FilmIndia (Feb-Dec 1949)

April, 1949 FILM INDIA -eels daily for at least 20 minutes i before the commencement of every -bhow is adopted, it will, apart from Serving its useful purpose, also provide sufficient time for restoring the requisite silence which as such is ; bf utmost importance at the beginning of every good picture. ?' "It may as well be pointed out that if for some reason or other this : 'is not possible, the exhibitors should see that the booking of 2nd and 3rd class tickets is so arranged that everybody is properly accommodated by the time the picture commences." NAGPUR. B. S. Shukre. 24 SLEEPING CENSORS ! " Nowadays our South Indian producers are producing pictures like |" Mohini ", " Demonland ", " Magic Horse", " Chandralekha " and " Balaraju ". These pictures are full of miracles, stunts and absurdities, but they are " box office hits ". The public is not in a position to under. stand, why the Madras Censor Board is allowing to exhibit such pictures. Can't the Madras Censor Board, consisting of 24 intelligent, and venerable personalities, ban such stupid stunt pictures, and save the people's money?" ELUKU. G. Ramjogi. PITY AND DISGRACE ! " On 30th January when the entire world was paying homage to the sacred memory of the Father of our nation, all business was suspended in the Bangalore City area, including all the theatres. But the cantonment area had a different story to tell. All the picture houses were open and business was in full swing. The theatre owners must take the responsibility for thus destroying the solemn significance of the day. It is a great pity that the very people who flaunt their patriotism so ostentatiously, could not give up their business even for one day, in memory of revered Bapu." T. Somasundara Rao. UANCALORE CITY. SELF-IMPOSED TORTURE ! " In the Lakshmi Talkies at Sambalpur the chairs inside have been placed so closely that one finds great difficulty in passing through the rows. The hall is not sound-proof and has been built so imperfectly that the sound keeps echoing inside and hence nothing is audible. " Again if you put your feet be low the chair then the mosquitoes do not allow you to witness the picture comfortably, and if you place your feet on the back of the chair in front of you then the man in front turns and looks at you with an angry stare. " Is not the saying ' Do ghantaki qaid aur char anna zurmana ' true?' Haris/ixinkar Mahapatra. SAMBALPUR. " RAM RAAN " "' I have not failed so far to read any of your film reviews but none has made such a deep impression on me as your review of " Ram Baan " in the February issue of ' filmindia '. I had never even imagined that our producers and writers, and Hindus at that, could be so mean and cal Recruit Nirmal, opposite Hats Store, Daga Razar, Jodhpur is 17, 5'-5" speaks Hindustani, knows motor cycling and has played in amateur dramatics. lous and deliberately distort even our sacred scriptures to suit their commercial needs. Alas ! how does their conscience allow them to adopt means, foul beyond words, to achieve their ends? " With his blood boiling at such shameful deeds of persons, who, we regret have to admit, are flesh of our flesh, how can any critic help using the language that is the only one understood by the so-called producers, who, in fact, are worse than the worst criminals. As a matter of fact, no word is too strong to condemn the vandalism of the producers, who do not even leave the Gods in peace ! I am, therefore, extremely surprised to know that Minister Morarji should call you a critic who " uses very strong language always ". " As mere banning of " Ram Baan " will be just a flea-bite to Vijoo and Mohanlal Dave, they should be given such a deterrent punishment as to drive away others even from contemplating similar misadventures with our great epics." A. V . Narasimhan. HYDERABAD, Dn. CENSORS AGAIN? " If you want to know to what depths our motion pictures have dropped during all these years I would suggest you to see " ChandaKi-Chandni "a picture produced by I. A. P. Patel and directed by Dwarka khosla and which has been released at four prominent theatres in Delhi. Believe me Mr. Patel that it is a criminal waste of celluloid which we so urgently need to educate our masses and which is in very short supply. " The picture opens with a suggestive Madhokian song by Rehana who moves her hips and rolls her eyes in a suggestive manner. In short the whole theme revolves round Rehana who is becoming a headache for decent people. The picture at best is a slap on the very face of our Censors who are reported to be more vigilant these days." NEW DELHI. M. P. Bhatia. DIWAKAR'S HEADACHE ! " Last month I saw quite a long " short ' entitled " Police Action in Hyderabad ", which was screened along with a regular show at a local cinema. After seeing this ' short ' I wondered why our Government had not banned such a stupid film. In this film we are first shown two pictures of the Nizam and Kasim Razvi. Then follow dull sequences or rather takings of a couple of our tanks firing in the air (as if they were engaged in a mock battle) and quite a few of our men lying on their stomachs vainly trying to spot the Razakars and the Nizam's forces. iNot one scene of actual fighting is shown in this film, probably because it was entitled " Police Action ". " The next scene is an army man pulling out a mine near the gates of Hyderabad. The triumphant entry of our troops into the State capital marks the following scene. Then we CS