FilmIndia (1946)

April, 1946 FILM INDIA rssly exposed and her past is thrown Uo the public square for general [dicu'e. Binoy's mother drives the irl out keeping the little child at onic. Gouri stra\s through usual hardnips and gets a haven with an old jompounder who looks after her as is daughter. When Binoy returns. Id goes crazy and goes in search ot | is wife wi h his little child on his bus. Padma, the vi lagc belle, suffers rom pangs cf true love and also s'arts h search ol Binoy. Al1 the strings ol die drama arc tilled together in ihr slums ol ia'cut'a where Bino) loc:ks like an ntamcd an mat with years ol growth clow his chin, still searching tor Couri. ' We forgot to te'l you ol the symolic profession of Binoy of making [ay idols ol gods and goddesses, "hough this was the major philosophy f the picture it was turned into a linutc particle of the story due to ick of imagination. Through his abit of giving his idols six toes to ne of the feet, in sympathy with the x possessed by Gouri, the heroine comes to know of Binoy's existence and reaches the slums to find Padma already instal'ed there. As it would he unconventional to show on the screen two wives living with a sing'e husband, though it can he done with case in real life, Kcdar Sharma manages to kill Gouri quickly and hand over the villager to his vil'age belle. Thus ends the story which began with one intention and ended with altogether another. Thanks, to the 'intellectual' llights ol Kcdar Sharma. POOR PRODUCTION VALUES As a motion picture it is enough to say that "Gouri" is a Ranjit picture which maintains all the 'distinctions' of Ranjit during the las: six years. The songs of the picture arc poor. The music is a funny combination ot words and orchestra. The artiste sang one song while the orchestra p'ayed another one altogether. The sound recording is pretty good while the photography is pleasant in parts. , From the players, Prithviraj in the role ot Binoy is a complete miscast as a village boy. With his aged face and his huge bulk he looks more like a village grandpa. Keeping faith with his tiresome mannerisms Prithvi jerks himse'f in and out of the scenes and looks completely hideous in the slums of Calcutta, in fact more hideous than the original ones born in the slums. Monica in the role of Gouri gives a rude shock to our pet notions about virgins. She looks hideous with her ugly nostrils and her sagging body At a couple of pathetic places she gives a g'impsc of some good work but her bad diction of the dialogues lakes the kick out ot these spots also. Shamim in the role ol Padma just torge's to act. She moves about making faces and imagining that a'l that was wanted was being given and more of it. In the role ot the mother, Rajkumari Shukla gives her usual patent performance, but she has so litt'e to do that she is not noticed in the picture. The others in the picture don't count. In short, "Gouri'' is boredom in celluloid. DUGAL PICTURES PRESENTS HARISH & NAJMA H A cf D A E An enchanting Social photop'ay of Musim ife with lilting Music, ported by: H. Prakash, Anita Sharma, etc. Story: Directed by: Music: RAZIA BANOO. RAFIQ RAZVI. M SHAFI. Dialogues & Songs : C. M HUNAR. permanent . l^cnts : Bengal: Central Film Circuit, Calcutta North: Surjit Film Distributors, Rawalpindi C.P.C.I. : The Popular Films Ltd., Bhusaval. For Pa/riiculars apply /<> : DUGAL PICTURES, Tinwa'a Bldgs., Tribhuvan Road, BOMBAY 4 63