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Lesson#28
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FILM MEDIA IN SUBCONTINENT-2
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FILM MEDIA IN SUBCONTINENT AND PAKISTAN (II) & ITS EFFECTS
More activities of foreigners made Bombay the centre of film
world right in the beginning. But the
part of the subcontinent which spearheaded in film arts was
Lahore. It will not be wrong to say that most
talent in direction, acting and singing was generated in the
Lahore film studios before partition.
Here we will talk in detail how the film art flourished in
Lahore before partition and how this one
distinguished mean of mass communication fared in Pakistan after
independence.
Pakistan film history from 1896-1947
Pakistan shared its film history with India (Bharat) from 1896
to 1947. Lahore produced many films
and a big number of Pakistani artists debuted in this period.
Pakistani artists before 1947
The first silent film from Lahore was
The Daughter of Today
released in
1924
and the inaugural
Punjabi or talkie film
from Lahore was Heer Ranjha
in
1932.
(Alam Ara was released in 1931, which
means Lahore was going as fast and one top film-home after
Bombay in the subcontinent.
Some Memorable Movies from 1913-47
Raja Harishchandra
The Daughter of Today
Alam Ara
Heer Ranjha
Khazanci
Anmol Gharri
Jugnu
First film made with cultural taboos- sans women
Raja Harishchandra was released for public viewing in Coronation
theatres, Bombay. The first
Indian motion picture, D. G. Phalke’s mythological boasted of an
all-male star-cast. Even the female lead
was played by a man since no woman was willing to be part of the
cast.
First ever silent feature film from Lahore
Premier Film Company
The Daughter of Today
Released in: 1924
The first ever silent film from Punjab
Actors: A.K.Kardar, Wilayat Begum, M. Ismaeel, Vijay Kumar,
Heera Lal and Master Ghulam Qadir, G.K.
Mehta.
M. Ismaeel started his film career from the first ever Lahore
made silent film and he was an automatic
choice in the first talkie film from Lahore too.
Assistant Director:
Mian Abdur Rasheed Kardar, was the
man who started film making in Lahore. He
was hero in first silent film and director of first talkie film.
Inaugural Urdu/Hindi Indo-Pak feature film
Imperial Film Company Presents
Alam Ara
Urdu/Hindi (124 minutes, black & white)
Released on: Saturday, March 14, 1931 (Capital Cinema Lahore)
India's first
talkie film was released at Bombay's
Majestic
cinema hall. It had seven songs and was 10,500
ft. long and ran for seven weeks. It was a costume drama and
romantic film.
Story: A period
fantasy that told of the ageing king of Kamarpur, and his two rival queens,
Navbahar and
Dilbahar, and their rivalry when a fakir predicts that Navbahar
will bear the king's heir. Dilbahar
unsuccessfully tries to seduce the army chief Adil (Vithal) and
vengefully destroys his family, leaving his
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daughter Alam Ara
(Zubaida) to be raised by nomads.
Eventually, Alam Ara's nomad friends invade the
palace, expose Dilbahar's schemes, release Adil from the dungeon
and she marries the prince of the realm.
Actors: Zubaida (Alam Ara), Master Vitthal (Adil), J. Sushila
(as Sushila), Jillo Bai, Prithviraj Kapoor, Elizer,
Wazir Mohammed Khan, Jagdish Sethi and L.V. Prasad
Music: Feroz Shah and B. Irani
Singers: Zubaida, W.M. Khan
First ever Punjabi feature film
Heer Ranjha
Punjabi
Realesed in: 1932
The first ever Lahore made film.
Actors: Anwari Begum, Rafiq Ghazniv, Gul Hameed, Lala Yaqoob, M.
Ismael, Fazal Shah, Walait Begum.
Anwari Begum and Rafiq Ghaznavi - the grand parent of Salma Agha
- played title roles in this memorable
film. Rafiq Ghaznavi was a famous musician in the 30s and 40s
and Anwari Begum appeared in many films,
one of them was Anmol Ghari.
Music: Rafiq Ghaznavi
Folk music comes to films
Pancholi Art Pictures
Khazanchi
Realesed in: 1941
Actors: Ramola, Naring, M. Ismael, Manorma, Ajmal, Janki Das,
Durga Khote
Music: Revolutionary music director
Master Ghulam Haidar
changed the whole style of film music from
classical Bengali to folk Punjabi music in this mega hit film
from Lahore. Master Ghulam Haidar
introduced Baby Noor Jehan as playback singer in this film first
time. (He also introduced Indian diva Lata
Mangeshkar in film
Majboor in 1948).
Mehoboob Production Ltd. (Bombay-Lahore)
Anmol Gharri (Urdu/Hindi)
Released in: 1946
Actors: Noor Jehan, Surender, Surayya, Zahoor Raja, Leela
Mishra, Anwari Begum, Bhudo Anvari, Murad
Director: Mehboob Khan, one of the greatest film director in the
history, was not formerly educated. This
film is special because it brought almost a revolution in
subcontinent film world.
Music: One of the most memorable and melodious film by Noushad
Ali from the 40s. Naushad Ali
is
regarded as one of the greatest Music Directors of Indian
Cinema.
Assistent: Ghulam Ahamd (Pakeeza fame)
Lyrics: Tanvir Naqvi was a relative of Madam Noor Jehan and a
very successful lyricist....
Singers: Noor
Jehan was the most impressive film
personality in the Indo-Pak film history. She was
dominating since her debut as a child star (1935).
Surayya was another
famous singer/actress from the 40s and 50s. Born in Lahore, she debuted as a
child
star with Taj Mahal (1941).
Shamshad Begum was the
first generation of top Punjabi film singers (followd by Zubaida Khanum (in
the 50s) and Madam
Noor Jehan (from 40s-90s),
respectively). One can’t forget Shamshad's mega hit
Punjabi songs as:
- Batti baal ke Banerey utte rakhni aan
- Meri lagdi kise na wekhi, te tutdi nu jugg janda
- Ni tutt jaye Rail Gadiye, too rok leya Chann mera
- Jutt Kurdian toon darda mara
Mohammad Rafi and
Surindra
– all from Punjab, Lahore.
Film songs:
Tera Khilona tuta Balik, hai qismat ne tujh ko... Mohammad Rafi
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Aaja meri barbad mohabbat ke sahare ... Madam Noor Jehan
Mere bachpan ke saathi mujhe bhool na jana... Madam Noor Jehan
Jawan hai mohabbat, haseen hai zamana... Madam Noor Jehan
Kya mil geya Bhagwan tumhe dil ko dukha ke… Madam Noor Jehan
The Last Big "Pakistani" film before partition
Shoukat Arts Productions
J U G N U
Urdu/Hindi
Released on: 1947
This film was the last big film by Madam Noor Jehan and her
husband director Shaukat Hussain Rizvi
before partition. It was a big musical and romantic film. Madam
Noor Jehan was on peak of her film career
as singer and film heroine. Dillip Kumar and Mohammad Rafi got
breakthrough from this film.
Actors: Dilip
Kumar - the acting legend - got
breakthrough from this mega hit film. He was born in
Peshawar...
Music: Feroz
Nizami, completed hat trick of three
great musical film, first Jugnu in 1947, then Chann We
in 1951 and Dopatta 1952 - all with Noor Jehan, &
G. A. Chishti
was a legendry musician in Punjabi films.
He dominated Pakistani film music until the beginning of the
70s.
Singers: Madam Noor Jehan, Shamshad Begum.
Mohammad Rafi was a
legend and he left behind a rich legacy of songs in Urdu/Hindi, Punjabi and many
other languages. Started his singing career from Lahore...
Roshan Ara Begum was
acclaimed the best exponent of Kirana gharana style of khayal singing in the
subcontinent...
Pakistani artists started their film careers before 1947
A.R.Kardar (actor/director) Daughters of Today 1924
M. Ismael (actor) Daughters of Today 1924
Rafiq Ghaznavi (musician) Heer Ranjha 1932
Ghulam Mohammad (actor) Madhuri 1933
Zahoor Shah (actor) Majnoo 1935/1933
Mukhtar Begum (singer/actress) Naveli Dulhan 1933
Noor Mohammad Charlie (comedian) Nadra 1933
A. Shah Shikarpuri (comedian) Fadaye Toheed 1934
Nazir (actor/director) Aab-e-Hayyat 1934
Master Ghulam Haidar (musician) Sanjog ki Seerhi 1935
Najmul Hassan (actor) Jawani ki hawa 1935
Noor Jehan (singer/actress) Pind di Kurri 1935
S.M. Yousuf (director) Bharat ka Laal 1935
Rekha (actress) Neela 1935
Kumar (actor) Hamari Betian 1936
Ajay Kumar (actor) Mard ka Bacha 1936
G.A.Chishti (musician) Sohni Mehinwal 1937
Agha Salim Raza (actor) Gul Bakawli 1939
Ajmal (actor) Gul Bakawli 1939
Khursheed Anwar (musician) Kurmai 1940
Gul Zaman (actor) Mard-e-Punjab 1940
Najam Naqvi (director) Puttar Millan 1940
Zahoor Raja (actor) Pooja 1940
Majeed (actor) Sandesa 1940
Ragni (actress) Himmat 1940
W.Z. Ahmad (director) Ek Raat 1942
Masood Pervez (actor/director) Mangti 1942
Shoukat Hussain Rizvi (director) Khandan 1942
Hamaliya Wala (actor) Kis ki Bivi 1942
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M. Sadiq (director) Namastey 1943
Sheikh Iqbal (actor) Champa 1945
Sharif Nayyar (director) Laila Majnu 1945
Rasheed Attre (musician) Sheerin Farhad 1945
Meena Shori (actress) Rutt Rangeeli 1945
Asha Posley (actress) Champa 1945
Renuka Devi (actress) Ghulami 1945
Feroz Nizami (musician) Ammar Raj 1946
Master Inayat Hussain (musician) Kamli 1946
Luqman (director) Hamjoli 1946
Nisar Bazmi (musician) Jamna Paar 1946
Nashaad (musician) Dildar 1947
Nasreen (actress) Ek Roz 1947
Shah Nawaz (actor) Elan 1947
Sudhir (actor) Farz 1947
Santosh (actor) Ahensa 1947
Rehana (actress) Saajan 1947
Talish (actor) Saraye ke baad 1947
Ilyas Kashmiri (actor) Malka 1947
Tufail Farooqi (musician) Dekho Jee 1947
Fateh Ali Khan (musician) Director 1947
First Color film:
Ardeshir Irani's
Kisan Kanya (1937) was
the first color
film. Sohrab Modi's Jhansi Ki Rani (1953) was the
first Techni-color film shot in India.
After partition
1948
Inaugural Pakistani film.
Teri Yaad (Urdu)
Teri Yaad became the first ever released film but not the first
film production in Pakistan. It was completed
in a record time. Lahore was the third biggest film center in
sub-continent - after Bombay and Calcutta -
and there were many films under production in 1947
Released in: Perbhat (Sanober) Cinema, Lahore on August 7th,
1948. It was an Eid-ul-Fittar Day.
Teri Yaad was a dead flop film and the only attraction was film
hero Nasir Khan, who was brother of the
legendry Dillip Kumar. Asha Poslay was introduced as heroine,
but she never became a successful film
heroine. Her father Nath, was music director of this film.
Music: Inayat Ali Naath
Lyrics: Qateel Shafai became the first film poet in Pakistan. He
had a long and successful film career...
Singers: Munawar Sultana, Asha Poslay & Ali Bakhsh Zahoor
1949
Pheray
First Silver Jubilee Punjabi Film.
The first ever Punjabi and the sixth film in the list of
released Pakistani films celebrated a great success in
cinemas. Veteran Producer and Director Nazir got the honour to
become the first Silver Jubilee film maker.
He was also the only choice as hero in 1949.
Pakistans first ever produced Punjabi film
Pheray
was a re-make of Nazirs Indian urdu/hindi film "Gaon
ki
Gori" (1945). It was a
big musical hit and the Music Director G. A. Chishti wrote, composed and
recorded
six songs of this film in a single day! Chishti was also the
most productive Music Director in the first 25
years of Pakistan.
Music: G. A. Chishti
Singers: Munawar Sultana & Inayat Hussain Bhatti
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Changes the films brought
Entertainment.
Cinema houses - a new
business.
Jobs in thousands for
acting, direction, music, sets, lighting, recording, cinematography etc.
Billboards all over in
so much color - landscape changed.
Manifested culture and
in return influenced culture – dresses, languages, living style, harmony etc.
Strong expression
against hated figures in society, oppressors- at least can see on screen.
Boldness, vulgarity,
obscenity – the dark side of films. |
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