FilmIndia (1939)

FILMINDIA January 1931* Quiring fame and wealth. The whole affair looks a bit amateurish. The Story: Bhulua and Manju are two orphans whom fate has brought together in their early childhood. Bhulua who has a talent for music, trains up Manju to be a good dancer and singer. They trek for the city — in this case, Calcutta and there by another trick of fate meet Amarnath a theatre owner. Very soon Manju becomes a star, more due to her personal charms than to her musical attainments. Bhulua who doesn't get his chance, consoles himself by helping Manju to her stardom. Both love each other very deeply, but circumstances had not yet helped them to give it an expression. In their pursuit of ambition, love remained a forgotten quantity. Manju becomes a roaring success and soon finds herself receiving the warm attentions of her proprietors. In the midst of this new found fame, Bhulua and Manju are for a time estranged. After a period of misunderstanding, Bhulua thinking that Manju no longer wants him decides to quit. But immediately he is gone, Manju realizing the wrench of suppressed love, chases him and ultimately finds him below a tree, after a very convenient storm scene. There love expresses itself and Bhulua Manju once again go back to the streets where they had found their early happiness. Acting: Saigal as Bhulua given a very subdued performance. His music however is a strong recommendation. Kanan is good in parts. In music she comes off well with her more famous partner. Jagdish as Amarnath, the theatre owner, does what he is asked to. The pity is that not much was demanded from him. His dialogues are superbly delivered. Bikram is not much. His slapstick interludes fail to convince. Ram Ku~ mari merely served as furniture. The others don't do anything worth remembering. Production: The scenario is far from satisfactory. The entire development of the story is weak and shows lack of experience in using dramatic values. The theme of the story had plenty of possibilities, but alas— The direction was experimental. Photography was not satisfactory and far below the usual N. T. standard. In several shots, the lighting erred by being profuse. Kanan's glamour suffered the most due to bad photography. The recording of sound was also defective. Sets were apologetic, particularly the theatre set. Rai Boral the music director could have made the picture popular by giving a number of popular tunes. Why he didn't do so remains to be explained. The dialogues, though good, had too much of Urdu idioms in them. A simpler language would have been more welcome. Barring song number 11 and the 3rd and 5th lines in song No. 10, the rest of the song composition did not strike one as particularly intelligent. Points of Appeal: Saigal and Kanan, teamed together for the first time, give a couple of good songs. Some outdoor village shots are praiseworthy. As an entertainment, the picture is quite good, though slightly boring in the early parts. "INDUSTRIAL INDIA" Producers: General Films Ltd., — Story, Dialogues, Songs and Direction: Mohan Sinha — Photography: Gordhanbhai Patel, Date and Kukde — Music: H. C. Bali, Anil Biswas and Mushtaq Hussain — Recording: Engineer, Arora and Suraiya — Editing: Barodekar — Caste: Shobhanadevi Samarth, Prem Adib, Wasti, K. N. Singh, Aundhker, Mirza Musharaf and Shamadevi. Released at: Royal Opera House — Date of Release: 19th November 1938. This picture has a vibrant message to give to the country. It advocates a complete industrialization of the country from a national viewpoint. The story has a powerful motive, being serious in design, but it is made entertaining, being light in execution. In the present day dawn of our nationalism, such a picture would have been warmly welcomed for its stirring national message had its presentation been better. The Story: Manorama is the spirited daughter of a wealthy Mar wari speculator, who soon loses all money in gambling bringing tragedy into the family by his own death and by the death of his own son and wife. Manorama and Malti, her younger sister become orphans and are thrown on the streets by the creditors of her father. Manorama hunts out for a job, and finding none in the socially permissible vocations, she takes up to screen acting. There she meets Suresh, the son of a Marwari millionaire. Suresh is the film director of the Company and has taken the film line inspite of the opposition of his father, who has driven the son out of the house in consequence. In Suresh, Malti meets a twin soul as both have identical ideas about the emancipation of the country by industrialization. Through several exciting circumstances, Suresh at last finds himself the proprietor of a film company, started with a gift from his indulgent parent, and with Manorama as the leading star. Financial difficulties soon embarass the hero, who has to put up with a general strike by the employees. Complications created by a jealous villain in Jagdish, set in and the story rushes to one concluding climax where Suresh's father is asked to choose between jail for his son and a change of heart and opinion about the wisdom of industrialization of the country. He backs up his son and Suresh and Manorama are once again reclaimed by the family, with a new-born child thrown in, to add the homely warmth to a delicate romance. Acting: Shobhana Samarth as Manorama gives a beautiful performance. At places it is too beautiful for words. Her dialogues are forcefully and correctly delivered while her actions are full of life. In giving the best performance of her screen career so far Shobhana has also ably supported Prem Adib whose role as Suresh, the hero is also a successful portrayal. Baby Indira as the younger sister prove3 piquant and lively, Vasti as Jagdish the villain, in a rather weak role, gives a tolerably good performance. Singh is superb as tho Marwari father of the hero. The concluding sequences he carries to 44