FilmIndia (1948)

April, 1948 FILM INDIA :ecruii Mirza Hussain c o BEST o., Electric House, Fort, Bombay; 1; 24, 5"-7%", weighs 177 lbs., anil as played minor roles in a couple of pictures. icrifieed their lives at the altar ' their motherland in an attempt > liberate her from the foreign )ke. This was the first wai Independence'. Does Mohan Sini make any attempt to picturize ie heroic deeds of those heroes id heroines0 Certainly not. What ! give n in the name of '1857' enough to hang our heads in ame. If ill-informed producerid directors are given free hands produce pictures based on the storical subjects which have ade our history ever glorious, en, I am afraid that the day ill soon come when the fair name our country will be blackened the eye of the world. "So before it i done, it becomes e duty of the Government of e day to put an end to such iti-national activities and take astie action against such produrs. Will the Government do it? A'. N. Raizada. 5W DELHI. SEVEN ARTS, PLEASE NOTE ''I have to refer you back to the ay '47 issue of "filmindia", lerein an announcement of M s. ven Arts, Bombay 4, was pubBhed on page 46, to the effect lit they would award a fancv prize of Rs. 250 to the person who suggests the loveliest name for one of their new stars, whose photo was also published. We were given to understand that the name of the prize winner would be published in "filminda". In view of the fact that "filmindia" enjoys the clientale of largest reading public in India, thousands of suggestions must have been made in response to the announcement but it is surprising that although the star has now been duly christened, the name of the prize winner has not been announced hitherto. Was the announcement a deception? Was it made to popularize the company and the star and to dupe the public? Will you throw some light in the matter, Mr. Editor? Your reply regarding the conduct of the company will, I am sure, form an interesting reading." REWA. A. P. Shukla. NO RAM-REHMAN! "Mr. V. K. Fazlur Rehman was evidently offended when a couple of Hindus walked out during the show of "Elan", a Muslim picture. He asks, "whether the Hindus also have started believing in the two-nation theory? and adds, "I have respect for every religion and have loved pictures like Tukaram, Dnyaneshwar etc. Why not our Hindu brothers stick a bit of Muslim propaganda propagated by a Muslim for the betterment of his own community without meaning anv offence to others? ("filmindia"' Jan. 1948). "It is sheer hypocrisy on the part of any Muslim to say that he "loved" pictures like '•Tukaram" and "Dnyaneshwar'', because heroworship and idolatory are positively forbidden in Islam. No Hindu, in these days can be taken in by such a ruse. "] want Mr. Rahman to realize that the idea of doing propaganda for the sake of one community to the exclusion of the rest, is bound to be distasteful — if not actually offensive — to those who do not belong to that particular community. "When a propaganda bears the label of a particular religion, it necessarily becomes isolationist because it ignores all the other religions; and this constitutes the offence of omission, which does not shed its character on account of that fact. "The world has become too small to accommodate the followers of any isolationist ideology, and an immediate or eventual clash is bound to occur between them and their neighbours. The immediate history and the current events of India have abundantly demonstrated how disastrous this can be to the security of the individual. ' But it is a pity that persons like Mr. Rahman still persist in thinking in terms of such an isolationist ideology. Have we not already paid too heavily for it in the form of India divided into Hindustan and Pakistan? "We have had enough of religion, and it will take many generations before the mischief done by it can be undone. It is high time that we ceased thinking in terms of Hindu and Muslim any more. It is our respect for religion which has resulted in such a dreadful and recurrent bloodshed. What is needed today is respect for the reality of the inividual— not the fiction of religion." BOMBAY. Atib Vsmani. With a determined look and dignified pose, Ramesh Aurora is ready to tell somethig new in Shanti Pictures' maiden social "Kuchh Naya." 65