FilmIndia (May-Dec 1938)

"Round the town "ADHIKAR" Producers: New Theatres Ltd.; Direction: P. C. Barua; Photography: Yusuf Mulji; Recording: Atul Chatterjee; Dialogues: A. H. Shore; Songs: Arju and Raschid; Music: Timir Baran; Cast: Jamuna; Menaka, Barua, Pahari, Pankaj Mullick, Jagdish Sethi etc. Released at Roxy Cinema, Bombay. Date of Release: 21st October 1938. It is a page from life. Imagination and melodrama make it convincing. An unusually high conception of the subject makes the picture unintelligible at places for the common folks. Something on the level with the mentality of the masses was badly required to secure the popular vote. Even the music is not popular as is usual in the pictures of New Theatres. The Story: Nikhilesh and Indira are rich. Brought up in the lap of luxury, they have been close playmates under the watchful eye of Ambikaprasad the solicitor who takes up the responsibility from their dead parents. Both love each other and they are soon to bp married. Far from the luxury of the aristocrats — and in the slums of the city lives Radha, an orphan, who yearns for luxury and riches. She has friends in Behari and Ratan. Behari is a radio artiste while Ratan is a poor clerk in the office of Ambikaprasad. Events move fast and Radha meets Indira, when Radha claims half of Indira's wealth claiming herself to be the sister of Indira. Preposterous though the claim is considered, Indira chooses to give Radha a chance to prove her statement and Radha is soon installed in luxury and riches. And now begins the drama — the theme which the writer wants to tell the world. The slum child makes things difficult for everyone. Every minute there is a compromise between Nikhilesh and Indira and their lovo goes through an acid test. Radha's passionate advances towards Nikhilesh are summarily rejected. The whole story rushes forward to one grand climax, when Indira learns that Radha is truly her father's illegitimate daughter and in consequence Indira forfeits her entire property to Radha. The acquisition of wealth leaves Radha friendless. This opens her eyes, and once again Radha and Ratan meet to express a love which was born in silence and poverty. Indira finds Nikhilesh still the same ardent lover. Acting: Jamuna as Indira gives a marvellous performance. Her poise is admirable, while her dialogue deserve the highest praise. Menaka as the slum girl convinces and succeeds in irritating the audience, the effect that is intended. Barua as Nikhilesh is his usual best. Pahari as Ratan tried well, but he is becoming too fat for tha screen. He sang well, but his music lacked a thrill. Pankaj Mullick as the radio artiste sang well, but looked awful and nervous — to shoot him in close-ups is a sad mistake. Jagdish as the solicitor was superb, though at places he was used as slapstick material. Production: Beautifully directed, the picture provides a treat for the intellectuals. The dialogues are beautiful but the composition or the songs is not particularly brilliant. Photography and recording leave little to be desired. The sets are suitable and superb. The songs were not popularly tuned. The Bali tune of the song sung by Jamuna is pleasant to hear. As a contribution to the art of picture production, the picture is a pride, but as an entertainment the subject is treated from an angle not easily understood by the masses. Barua mustn't forget that people must see the picture to make it worthwhile for the producers. Points of Appeal: The treatment of the theme is thought provoking. Jamuna's work is eloquent while the technical standard achieved is worth a careful observation. Barua's direction commands respect. J (The reviews published j | under this section are use j I ful both to the average \ j cine-goer and the exhibi j tor. Several technical \ J aspects which are of im { i portance to the exhibitor J in his bookings have been i | treated here in short, \ j maintaining, at the same } J time, the casual interest I j of readers in general.) j "ASHA" Producers: Film Corporation of India — Directors: Parry Davies and Ran jit Sen — Photography: P. D. Brierley and Melhotra — Recording: Modhu Sil and Nigam — Dialogues and Songs: Bhagavati Charan Varma — Music: Bikram Chowdhary — Released at Royal Opera House, Bombay — Date of Release: 16th October 1938. The way the producers boomed this picture people thought that they were going to bring down the skies. Plenty of tall talk during production makes the result more disappointing. It is painful to think that big money has gone west in producing this picture which can only be called utterly useless from every point of view remembering that our people have been in this production business for 25 years. • Story: Mohan the hero of the story has aeronautical ambitions. His father had died in an air accident and his mother would not allow Mohan to fly. But she is ultimately persuaded to permit him to work as a ground engineer in a commercial air service. Unhealthy competition with another company of crooks leads to events of sabotage and Mohan has soon to resign from his job with a suspicion over his head. Asha the proprietor's daughter while loving Mohan, disbelieves in his guilt. The traitors are however soon discovered and Mohan once again becomes a general favourite and of course the hero. Acting: Vijayakumar as Mohan is far from satisfactory. His constantly sad expression makes him 39