|
1932- A Year in Movies
A total of 60 Hindi talkies were made in 1932. Apart
from Calcutta
and Bombay, there were movies from Kolhapur, Poona, Lahore and Hyderabad
this year. Many famous movies were released.
Most famous of these was perhaps the first talkie from Prabhat
Film Company, Kolhapur, "Ayodhya Ka Raja" starring Durga Khote and
Govind Rao Tembe who also provided the musical score. The Marathi
version was the first Marathi talkie. It was directed by
V. Shantaram. Another film, "Zarina", directed by Ezra Mir, starring Jal
Merchant and Zubeida (the heroine of the first talkie) has the most
screen kisses before kissing was "voluntarily" renounced by the movie
producers in the mid-thirties on the ground that "Indians do not kiss
in public". As everybody knows kissing was restored in Hindi movies by
Raj Kapoor in "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" released on March 22, 1978.
[Check!] The
fabulous K. L. Saigal was introduced in "Mohabbat Ke Ansu" and acted in
two more movies, "Subah Ka Tara" and "Zinda Laash". All three had music
by R. C. Boral and were produced by New Theaters, Calcutta.
And then there was "Indrasabha" which has the distinction of
having the largest number of songs, 71. The songs were set to tunes by
Wazir Khan and Nagar Das Nayak recorded them for the movie apparently
using only harmonium for the purpose. Typical songs:
Challa hamara yaad rakhna,
Kati raat maze mein saari,
Kab se khadi hun tere dwara,
Chaman ko yun mere saqi ne maikhana bana dala,
Dil de diya hai unko dekhen wo kya karenge,
Maharaj se neha lagaibe, hamaar koi ka karibe.
Some other movies and their distinctions:
Bilwamangal - The first colored Indian film printed
abroad.
Hathili Dulhan - based on Taming of the Shrew.
Heer Ranjha - First talkie by A. R. Kaardaar, made in Lahore.
Raadhe Shyam - Rajkumari was a child artiste.
Shikari - First talkie for Jairaj.
Shyam Sunder - First movie by Shahu Modak, starring as a young Krishan.
Shanta Apte was Radha.
This information comes from:
1. The Encyclopaedia, volume 1, compiled by Mr. Har
Mandir Singh
"Hamraaz", published by Mrs. Satinder Kaur, his wife,
2. Listeners' Bulletin, a monthly, edited by Hamraaz
Saahib and
published by the Secretary, the Flying Listener's Club, Kanpur,
3. Limca Book of Records, 1993 edition, edited by Vijaya
Ghose,
published by Bisleri Beverages Limited, and
4. The Guinness Book of Movie Facts & Feats, by
Patrick Robertson,
published by Guinness Books in 1988.
Surjit Singh, a movie fan period.
surjit_singh@yahoo.com
Back
to the Index of Articles by Surjit Singh
Back
to Surjit Singh's Home Page
|
|