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More about films of 1955

Entertainers

Among the top-grossing films of 1955, there were four starring Dilip Kumar including one in which Dev Anand co-starred with him. Mass entertainers Azad and Uran Khatola were very successful. Gemini’s Insaniyat was less popular. In tragic roles in the last two films, Dilip Kumar acted with his usual panache. In Azad, Dilip Kumar found scope for his talent for comedy, and he utilized it so well that he won his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor in 1955. Devdas, released in late December of the same year, qualified for the award only in 1956 and Dilip Kumar bagged his third Best Actor Award from Filmfare.

Azad

Movie buffs of the present generation are amazed that the two iconic tragedy actors of Hindi cinema shed no tears in Azad. When Meena Kumari was cast in Azad, she had yet to become the unmatched tragedy queen of Indian cinema.

Azad marked the entry of a new South Indian producer into Hindi films. SM Sriramulu Naidu, popularly known as Coimbatore Movie Moghul, founded Pakshiraja Studios. Azad was a remake of his bilingual 1954 blockbuster, simultaneously produced in Tamil as Malaikkallan and in Telugu as Aggi Ramudu. It was the first Tamil film to win a President's Silver Medal. Sriramulu Naidu cashed in on the film’s success by remaking it in Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhala, and Hindi. He visited Mumbai to sign up the top stars and technicians for the Hindi film. He was in a hurry. After signing Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Pran and others he approached Naushad, the top music director of the time to provide music for the film. Starting from Nitin Bose’s Deedar (1951), Naushad charged a fee of Rupees one lakh per film. Naidu had no problem with Naushad’s fee but wanted him to compose ten tunes within 30 days, to which Naushad’s curt response was, "Naidusaab, yeh koi baniye ki dukaan samjha aapne? Ek gana nahi milega aapko tees din main".

Naushad’s closest rival C Ramchandra was Naidu's next choice. C Ramchandra agreed to Naidu’s condition but saw this as an opportunity to achieve his long-standing desire to charge as much as Naushad for a film. Sriramulu Naidu returned to Coimbatore expecting to get the songs in instalments. In an interview published after the film's success, Rajendra Krishna revealed that Naidu got impatient when he received nothing after a fortnight and called C Ramchandra to ask for an explanation. The latter told Naidu, nonchalantly, that he did not compose a tune before he had the lyric, and it was the prerogative of the lyricists to write when the mood strikes him. He told Naidu not to pester him before the target date. It took Rajendra Krishna almost three weeks to pen the lyrics and C Ramchandra was ready with the songs in just 23 days. All the songs were hits.

A well-known episode is about the duet, Kitna haseen hai mausam. When the music director, sound recordist and others were awaiting the arrival of Talat Mehmood, C Ramchandra recorded the song in his own voice to get the feel of the song. Everyone present applauded Ramchandra and when Talat Mehmood arrived and heard the recording, he persuaded Ramchandra to retain the song in his own voice.

One of the attractions of Azad was a dance sequence featuring two young Bharatanatyam dancers called Sayee and Subbulakshmi. North Indian viewers were vowed by the dexterity, flexibility, and synchronized finesse of the dancers. The song Aplam chapalam became a hit. In the original Tamil film, this dance is in pure classical form with the dancers, as gopis, imploring Lord Krishna to come. In the Hindi version, Rajendra Krishna’s lyrics evoke a lovelorn woman expressing her woes. The camera displays more of the facial expressions of the dancers whereas in the original, the camera focuses on the dancers’ technique.

Despite their immense popularity, the songs did not feature in the annual programme of Binaca Geetmala because of the system of selecting the songs.

Uran Khatola

Well before the film was released, the title song Mera salaam leja hit the airwaves and became a hit straightaway, leaving filmgoers eagerly expecting the release of the movie, produced jointly by SU Sunny and music director Naushad. But the movie turned out to be a damp squib, with an unrealistic storyline, impossible situations, and contrived song sequences. The box office success of Uran Khatola was largely due to its music score by Naushad and sterling performances by the leading actors Dilip Kumar, Nimmi, and T Suryakumari, runner up in the Filmfare Miss India contest 1952, won by Bharatanatyam dancer Indrani Rahman. Suryakumari was making her debut in Hindi films. Tanguturi Suryakumari was the niece of Tanguturi Prakasam, former chief minister of Madras and the first chief minister of Andhra state. Beginning her acting career as a twelve-year-old, she acted in several Telugu films including BN Reddi’s Devatha, one of the classics of Telugu movies. She was also an accomplished singer whose patriotic songs at the dawn of Indian independence are still popular. For her work in Uran Khatola, she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress award at the Filmfare Awards.

All the songs were hits. My favourites are sitaron ki mehfil saji tum na aye, O dur ke musafir Naa tufaan se khelo, mere sayyanji utrenge paar ho.

Insaniyat

Gemini Studios’ Insaniyat was a multi-starrer costume drama, loosely based on Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play Pizzaro. It was a remake of the Telugu hit Palleturi pilla. SS Vasan envisaged it as a magnum opus. It did not do as well as expected. It was saved mainly by the antics of a chimpanzee called Zippy, who shared the credits with Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, and Agha, who played Zippy’s trainer. Dilip Kumar played his role of a losing lover without straining himself, but Dev Anand was badly miscast and looked uncomfortable. Bina Roy was not on the same level as the two male leads. The music composed by C Ramchandra was also very ordinary. Except for Mohammed Rafi’s Apani Chhaayaa Me, none of the others are memorable.

Munimji

Filmistan's Munimji, with a lost and found story, was a musical romance directed by Subodh Mukherjee, brother of Sashadhar Mukherjee. Dev Anand was more at home in Munimji than he was in Insaniyat but the beautiful Nalini Jaywant outshone him. But Nirupa Roy stole the show as the hero’s mother. She cemented her place in the film industry with this role, essaying a mother’s role successfully in blockbusters like Deewar (1975) and Amar Akbar Anthony (1977). The popularity of this well-made film was enhanced by the music score composed by SD Burman.

Jiwan Ke Safar Me Rahi continues to be a favourite of Kishore Kumar lovers to this day. Shivji Bihane Chale is a beautiful composition for a dance on Siva’s wedding with Parvati. It’s our family favourite. I am fond of Lata Mangeshkar’s Aankh Khulte Hi for its lovely lyrics penned by Sahir Ludhianvi andGhayal Hiraniya main ban ban dolun and Saajan Bin Nind Na Aave for Lata’s beautiful rendering in classical style.

House No.44

Dev Anand’s third film released in 1955 was his home production, Navketan’s House No.44. In which his wife Kalpana Kartik played the female lead. Dev Anand plays a gangster struggling to reform at the instance of his lady love. SD Burman, in combination with Sahir Ludhianvi, came up with another good score with Hemant Kumar’s Teri duniya mein jeene se and Chup hai dharti topping the charts. Lata Mangeshkar’s Phaili huyi hain and Peechhe peechhe aake and Kishore Kumar’s Unchi sur mein gaye ja were also hits.

Mr and Mrs 1955

Guru Dutt had planned to repeat the successful romantic pair of his first film Aar Paar in this film but Shyama, whose career was on the upswing, wanted a raise. Madhubala, who was going through a lean patch, accepted Guru Dutt’s terms and was signed up.

Mr and Mrs 1955 was a delightful social comedy with well-written dialogues by Abrar Alvi, exquisite cinematography by V. K. Murthy, and crisp direction by Guru Dutt. Madhubala’s charm, the timing of Johnny Walker's comic one-liners, and villainous Lalita Pawar, dressed to look like Vijayalakshmi Pandit added to the heady mix.

O. P. Nayyar's music fully complemented the narration with Guru Dutt shooting songs in a swimming pool (Thandi hawaa kali ghata) in which Madhubala looks ravishingly beautiful, and under office tables (Jane kahan mera jigar gaya ji), in which the dimpled Vinita Butt made young male hearts flutter.

OP Nayyar’s other compositions for the film, Dil Par Hua Aisa Jadoo, Udhar Tum Hasin ho and Chal Diye Banda nawaz, stayed on our lips for a long time. Geeta Dutt’s Pritam Aan milo written by O P Nayyar’s wife, Saroj Nayyar, was originally sung by C. H. Atma in 1945. It was the song that launched CH Atma’s career.

Bandish

Satyen Bose, who entered Hindi films with Jagriti, came up with Bandish, remake of the Bengali film Chhele kar, a breezy comedy starring Ashok Kumar and Meena Kumari. Both of them were delightful with their acting and the timing of their comic lines. We were introduced to the expressive Bengali comedian Bhanu Bannerjee. But the surprise package was four-year old Daisy Irani, as the orphan Tomato, matching the leading pair with her precocious performance.

Memorable Films

Seema

Amiya Chakraborty’s Seema was about an orphaned girl, played by Nutan, accused of theft and her journey from the border of insanity back to normalcy. The film gave Nutan the chance to display her acting prowess, earning her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1957.

The film saw the debut of another extremely talented actress Shubha Khote, niece of veteran actress Durga Khote. An excellent swimmer and cyclist she was women's national champion in these sports from 1952 to 1955. From pairing with Mehmood to play a comedienne, to playing a character artiste in several films of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, she has remained active in films, TV, and on stage for seven decades.

Balraj Sahni brought dignity and grace to the role of the head of the reformatory, where most of the action takes place. Two songs recorded on Balraj Sahni, Tu pyar ka sagar hai by Manna Dey and Kahan ja raha hai by Mohammed Rafi, have remained unforgettable. Apart from these two songs, Shankar Jaikishan gave several other hits including Suno chhotisi gudiya ki lambi kahani and manmohana bade jhoothe.

Railway Platform

Tall and handsome Balraj Dutt was an anchor on Radio Ceylon for a programme in which he interviewed cinema celebrities. Nalini Jaywant was the first film star he interviewed. His life changed when he interviewed film director Ramesh Saigal, well-known for his films, Shaheed (1948), Samadhi (1950), and Shikast (1953). Saigal was so impressed that he invited Balraj to be the leading man in his next film Railway Platform. Renamed Sunil Dutt, our new hero was pleasantly surprised to find that Nalini Jaywant was to play the female lead.

Railway Platform is about passengers of a train that is held up for 24 hours due to a flood at an isolated railway platform. Among the passengers is the princess (Sheila Ramani) of the kingdom where the station is located, an unemployed youth (Sunil Dutt), a travelling bard (Manmohan Krishna), an avaricious Marwari bania, brilliantly played by Johnny Walker, and the grocer’s daughter (Nalini Jaywant). The film mirrors the interactions between the characters and the greed of the bania and unscrupulous villagers trying to profit from the distress of the stranded passengers.

Debutant Sunil Dutt gave a good account of himself and was hailed by the press. Baburao Patel of Filmindia called him the new Dilip Kumar. Departing from his usual image, Johnny Walker turned in a performance worthy of Kanhaiya Lal.

Music director Madan Mohan gave several memorable tunes for Railway Platform. Manmohan Krishna sang Basti basti parbat parbat himself, but the film has only the version sung by Mohammed Rafi. Sahir Ludhiyanvi’s brilliant lyrics combine with Madan Mohan‘s music and Lata Mangeshkar’s voice to make Chand maddham hai aasman chup hai a memorable song. Other notable songs from the film were Jaya Kho gaya, Sakhi re tori, and Dekh tere bhagwan Ki halat, a parody of Pradeep’s song from Nastik.

Garam Coat

Garam Coat was the first film produced by story and dialogue writer Rajinder Singh Bedi, along with Balraj Sahni and actress Geeta Bali. Adapting Nikolai Gogol’s short story The Overcoat (1842), Bedi set the story in the economic turmoil of post-partition India. It tells the story of a poor but honest postal clerk and his wife, struggling to make ends meet in winter and aspiring to replace his tattered tweed coat with a new one.

Balraj Sahni and Nirupa Roy, the peasant pair of Do bigha zameen shed their rural get up to don urban attire so effectively that Filmfare called him “Tweed coat peasant.” The main characters are crisply described by Rajinder Singh Bedi in a dialogue by Balraj Sahni,

Duniya bhar ki imandari mere hisse me aagayee hai, aur sharafat tere hisse mein

The film won the 1956 Filmfare Award for Best Story but didn't do well commercially. Rajinder Singh Bedi gave up production. Rangoli, his next film as a producer came in 1962.

New Music Directors

Two new music directors entered the field in 1955. Ravi Shankar Sharma from Delhi entered Hindi films in 1952, singing in group songs in Filmistan’s Anand Math. He became Hemant Kumar’s assistant with Nagin (1954). In 1955, he emerged as a full-fledged music director in Goel’s Vachan, a film starring Geeta Bali and Rajendra Kumar. The film was a moderate success. Chanda mama durke sung by Asha Bhonsle became an all-time hit.

The second was already scoring music but appeared in 1955 with a new name. Shaukat Ali Hashmi composed music from 1948 onwards under several names like Shaukat Ali, Shaukat Dehalvi and Shaukat Ali Haideri. He used his real name Shaukat Ali to compose for the 1948 film Payal.

Nakshab Jarchavi was a lyricist and dialogue writer of the 1940s, who is known for, among other songs, the famous all-women qawwali, Aahen na bhari shikwe na kiye from Zeenat (1945). In 1953, Nakshab turned producer with Nagma, starring Nadira and Ashok Kumar. Nakshab initially approached Naushad to compose the music for his film. When Naushad refused, the irate director signed up Shaukat Ali and made him change his name to Nashad, to make it sound like Naushad.