FilmIndia (1948)

^ eember. 1948 , he goes to the village and brings ack Hamida as an addition to his ousehold. Dilawar, the Muslim murderer, pes scot free. Evidently, there was o law existing in the Nawab s lomain or is the story from some rovince in Pakistan ? Our film censors insist on punishBent for every crime being shown ind yet here is Kardar putting a big ,jiife in a mans chest and allowing be culprit to go away as free as a Kazakar. Where does censorship bme in then? And what use is the roduction Code? To proceed with the story, lamida is now im-talled in Nawab baheb s home as an additional lister p Surraiya. Now the ring starts •laving its part of creating misunderstandings. Seeing the rine on kamida's finger. Dr. [qbal believes ter to be in love with Dilawar to phoni he had given the ring a the price of blackmail. Surraiya idenIfies the ring as a proof of [qbal a ove for Hamida. While Ha-nida iccepting the ring as evidence of Jqbal's love for her. proceeds to intercept him in all sorts of corners t>f the house but is snubbed in reurn. I UUP BLACK ILLNESS This game of hide and seek goo hi for a while till another wench in the house becomes aggressiv" and F I L M I Ml I A Kgar Sultana plays the lead in "Millikc-K li i Ion m ". ;i ~o« inl picture <>l K.mjit. tears off the thin veil from the minds of the principal parties. \* ith Dr. Iqbal's love once again thrown into Hamida's loving lap. Surraiya takes to a sick bed and starts the usual screen coughing — suggesting the usual screen consumption, a galloping malady. Gradual lv more lamp black is added to Surraiya's fat cheeks to make her look more and mo>e ill and the drama is stretched to the point of a marriage in which an abortive attempt is made to put some emotional >tuff. Ultimately. Surraiya is shown a> making a ureat sacrifice, after a long and tiresome speech, and Hamida is handed over to Dr. [qbal for further romantic treatment. That ends Kardar's "Dard", a storv which is idiotic not only in conception but in every foot of it. N VI Ml\l> FAILS MISERABLY The production values are poor all round and that is rather surprising in a Kardar picture. Technically the picture could have been much better remembering the excellence of "Shall Jehan". The music in this picture is just damn unattractive and Naushad seems to have become a spent force. Vi hat else can one expect from a man who works in half-a-dozen pictures simultaneously ? The dialogue is very well written in parts but is poorly delivered. The worst offender in this respect is Kardar's own brother, Nusrat. who plays the hero — Dr. [qbal, and speaks every word with a disgusting Punjabi accent and pronunciation. Nii-rat looks too effeminate to be a manlv hero and walks and acts like a milksop throughout. His role ialso not correctly conceived by the writer who has lent him an orphan's inferiority-complex from the beginning to the end and even through the romantic interludes. Kven in love scenes he seems to be licking than loving Hamida. It tDRI'S K\( I I I I NT DICTION Pratima Devi acts the Hegum in her usual anaemic manner with lips helplessly torn over pale teeth. Her voice also sounds frightfully feeble. Munawar Sultana plays Surraiya. the Nawab s daughter and though a ton of lamp black is added to make her look ill. «he still presents blown up cheeks and a strong "villa does a hit «>f broadcasting in. "Duniyadari", produced Im Free India Films and directed 1»> K. I*. Shahani. square jaw which we usually associate with boxers, (^uite a few songs are put into her mouth and she spits them out with the help of her protruding front teeth without any emotion on her face. Surraiya. the ugly duckling of the screen, plays Hamida with a short skirt which makes her look more ugly and stunted. This girl is blowing up and expanding with every picture and in consequence looks less presentable as a heroine in " Dard". She hardly acts but sings one song pretty well. That is all that she can do. it seems. Badri Prasad, the only Hindu in the main cast, looks the benevolent Nawab Sahib every inch and surprisingly enough Badri, the Hindu, is the only artiste who does full justice to Kardar's beautiful I rdu dialogue. The rest of them turn Kardar s language into a Punjabi slang. fn fine, the picture is a complete washout. It has neither music nor entertainment and it is terrifically boring. It is a grave risk for the exhibitor to book this picture on a minimum guarantee. Resides, the opening scene with the crescents and the Jinnah caps, is likelv to be unpopular with non-Muslim audiences. 53