FilmIndia (1948)

September, 1948 FILMINDIA ishna gives a good emotional account of herself in "Batolii" produced by T. K. Screen Classics. anti-social acts? That will make the Manns and Modis nk ten times before they buy another brick to build other small mint at the expense of the poor and needy. Meanwhile, we expect Premier Jawaharlal Nehru, at ist, to keep his promise and not spell democracy with Incrimination. '£LL DONE, BAB IK AO PAI! For the first time after launching the production reer of his Famous Pictures, Baburao Pai deserves a Jt on his back for having produced a documentary with difference called "Bapu Ki Amar Kahani". This one-reeler lyrical record of some of the MaItma's outstanding achievements shown, appropriately ■)ugh, during the Independence Week at the Metro Wiema is, on the whole, a creditable attempt to compress [thin the limitations of a thousand feet of celluloid the lie of the birth of a "New God" without a single jarring ■:e or unseemly effect as it were. While "filmindia's" warning against the picturiza■n of a full-length biography of Gandhiji by any single |>ducer has already had a salutary effect in dissuading iny producers who were toying with the idea, one was i'ertheless sceptical of the result of this Famous enterIse but the makers of "Bapu Ki Amar Kahani" have |:n well-advised to refrain from any impersonation of I Mahatma on the screen. Instead, they have cleverly succeeded in building up Idu's personality by substituting his statues, photo ■ phs and images which is certainly a laudable alternaI; to the possible drawbacks and limitations of any ■ or impersonating the Mahatma. "Bapu Ki Amar Kahani" thus becomes a symbolic documentary produced effectively and with a sincerity of purpose that need not be questioned after witnessing it. And although the picture lacks the tragic atmosphere of "Bapu Ki Antim \atra", distributed by the IMPPA soon after the Mahatma's death, it has an appeal and significance of its own and must as such be widely exhibited throughout the country. Well done, Baburao Pai! W e also appreciate Metro's enterprise in screening their very first film in Hindustani, even though it was a documentary of a thousand feet and we hope this temporary display of courage may one day lead to the screening of a full length feature film in Hindustani. COMEDY WITH A FOREIGN THEME Though we have had a number of enjoyable and sometimes intelligent comedies from Hollywood (as distinct from the Bob Hope stuff), there is little to compare with the two months" spell of "mirthquake" (apologies to the publicity blurb!) claimed by "Sitting Pretty" at the local Strand Cinema. For, this picture has not only lifted the comedy craze to its zenith more than any other from Hollywood in recent memory, but what's more significant, has furnished an emphatic answer to those who so often lay the blame for the poor quality and want of proper appreciation of films at the door of our average picture-goer. Undoubtedly the patronage that made "Sitting Pretty" such a roaring success in the city and accounted for its record run in a distant city locality like Colaba, was in no way restricted to the limited section of regular "Is it really so?" asks Sulochana Chatter jee to Rehman in Jagat Pictures' maiden social "Veena." 13