FilmIndia (May-Dec 1938)

FILMINDIA November 1938 "THE CAT" Produced by: Ranjit Movietone. Released at: West End Talkies. Date of Release: 10th September, 1938. Cast: E. Billimoria, Sunita, Ha-, devi, Ishwarlal, Mazhar, Khatoon, Ghory, Rajkumari, Kalyani and Others. Screen Play: (By M. R. Kapoor) : This story is an Indian version of P. G. Wodehouse's "Damsel in Distress". Slight changes have been made to making things acceptable to our audiences. It is supposed to be a comedy, but the actual treatment and direction which the picture has got make the subject a tragedy of humorous intentions. The continuity is far from satisfactory. The strain in which the film story is developed is entirely wrong. The situations should have been treated seriously to create the necessary element of comedy. The present treatment is slapstick. Language: (Hindi) (By Santoshi). Quite tolerable. At places the dialogue writer has failed to convey the spirit of the situations. Music: (By Jnan Dutt). Old Bengali folklore tunes did not make the songs attractive with the solitary exception of song No. 6. The song composition (Santoshi) was too poor to deserve any special mention. Photography: (By G. G. Gogate). Quite good throughout. Some outdoor shots were beautiful. Close-ups of Sunita and Iladevi were admirably taken. Recording: (By C. K. Trivedit. Quite good. Direction: (By Jayant Desai). This man complains that I have never been fair to him in my criticism. The only picture I liked of his was "Nadira" and I would ask this director what he has actually given thereafter. The present picture is another mess created by bad direction. Men who copy foreign pictures should remember that while they do so, they establish a standard for the critic to compare. An original subject is judged on its own merits, but it is not so with copied subjects. A good copy is often applauded while a bad one is always derided. The direction in this picture Is so weak, that inspite of a good subject and a good cast, the direc Sulochana, in Ruby Pictures' Prem-ki-Jyot. tor has at no place succeeded in exciting any laughs for which the picture was essentially meant. It is alright to go on directing pictures after pictures, because a doting producer wants to be charitable, but does it not become necessary for the director to use these opportunities for Improving? Jayant Desai must improve if he is to survive the speed and progress of modern film technique. Performances: Ishwarlal once again bears out my previous opinion about his versatile acting talents by giving another good performance which becomes immediately popular. Ila Devi has improved wonderfully. Her singing voice is sweet to hear. As a village girl, in part, she looked charming and convincing. If give^i suitable roles, in future, this girl will soon come up to the front rank. Sunita Devi's talent for dancing was not properly exploited. The girl managed to do some good work by subduing several physical handicaps, but alas . . . . ! L. Billimoria tried to please. Mazhar was badly directed. He had a good role, and he could have done good work, but .... Khatoon as the 'queen' was a misfit. Her performance was ridiculous and commanded pity for the poor girl. Kantilal looked too big for a college boy. By the way, the director should pay an early visit to a college, to realize how old actually the present day college boys are. Ghory was not bad. Chatterjee was quite good. Publicity: Not impressive. Taking round a big cat that looked more like a Kabuli sheep through the street is not a very clever shot of publicity. It should have at least looked like a cat. Box Office Value: Well, there is a good amount of entertainment in the picture and it can be booked at places where such light subjects are liked. Buy Gold— To Earn Gold! Notice Pandit Indra, that celebrated writer has several mythological, historical and social stories, ready with dialogues, songs and shooting scripts for immediate sale to Foreign and Indian producers. Write: Pandit INDRA, c/o "Filmindia" 104, Apollo St., Fort, Bombay. 52