FilmIndia (Jan-Jul 1943)

OUR REVIEW new Theatres9 Disappointing "Meenakshi" Picture Provides No Entertainment Murdering K. C. Dey Once Again I That Warner picture, "All This And Heaven Too" has given birth to a number of ill-shaped and twisted Indian "babies", all over the country. Some pictures, like "Anjan" of Bombay Talkies, have inherited more of the physical shape from the parent picture while others, like "Meenakshi", are spiritual children. When a country's traditional culture goes begging for a foster parentage to a foreign land, pictures like "Anjan", "Basant" and "Meenakshi" are produced. These illegitimate products bring home a sense of shame to those enthusiasts who take a patriotic pride in the progress of our film industry. It seems that our producers haven't the common horse-sense even to copy well. Because month after month, we see clumsy, twisted copies made of great foreign pictures. ("Meenakshi" is one such abortive attempt made by New Theatres to revive their old glory in motion picture production. Of course, the producers have stretched their imagination and exercised their intelligence to cover the tracks, but in doing so, have lost their way with the net result that "Meenakshi" becomes an awfully boring picture throughout its thirteen thousand and odd feet of length . The man who brought the first dancing girl to the screen, seems to have done the greatest harm to our industry. Because, if a dancer Is cast in a picture, the director forgets to tell the story and keeps his girl dancing in his picture. To find illustrations in support of this statement, pictures featuring Sadhona Bose, Leela Desai and Sitara may be seen. It does not seem to have occurred to these directors that dancing is merely an additional asset to the acting talents of these dancing heroines^ For some (mysterious reason, these directors keep imposing on the public one or two dances by these dancers in their pictures without any rhyme or reason and at the sacrifice of the fundamental story. One such dance has also been put in, in 'Meenakshi', and this dance does not help the story even a wee bit to move forward. The dance is supposed to be a vision, brought before the eyes of the students, from a story which Sadhona as a school teacher tells to her pupils. Only Modhu Bose could stretch his imagination so much . A SILLY STORY "Meenakshi" contains perhaps the silliest story ever produced on the Indian screen. "Meenakshi" is an orphan child under the guardianship of her uncle. An aged ophthalmic surgeon Is MEENAKSHI Producers: New Theatres Ltd. Story: Manmatha Roy Language: Hindustani Photography: Bimal Roy Audiography: Bani Dutt Songs: Pandit Bhushan Music: Pankaj Mullick Cast: Sadhona Bose, Ahindra Chowdhury, Najmul Husein, K. C. Dey etc. Released at: Krishna Cinema, Bombay. Date of Release: 1th Nov. 1942. Director: MODHU BOSE supposed to have fallen in love with her when he was called to examine her eyes. A marriage Is discussed Imd arranged and the uncle decides to hand over the girl to the old man for five thousand rupees. On the wedding day, Meenakshi escapes in search of her maternal uncle, who does not make an appearance at all in the picture, and meets Amitabha — a gay and wealthy bachelor. And now begin, the most supine and unconvincing romantic inter In "Bhalai" a picture of Silver Films, Sitara and Prithviraj make a new emotional team. Prithvi's above-the lip decoration, however, looks a bit silly. 79