wedded wife shanti in lahore, for reasons not divulged to the viewer. shanti makes it to india a few years later with her little son, in the hope of being reunited with her husband. but she meets chhalia who falls in love with her. what will shanti do now? . subscribe for the best bollywood videos, movies and scenes, all in one channel urltoken. like, comment and share with your friends and family. watch more bollywood videos and movies starring your favourite celebrities like amitabh bachchan, raj kapoor, dharmendra, zeenat aman, vidya balan, govinda, salman khan and many more, only on urltoken. connect with us on: - facebook - urltoken twitter - urltoken google plus - urltoken sign up for free and get daily updates on new videos, exclusive web shows, contests & much more urltoken send us your feedback and suggestions at: connect @ urltoken
song: mere toote hue. movie: chhalia 1960. singer: mukesh. music: kalyanji - anandji. lyrics: qamar jalalabadi. cast: raj kapoor, nutan, pran, rehman, bupet raja, shobhna samarth. lyrics: mere tute huye dil se koi to aaj ye puchhe ke tera haal kya hai, ke tera haal kya hai mere tute huye dil se koi to aaj ye puchhe ke tera haal kya hai, ke tera haal kya hai kismat teri rit nirali, kismat teri rit nirali o chaliye ko chalane wali, phul khila to tuti daali jise ulfat samajh baitha meri nazaro kaa dhokha tha kisiki kya khata hai, kisiki kya khata hai mere tute huye dil se koi to aaj ye puchhe ke tera haal kya hai, ke tera haal kya hai maangi mohabbat paayi judaai, maangi mohabbat paayi judaai duniya mujhko raas na aayi, pahle kadam par thokar khayi sada aazad rahte the hame malum hi kya tha mohabbat kya bala hai, mohabbat kya bala hai mere tute huye dil se koi to aaj ye puchhe ke tera haal kya hai, ke tera haal kya hai
on the sixth day of our illustrated tribute to 100 years of bollywood, we look at 1964 - 1973 .
think satin and spangles. think high - spirited high jinks. think pretenders and princesses. think bouffants and tuxedos. the 1960s seem to have been a direct response to the high seriousness of the 1950s. the two male stars who dominated the decade were never very comfortable outside the city; they were at their best in night clubs or in the front seats of taxis. the heroines were poor little rich girls, wealthy in everything but love. it was that kind of cinema and some of its tropes and forms – an almost offensive form of romancing the heroine, for instance – became a standard for bollywood .
in most cinemas, female stars have a short shelf - life – and dancers? perishable commodities. helen bucked that trend. she was the dancer for nearly 30 years. it wasn’t just her smile, her innate rhythm and her ability to look at home in satin, spangles, feathers and fur that made her a dancer who lasted in an industry that is brutal about throwing away what it doesn’t want; it was her ability to suggest that she was enjoying dancing for you that made her the go - to go - go girl .
the 1960s were the cotton - candy decade of chiffon saris and romantic songs in the moonlight. and the man behind the hero, the man at the microphone was mohammed rafi, whose voice brought thousands of songs alive. he was a devout muslim whose understanding of islam prevented him from taking royalties. he had a falling out with the then top female playback singer lata mangeshkar, which led the way to the ascendancy of kishore kumar in the next decade. but in the 1960s, if there was a romantic song, a devotional song, or even a patriotic song, chances are, rafi was the voice .
he was the man in the white tuxedo, the nightclub musician, the lost heir to the fortune. but most of all, shammi kapoor was known as the “yahoo” guy, who brought a brand of irrepressible energy to his portrayals of young lovers who brooded intensely in scene one and imitated elvis presley in the next. this might have been his way of differentiating himself from his elder brother, the redoubtable raj, or his younger brother, the beautiful shashi. in his after - career, he took to religion and the internet .
by his own reckoning, dev anand was a star on the day he died in 2011; but that may have been because his greatest talent was self - deception. in the glory days however, between the 1950s and the 1970s, he was one of the great stars. the dev anand hero was a denizen of the city – of its underbelly. he was a noir hero, except that bollywood morality would always demand a last - minute redemption, generally wrought by a woman. in the 1970s, he turned producer and director .
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partition’s effect on the film industries of the two countries was radically different. while india lost some good talent, pakistan had to literally restart from scratch
noor jehan in the pakistani film, lakht - e - jigar (1956), a remake of the hindi film vachan (1955) starring geeta bali. (courtesy omar ali khan )
enough has been written about the bloody partition of the subcontinent; of the largest known human exodus in history across the borders of west pakistan, east pakistan (now bangladesh) and india; of the borders created in a blatantly slipshod manner by the british government before handing back power to the ‘natives’. it was, as we all know, a brexit that left the subcontinent in shambles .
as undivided india lost parts of itself due to religious and political divides, a vast populace, affected by the creation of the two nations, struggled to relocate itself. however, in the case of the film industry, religion was not necessarily the prime reason for many to shift base — possibly because the film industry then, particularly its capital bombay, was truly cosmopolitan and secular in nature .
some who chose to go to pakistan did so out of personal sentiment or simply to go with the tide. actor swarnalata was one of the few artistes who saw fame and success on both sides of the border in films such as rattan (1944) and later, heer (1955). she recalled in an interview that the shift was actually no big deal. once her husband, producer - director - actor nazir, decided they would make pakistan their home, they just did .
singing star noor jehan, then one of hindi cinema’s top female stars, was absolutely clear that she would go wherever the place of her birth was. when the village in question, qasur near lahore, found itself in pakistan, she decided to leave india. with noor jehan’s exit, a formidable career in hindi filmdom with some extremely popular films – khandaan (1942), village girl (1945), zeenat (1945), anmol ghadi (1946) jugnu (1947) and mirza sahiban (1947) – came to an end .
the ‘village girl’ song booklet. a noor jehan–nazir starrer, gaon ki gori was the second highest grossing film of 1945. (courtesy upperstall. com )
both swarnalata and noor jehan were rare instances of big names within the film industry who opted for pakistan. most of the others who left, particularly from the acting world, were either veterans like ghulam mohammed and m ismail who had played character roles, or 1940s leading ladies like ragini and shamim, whose careers had begun to decline. many muslims who were doing well for themselves in the film world preferred to stay back in india .
there were people who made the reverse journey too. some prominent hindu artists who came to india from lahore included actors pran and om prakash, and filmmakers dalsukh m pancholi and roop k shorey. interestingly, a hindu distributor, jc anand, preferred to stay back in pakistan. he would go on to become one of the most successful producer - distributors across the border .
the effect of partition on the film industries of the two countries was radically different. though there was loss of some admittedly good talent from india, it was pretty much business as usual in bombay and the various film centres across the different parts of the country. the bengali film industry did suffer in that a large chunk of its market got taken away with the formation of east pakistan .
some of the brilliant, talented people who left india – apart from swarnalata and noor jehan – included writer saadat hasan manto, filmmakers shaukat hussain rizvi, wz ahmed and nazir, and composers feroz nizami, ghulam haider, and later in the mid - 1950s, khwaja khurshid anwar .
posters of heer (1955), produced by jc anand, and the poster of chan way (1951), whose direction is credited to noor jehan since her husband filmmaker shaukat hussain rizvi didn’t know punjabi. (courtesy omar ali khan )
life in pakistan wasn’t easy. unlike india, pakistan had just one major centre known for making films, lahore. however, the city was also one of the most affected by the communal fires of 1947. the two major studios of lahore, owned by pancholi art pictures and shorey pictures, were razed to the ground. as a result, the pakistani film industry had to literally restart from scratch without any proper funding or any technical infrastructure whatsoever .
with most saleable names remaining in india, pakistan struggled to make its first film, dawood chand’s teri yaad, which released on eid - ul - fitr, august 7, 1948. sadly, the film, starring dilip kumar’s brother, nasir khan, and asha posley, was a complete washout. it was a poor production and fared badly in comparison with the technical proficiency and relative lavishness of hindi films, which continued to show in pakistan post partition .
if the pakistan film industry finally got going from the mid - 1950s onwards, it was largely due to the pioneering efforts of dedicated filmmakers like nazir, sibtain fazli, anwar kemal pasha and wz ahmed. they not only overcame tremendous obstacles to create a viable film industry by giving opportunities to new stars like santosh kumar, sudhir kumar and sabiha khanum, but also fought a continuous battle with the all - powerful distributor lobby to ban or at least restrict the exhibition of hindi films. this was to help the indigenous film industry grow and flourish .
ironically, when nazir and swarnalata did finally come out with the first - ever silver jubilee film of pakistan, the punjabi movie pheray (1949), it was a remake of one of nazir’s earlier indian hit films, village girl, where he had starred opposite noor jehan .
with limited resources at his disposal, nazir made pheray at a cost of just ₹65, 000 within six weeks. it is said that the popular musical score of the film by ga chishti had the prolific composer record the film’s seven songs in a single day !
the far from ideal conditions meant that a top star like noor jehan had to wait till 1951 to be seen on the silver screen again. the film was the punjabi film, chan way (1951), whose direction is also credited to noor jehan, since her husband filmmaker shaukat hussain rizvi didn’t know punjabi. chan way was a smash hit at the box - office. its songs, particularly tere mukhde da kaala kaala til way with its refrain of o mundeya sialkotia, were equally popular on our side of the border .
and with the overwhelming success of her first urdu film, sibtain fazli’s dupetta (1952), ‘madam’ was well and truly on her way to building a glorious career in pakistan. first, as a popular singing star and then from 1960 onwards, as a playback singer for more than three decades .
noor jehan’s departure from india in 1947 has always raised a hypothetical question among old - timers and historians: would lata mangeshkar have made it as big if noor jehan had not left our shores? yet others wonder if – despite all her tremendous achievements in pakistan – it was the mallika - e - tarannum’s loss in the long run. because unlike the rich variety of indian film music with influences from across the country, noor jehan’s singing, great though it was, largely restricted her to urdu ghazals and robust punjabi songs .
the wounds caused by partition have been difficult to heal especially in the cinematic world of the two countries. as compared to other arts especially literature, filmmakers have only sporadically explored partition on either side of the border. this is especially true in the early years following independence .
karan bali is a filmmaker based in mumbai. he is also the co - founder and content - in - charge of upperstall. com, a website on the cinema of the subcontinent
mumbai, july 13: he was truly what legends are made of - a natural talent and a thorough professional with a versatility. actor pran left for his heavenly abode late friday evening. his death is
: he was truly what legends are made of - a natural talent and a thorough professional with a versatility. actor pran left for his heavenly abode late friday evening. his death is deemed as a big loss for the hindi film industry. he was 93 .
born as pran kishan sikand, he was popular as pran, and many, out of the respect the legend commanded, addressed him as
pran sahab
.
pran breathed his last at the lilavati hospital following prolonged illness, said his son .
pran' s condition was frail since the past few months and he was in and out of hospital multiple times. he was reportedly last admitted to the lilavati hospital just a week back .
he passed away at lilavati hospital at around 8. 30. p. m. ,
his son sunil told ians .
the last rites of the veteran actor, who was a recipient of the coveted dadasaheb phalke award for lifetime achievement, will be conducted saturday at 12 p. m. at the shivaji park .
in a career of over six decades, pran had an exhaustive and impressive filmography of over 400 movies. each beats the other .
and so, megastar amitabh bachchan, who worked with pran in over 10 films, including “zanjeer” and “don”, tweeted: “another magnificent pillar of the film industry falls. ”
pran may have been loved as the rough and tough man on screen, but in real life, he was “a gentleman, most collaborative colleague, a senior of immense distinction and a true disciplined professional, ” wrote big b .
the actor was chosen for the 44th dadasaheb phalke award for lifetime achievement, an honour which his family as well as colleagues from bollywood felt came a little late in the day. he was also unwell to travel to delhi to collect the award at the 60th national film awards ceremony .
although he could not travel, the honour came to him when information and broadcasting minister manish tewari visited him in mumbai to confer the award .
the actor started his career as a photographer in 1940, but it was a chance meeting with a film producer that landed him his debut role in a film called
yamla jat
.
later, when he moved from lahore to bombay (now mumbai), with the help of renowned writer saadat hasan manto and actor shyam, pran got a break in bombay talkies' film
ziddi
, in which dev anand played the lead role .
that set the momentum for the versatile talent, who brought new mannerisms and style and lent new dimensions to negative characters .
if he played villain convincingly in films like
madhumati
,
ziddi
and
ram aur shyam
, with the same ease he slipped into character roles like the lovable malang chacha in
upkar
or a loyal friend sher khan in
zanjeer
.
expressing his grief through twitter, superstar shah rukh wrote :
why do icons who shaped our lives and emotions have to go away? you will, sir, remain etched in our hearts. allah bless your soul pran sahib .
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veteran actor and bollywood' s most popular villain, pran, has been awarded the dadasaheb phalke award for the year 2012, the nation' s top cine honour, the government announced on friday .
pran krishan sikand is the 44 th dada saheb phalke award winner. the 93 - year - old actor has been honoured by the government of india for his outstanding contribution to the growth and development of indian cinema .
the award, which is given on the basis of suggestions of a committee of prominent persons, consists of a swarn kamal, a cash prize of ₹ 10 lakh and a shawl .
the actor, who is known as the
villain of the millennium ,
has worked in more than 400 films in a career that spanned over six decades. pran acted as villain in almost every film from the 1950s to 1980s .
his contribution to mainstream hindi cinema is well recognized, assuring him the place of one of the most illustrious and celebrated actors of indian film industry. his career spanned several decades. he has acted in over 400 films and in each one of them; he brought new mannerism and style, holding the audience spell bound by his acting ,
the ministry of information and broadcasting said in a statement .
the actor has not been keeping well for the past few months and might not be able to attend the award ceremony .
he watched all the news bulletins and he was very happy. he knows it' s a big honour ,
the actor' s daughter pinky bhalla said, according to reuters .
the whole world has been calling .
born in year 1920 in delhi, pran has worked in around 22 films in pre - partition india, including
khajanchi
( 1941) ,
kaise kahoon
( 1945) and
khamosh nigahen
( 1946) .
on 11 august, 1947, he left lahore for bombay to celebrate his son arvind' s birthday and days later, partition was declared and he stayed back in bombay, according to pinky bhalla .
for the portrayal of both negative and character roles, pran has won several awards including filmfare awards and bengal film journalists' association awards. he was also honoured with the padma bhushan .
( “the cheat”) hindi, 1960, bw, ca. 135 min. directed by manmohan desai produced by subhash desai / subhash pictures cinematography: bipin pandya, a. n. subramaniam; music: kalyanji - anandaji
it opens with a speeding train — indian cinema’s trope of modernity, but also its reminder of links to lost homelands, and of other trains bearing the refugees and victims of 1947. indeed, we quickly learn that this is a lahore - delhi train, and that it carries hindu and sikh women being repatriated to india five years after partition. one of these is the heroine, shanti (“peace”), and as she tells her sad story to fellow refugee women, we go via flashback to a time “before people began making foreigners of their neighbors” and to a verdant and luxurious lahore of sprawling parks and rustic lanes, in which shanti and her girlfriends dance and wave their billowing dupattas to the carefree and romantic song baaje payal (“anklets ring… [ i don’t know for whom my young heart waits ] ”) .
returning to her parents’ mansion, shanti discovers that her engagement is indeed being arranged, to the same handsome but haughty young motorist — one kewal (rehman), the son of a wealthy attorney — she had saucily accosted on the road. their embarrassed second meeting abruptly transitions to the scene of their wedding, then to a blissful nuptial night which is interrupted by arson and rioting, as the hysteria of partition begins and hindu families must flee lahore .
this is the first of several cuts that are so rough that (although the encyclopaedia of indian cinema warns that “desai seems impatient with the finer points of plot structure…”) one suspects that the print used to make the digital version has been damaged and repeatedly (and badly) spliced over the years. more (and worse) confusing transitions will follow, though it is still possible to make out the basic story .
a second flashback sequence shows shanti, stumbling alone through the lanes of riot - torn lahore, saved from a mob by a powerful pathan (afghan warrior) named abdul rehman khan (pran). though shanti is terrified of what this “rescuer” may do to her, khan greets her as a sister and announces that his own sister, sakeena, has been left behind in india. he will shelter shanti while never even looking at her face, in the hope that his sister may receive similar treatment “from some hindu or sikh. ” viewers thus learn that shanti, even in five years in pakistan, has not been dishonored, and so is ultimately eligible, within the film’s conventional patriarchal ideology, for reunion with her husband, though this will be repeatedly deferred and challenged .
these plot twists lend considerable emotional weight to the film, for the plight of many “shantis” was well publicized in 1950s india. spurned by her natal family in a heart - wrenching scene in which they visit the refugee camp in which she is staying, but refuse to recognize her — a paternally - imposed “deceit” that will deprive shanti’s anguished mother of the power of speech — she is briefly comforted by kewal, who has left his own disapproving family in order to be with her. but his acceptance of her turns to disgust when he learns that she has a five - year - old son with the islamic name “anwar. ” and though shanti insists that kewal is his father, the little boy gives his dad’s name as “abdul rehman, ” and kewal flees in a rage .
even on an obvious soundstage set, the delivery of this song’s rousing lyrics, accompanied by dramatic quick cuts of the confluence of milling crowds, the principal characters, and the towering effigy, makes for a most satisfying climax .
in hindi films railways helped to showcase historical events. they often became metaphors of a journey, both internal and external, writes prabhjot parmar
bollywood cinema, railways are an integral part of the film landscape, and frequently of the film plot. be it a moving train, a bogie, diesel, electric or the good old steam engine, or the railway yard, platform or the station from outside on the streets, coolies, vendors, and so on, all find exposure on the film screen. the plots and uses are multiple as the railways occupy a memorable niche in bollywood films: symbols of the journey of life of simply evocations of everyday life; a shared space of communal harmony and national integration; a good location for a fight sequence; source of income for singers, vendors and coolie; a site for developing romance to list but a few. some of the famous romantic songs are set in trains; on the other hand, trains also are sites of popular moral and philosophical film songs .
are obvious examples of the centrality of railways in bollywood films. meetings and separations in trains or on railway platforms serve as a key moment in the stories of innumerable films, thus underscoring the presence of the railways in bollywood cinema. various representations of railways generate different emotions: laughter, grief, joy, exhilaration, suspense and trepidation. however, none is as distressing and painful as the portrayal of trains in films on the partition, in which railways acquire the saddest, most poignant, and the bloodiest representation .
the number of people killed in trains was far less than those killed on ground, but the manner in which train killings were executed are shocking examples of genocide and are
the most famous images of the communal holocaust of 1947
.
the ambushes and killings in trains and at various railway stations in punjab make the communal massacres difficult to forget or ignore. no image of partition, textual or in the mind’s eye, photograph or film, escapes from the overloaded trains with men, women and children moving from one side of the border to the other .
the prevalence of insaniyat over the beastliness during partition is evident in pamela rooks’ train to pakistan, which is a faithful filmic representation of khushwant singh’s novel of the same name. this film provides a picture of mano majra, a village in indian punjab, close to the newly formed border, in which trains play a vital part in the everyday life of the villagers, and subsequently, trains become the cause of turbulence in an otherwise calm and peaceful village. it is where trainloads of dead refugees arrive; the iron railway bridge on a nearby river is the site of the climactic action. shortly after the film begins, several brief shots depict the consistent presence of railways in mano majra .
presents the story of jugga (nirmal pandey), a dacoit. he is in love with nooran (smriti mishra) and is having an affair with her right under the nose of her almost blind father. one day a rival dacoit gang kills the village moneylender and the police imprisons jugga instead. in his jail cell, jugga meets iqbal, a communist worker, who is also in jail because of the moneylender’s murder. while jugga is in jail, mano majra begins to feel the impact of the partition. tensions rise as trainloads of dead bodies keep arriving from pakistan. because riots break out elsewhere, here too the ripples of destruction reach. all villagers, sikhs, muslims and hindus live in a close - knit harmony .
as the story progresses, the nervousness related to the partition and refugees and massacres begin to creep into mano majra. their chief point of entry is the railways, either the station or the railway lines in the wilderness. the first train scene begins with a close up of a steam engine that stops at a small railway station and a man (iqbal) disembarks. there are several policemen on the platform, including thanedar sahib, the inspector (mangal dhillon). walking up to the stationmaster, iqbal shows his ticket upon exit and enquires about a place to stay in the village. a routine scenario on a railway station subsequently is followed by a shot of a crowded train carrying passengers shouting slogans ,
long live india. this is our india. india is ours
. in the foreground, the stationmaster stands with his back to the camera, which first is looking to the right to capture the incoming train and gradually moves to the left as the train passes the station. it passes through mano majra without stopping, making the train a mobile device of nationalism that claims the regional as the national territory with slogan shouting .
excerpted from”trains of death: representations of the railways in films on the partition by prabhjot parmar from 27 down new departures in indian railway studies. ed. ian. j. kerr. orient longman
in an ominous sequence shortly thereafter, a train halts at the station early in the morning. again, the back of the stationmaster is in the foreground. the engine driver is the only person who gets off. in this shot, wrapped in the steam of the engine the driver silently looks with weary eyes at the stationmaster. in the next shot, the magistrate arrives at the railway station. the inspector is there to receive him but there is no verbal exchange, they only share glances full of heavy seriousness. as they walk into the station, both are framed within the entrance at the end of which a train is visible. along with the police inspector, the magistrate boards the train for an inspection. the sound of buzzing flies conveys the stench of death before the camera moves and the officials gaze over the compartment that is full of butchered bodies. it is evident that several trains full of corpses arrives at mano majra and under the military command, mass funeral pyres are prepared outside the village. a few scenes later, as the villagers gather to see a large number of dead bodies floating in the river, another train comes from the direction of pakistan. it does not blow its whistle nor is its light on. one of the villagers appropriately calls it
a ghost train
because dark, quiet and dangerous it moves towards mano majra. the final railway scene of train to pakistan comes during the climax as the steam engine takes a train full of muslim refugees towards pakistan. it crosses the iron bridge safely and an aerial shot shows the train chugging through widerness towards its destination .
the british, as well as the congress and muslim league did not anticipate the degree of communal violence and migration that would accompany the division of indian empire. there were no preparations to maintain social order in case of communal violence. as train to pakistan demonstrates, previously thriving communally harmonious rural areas were overwhelmed by the impact of the events occurring elsewhere. mano majra best exemplifies how the local identities are transformed and shaped anew by national politics and in so doing, create divisions amongst the inhabitants of the same village. although the harmony among the residents of mano majra remains, men like malli and his goons act as disrupters and as the representatives of the newly acquired national identity. they loot and kill because it is their profession as dacoits; however, there is an added fervour in the name of religion and nation in their acts. in contrast, jugga, also a dacoit, maintaining allegiance to his fellow muslim villagers, sacrifices himself in order to ensure their safe passage across the border by train. he climbs on the railway bridge and cuts off a large rope tied across to kill the refugees sitting on the rooftop of the train. while he is cutting the rope, malli and his men spot him and shoot him. jugga, tenaciously hangs on to the bridge and falls down after he successfully foils malli’s plan.
chhalia is a 1960 indian bollywood drama film directed by manmohan desai . it stars raj kapoor , nutan , pran , rehman and shobhna samarth . raj kapoor plays his stereotyped " simple guy with a heart of gold " role yet again . the story is loosely based on the " white nights " written by fyodor dostoyevsky but is focused on the issue of estranged wives and children in the aftermath of partition . chhalia was shot in black-and-white . music by kalyanji-anandji , played a part in the film 's box office success . 
chhalia is a 1960 indian bollywood drama film directed by manmohan desai. it stars raj kapoor, nutan, pran, rehman and shobhna samarth. raj kapoor plays his stereotyped " simple guy with a heart of gold " role yet again. the story is loosely based on the " white nights " written by fyodor dostoyevsky but is focused on the issue of estranged wives and children in the aftermath of partition. chhalia was shot in black-and-white. music by kalyanji-anandji, played a part in the film's box office success.
chhalia is a 1960 indian bollywood drama film directed by manmohan desai. it stars raj kapoor, nutan, pran, rehman and shobhna samarth. raj kapoor plays his stereotyped " simple guy with a heart of gold " role yet again. the story is loosely based on the " white nights " written by fyodor dostoyevsky but is focused on the issue of estranged wives and children in the aftermath of partition. chhalia was shot in black-and-white. music by kalyanji-anandji, played a part in the film's box office success.