FilmIndia (1946)

OUR REVIEW "Prabhu-Ka-Ghar" misses The mark Grave Injustice To Khurshid Next time when the Brain Trust of the Ranjit Studios decides to copy other motion pictures it should make up its mind about its main inspiration instead of shuttling between two stories. "Prabhu-Ka-Ghar" is neither the story of "Bernadette" nor the tale of "Bodana". And it is a pity seeing that the subject had enough basic dramatic value to be made into a powerful motion picture. We however congratulate the person who coined that happy title "Prabhu-Ka-Ghar". Though the picture does not deserve this title, the name, nevertheless, is so eloquent that a very powerful and philosophic story could have been written under its inspiration. The present picture is a complete mess of lofty intentions due to erratic planning and lack of imagination and therefore it fails to appeal. The story of the picture is a synthetic concoction mainly composed of different incidents picked either from "Song of Bernadette" or from '"Bhakta Bodana". The role of Alka is inspired by "Bernadette" while that of Rudrasen takes after the life story of "Bodana", the dacoit-devotee. Bet Rustomji Poonawalla plays a character role in "Naiyya" supervised by Mazhar Khan. "PRABHU-KA-GHAR" Producers: Ranjit Movietone Language: Hindustani Story: Gunvantrai Acharya & Munshi Dil Dialogue: Munshi Dil Songs: Pandit Indra Music: Bulo C.Rani & Khem chand Prakash Photography: D. K. Ambre Audiography: G. K. Mehta Cast: Khurshid, Trilok Kapoor, Sulochana Chatterji. Bipin Gupta, Sheikh Hassan etc. Released At: Royal Opera, Bombay. Date of Release: 12th Jan. 1946. Directed By: VAJAHAT MIRZA ween these two devotional ends there is many an incident stolen from the lives of different saints of India, which are put into the story. A notable one is from the story of "Gora Kumbhar" who got his hands cut because they had committed an act of sin. The story opens with an unknown village girl A'.ka talking to Nanda, another village girl, some sentimental nonsense about universal love. Throughout the picture we are never told who this Alka is beyond a passing reference in some dialogues that she has a brother in Sarang. We do not even know where she lives, what she does for her living, nor do we know about her instincts and inclinations in life as a young girl. All that we are told is that she is a devotee of God but we are not told how and where she is inspired with this devotion. In another scene in the temple wc are shown that she enters the temple with her companion Nanda and stands in the presence of the idol right inside the inner temple, something that is never done in Hindu temples, the privilege of doing so belonging only to the priests who carry out the daily worship. Throughout the picture we are never told why this girl Alka is Mehtab and Jagirdar get a coy ma ment in "Bairam Khan." trying to build a temple on a distant village hillock when already a good temple existed nearby, where she could go and pray whenever she liked and evrn touch the feet of the Lord without anybody objecting. And yet in the latter part of the picture we are asked to witness the fanatic zeal of this girl in building a ricketv temple and praying for the idol ot Krishna to come there by divin.. miracle. The character of A'ka re mains therefore suspended in thin air throughout the story and fails to be convincing. The other important character in the picture is that of Rudrasen, the dacoit, who has terrorized the villageside and the entire kingdom with his numerous acts of crime. This man has previous history behind him. He is the brother of the ruling chief nursing a grievance in his heart. The injustice done to him, we are told, has made him a ruthless dacoit. But Rudrasen had pursued his rebel destiny a 1 alone leaving behind a son in | Arvind. The son does not know who his father is and, for a time, the! father does not know what has become of his son As is usual with! such a character, the king declares a reward for his capture and Arvindj picks up the gauntlet. After manyl escapes Arvind and Rudrasen come to blows and Rudrasen runs away to the hill of the rickety temple and in a minute after he meets Alka and shcj gives him some water to drink, the dacoit turns into a devotee. The 64