1947: A Hindi cinema story

Bombay already boasted a thriving film industry, making up to 200 films a year, by the time India became independent

The year India got Independence, the Hindi film industry, now popularly known as Bollywood, was already vibrant. In fact, by the 1930s, the industry was producing 200 films a year.

Before the partition of India, the Bombay film industry was linked to the Lahore film industry. In the 1940s, many actors, filmmakers and musicians from Lahore migrated to Bombay.

Prominent among them were actor-singer Kundan Lal Saigal, Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand. Singers who migrated were Mohammed Rafi, Noorjahan and Shamshad Begum. All of them enriched the Bombay film industry.

During the 1947 phase, Bombay cinema was rich in talent. Stars of the time include Khurshid Bano, Motilal, Sitara, Surendra, Vanmala, Ratnamala, Mumtaz Shanti, Snehprabha, Naseem, Nigar and Nargis.

There were many important films made in 1947, like Mehboob’s 'Elan', Kardar’s 'Dard' and Sohrab Modi’s 'Manjhdar'. V Shantaram’s Matwala Shair Ramjoshi left an impression of its own. It has Manmohan Krishna playing the title role of a Brahmin who becomes a tamashgir (performer of tamasha or spectacle) and is ostracised by the community. The lavnis composed by Vasant Desai for heroine Hansa Wadkar had an appeal of their own.

Each actor has a speciality reflecting the conditions of the times. Swaran Lata was known for her emotional tragic roles and moving dialogue delivery. Munawar Sultana’s speciality was playing the selfless woman, enduring the rough treatment meted out by her husband and family, and eventually bringing her erring husband back home.

Prem Adib, a top actor of this era, embodied traditional values. He was paired with Shobhana Samarth in Ram Rajya (1946), said to be the only film seen by Mahatma Gandhi.

The year of Independence marked the last film of actor-singer K L Saigal. His film Parwana in which he co-starred with Suraiya, was released a month after his death. It was one of the top films of 1947. His played a man from a well-to-do family who is considerate towards the poor and needy, and so causing jealousy and misunderstanding in the process.

A 1947 film of social significance was Kishore Sahu’s 'Sindoor', dealing with the controversial theme of widow remarriage. The climax, in which Kishore Sahu accepts widow Shamim as his bride, was so powerful that an older generation still remembers it. Incidentally, the film has three songs by Amirbai Karnataki, actor-singer who hailed from Bijapur (now Vijayapura) and was famous as Kannada Kokila.

Nasir Khan, brother of Dilip Kumar (Yusuf Khan) starred with Rehana in Filmistan’s trend-setting musical, Shenai, in which C Ramachandra introduced the racy, Meri jaan, meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday, a song heard and enjoyed to this day.

Rehana became an overnight star following the success of another 1947 film called 'Sajan', a romantic comedy directed by Kishore Sahu. The film has Ashok Kumar and Rehana in the lead.

Before Independence, Ashok Kumar, who started out with Devika Rani in Jeevan Naiya (1936), sang his own songs, until his 1947-film Sajan. He was to sing for this film, too, but could not make it to the studios because of Hindu-Muslim riots. C Ramachandra got Rafi over to sing 'Hum Ko Tumhara Hi Aasra' for Ashok.

Also in the year India got independence Madhubala was Raj Kapoor’s heroine in 'Dil Ki Rani'. In the same year, Raj Kapoor had an interesting celluloid confrontation with Dilip Kumar for the hand of Nargis in Mehboob’s film 'Andaz'.

Even today opinions differ on who was better: Raj or Dilip. It was evident that it was Nargis who brought out the best in both. Raj Kapoor was Kamini Kaushal’s hero in Gajanan Jagirdar’s film, Jail Yatra, a noteworthy film of its time.

Jugnu was a landmark film of 1947. In it, Noor Jahan appeared as heroine before she migrated to Pakistan. It was directed by her husband Shaukat Hussein Rizvi. She looked a trifle aged for a young and dashing Dilip Kumar but they hit it off superbly.

Jugnu was a craze with the college-going youth. It showed a college principal in love with a lady professor (Ruby Meyers). Somebody drew the attention of the then Bombay State Home Minister Morarji Desai and the film was heavily censored.

The songs for 'Jugnu' by Noor Jahan, popularly known by as Malika-e-Tarannum (queen of melody), are hummed to this day. Also, it was in this film that Mohammed Rafi shot to fame, singing Yahan badla wafa ka. The music was composed by Pheroze Nizami, who too went over to Pakistan.

Film stars’ affair with cricketers is not a new thing. In Pakistan, Noor Jahan got involved with former Indian cricketer Nazar Mohamad. This pair was surprised one day by Noor Jahan’s husband. Nazar jumped out of the window, broke a leg and bade farewell to cricket.

Dev Anand who made his debut in the Bombay film industry with 'Hum Ek Hain' in 1946 appeared in two successful films in 1947. He starred with Hemavati in Mohan, directed by Anadinath Bannarjee, and with Khurshid in Aage Badho.

This Independence era actor became a successful hero for 30 years. Many other artistes continued their success into the newly Independent India.