FilmIndia (1945)

December, 1945 FILM INDIA dialogue for which they must be having great respect. Now we come to some war sequences with Lala Yacoob striding about with Alexander's airs. No one is righting any one in particular but evidently Shah Jehan is in a tight corner from which Lala Yacoob can extricate him only if Lala's orders are signed by Mumtaz Mahal when Shah Jehan is sleeping. This seeming impossible task is achieved as they do find Shah Jehan sleeping one night and quickly take hold of the opportunity of using the royal seal before he could get up. Now you can't use the royal seal with impunity. No, sir, not while there are people like Pandit Indra about to uphold the dignity of the seal. So Mumtaz is given a seven-day separation from her husband as condign punishment for the illegal liberty taken by her with the royal seal. It is now time for pathos seeing that we have had too much of cooing and wooing by that fellow who built the Taj. And being an emperor he would go on with his cooing suddenly so Pandit Indra very thoughtfully found it necessary to cut short the affair by throwing Mumtaz Mahal on a seven-day long death-bed. Mumtaz is now on a death bed. She is not suffering from any particular malady but she is in constant agony. She wants Shah Jehan but Pandit Indra won't grant her that. So Mumtaz makes up her mind to die rather than win over an idiotic writer. Wise woman! Mumtaz ultimately dies, but not without having sung her swan song. For the song she sits up — it is easier to sing it that way — anJ then after the song she collapses quickly — as Pandit Indra had to write another story. After Mumtaz's death, as ordered Shah Jehan goes gray and listless. Oh. but we forgot to te.l you about Shiraz, the architect (Rajendra). He is a lover all on his own with Gulnar (Urmilla). He sings duets and looks silly to punctuate the serious drama of Murmaz and Shah Jehan. This Shiraz is now ordered to create the immortal Taj. He does it, believe it or not. The story ends but not till the writers have taken their revenge by Shah Jehan doling out some sentimental nonsense. OASIS IN THE DESERT The picture is an utter chaos in production values with the solitary exception of the song compositions by Walli which are, to our surprise, a well-done job. Walli seems to have laboured on his songs and it is a pity that his efforts had to be thrown away on such a rotten picture in every o'her respect. Still he was thj only oasis in the arid desert of dead art. To waste words on Kidar Sharma's direction is a stupid pastime. The man is simply impossible as a director. What he knows of motion picture direction is just not worth knowing. From the players, that brave girl, Khurshid tried to pull her weight and that of others but the odds were too much against her. She had no support from any one. Chandramohan just forgot to act the role of Shah Jehan. It is d'fficult to say exactly how bad "Mumtaz Mahal" is. Stretch your imagination to its widest and see if you can fit in this dirty picture. A TALE OF FURY AND f INSPIRED COURAGE • a punch-packed mirth . filled motion picture treasure VICTORY PICTURES' SECOND SENSATIONAL SOCIAL STUNT BILA(§K & WUIIT With no less than six top-notch stars of the day I JOHN CAWAS ft BABURAO PAHELWAN KUMAR! KUSUM ft RANI BALA ft NAZIRA MASTER BACHA ft ARVIND KUMAR ALI and new find ANITA. 2Wtet . S. M. R A Z A J^uOa K. NARAYANRAO OUR NEXT. FIGHTING GIRL VICTORY PICTURES C/o. JYOTI STUDIOS. KENNEDY BRIDGE BOMBAY 49