From 'Nagin' to 'Nastik': The glory of fine Filmistan films

Among many wonderful musical films that released in 1954, Filmistan’s Nagin was one of the most popular. The film’s music score, composed by Hemant Kumar, had the entire nation in a trance, particularly the haunting ‘Mann doley mera tann doley’,  which was picturised on actors Vyjayanthimala and Pradeep Kumar.

Speaking on the film’s popularity, Javed Akhtar in the latest episode of The Golden Years 1954, mentioned that, “People used to come to from the villages to watch Nagin. In the small towns, people used to arrive in their bullock-carts and stay for a few days outside the theatre until they got the opportunity to watch Nagin. They would only head back after watching the film.” 

Nagin was produced by Filmistan one of the biggest studios of the 1950s even though the studio system had been dismantled by the late 1940s. Filmistan was helmed by producer Shashadhar Mukerji or S. Mukerji as he was more popularly known. Mukerji, who had first been brought to Bombay Talkies by Himanshu Rai, was the man with Midas touch. He had the uncanny ability to spot and nurture talent. Many of the biggest names in Hindi cinema such as SD Burman, Hemant Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, PL Santoshi, Nandlal Jaswantlal, Asha Parekh, Sadhana, Subodh Mukerji, Nasir Husain, Joy Mukerji (Mukerji’s son) and RK Nayyar, owe their careers to him.  

The filmmaker Ayan Mukerji, who made Wake Up Sid (2009) and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), is Mukerji’s grandson. Some of the biggest hits of the late-1940s and 1950s were produced by Filmistan. Films like Shabnam (1949), Samadhi (1950), Anarkali (1953), Munimji (1955) and Paying Guest (1957) were all Filmistan offerings. In 1954 itself, Filmistan had a golden run with films like Nagin, Nastik and Jagriti. 

Another film that came out under the Filmistan banner, with a strong music score in the same year was Shart. The film, as Javed sa’ab pointed out in the show, interestingly, had the word ‘Chaand’ appearing in the mukhda of three of the eight songs in the film. 

The more interesting point about Shart, which was directed by Bibhuti Mitra, was that the villain of the film was IS Johar. Johar is an interesting film personality because while he is generally remembered as a comic actor for his role in the Johar-Mehmood films and in a film like Shagird (1967), there were several more facets to his personality. In Shart, he played a rather deranged, psychotic villain for example. He was also one of the earliest Indian actors to star in Western films like Harry Black and The Tiger (1958). The New York Times review said of Johar’s performance in the film: “But a chirpy, bright-eyed little man named IS Johar, as Mr. Granger’s faithful servant, has only to open his mouth to own the picture. Mr. Johar, that is-and the tiger.”   

Johar also scripted a bunch of successful comic films such as Ek Thee Ladki (1949), Dholak (1951) before turning director with another comic caper, Shrimatiji (1952).   But in 1954, he veered away from comedy and directed the serious social drama Nastik. The film had the rather philosophical song, ‘Dekh tere sansaar ki haalat kya ho gayee bhagwaan’, which was written by Kavi Pradeep. The lyricist was known for the nationalistic flavour of his songwriting, which was best highlighted in his songs for Jagriti, which included, ‘Aao bachchon tumhe dikhayein’ and ‘Hum laaye hain toofan se kashti nikaal ke’. 

Some critics often point to Kavi Pradeep as the first lyricist who broached social issues in his songwriting before Sahir Ludhianvi. But there was a difference between the two. When Pradeep raised these subjects, he did it with a sense of decorum. Ludhianvi, on the other hand, was scathing in his songwriting. Where Pradeep wrote, ‘Dekh tere sansaar ki’ for Nastik, which was seemingly a regretful complaint to God about mankind’s declining morality, Sahir parodied this song in Railway Platform (1955). In this film, Sahir put the onus of the poor man’s troubles on the Almighty. His lyrics were dripping in sarcasm when he wrote, ‘Dekh tere bhagwaan ki haalat kya ho gayee insaan, kitna badal gaya bhagwaan.’

While on the subject of Sahir, the feisty poet-songwriter wrote the songs for Navketan’s Taxi Driver, which also released in 1954. Sahir had established a very strong working relationship with SD Burman, who was Navketan’s preferred composer all through. The song Jaayein toh jaayein kahaan from the film, not only fetched SD Burman his first Filmfare Best Music Director award, but also topped the Binaca Geet Mala charts for the year. 

Get ready for the next episode of 1955 this Sunday at 8 pm on Zee Classic to know what it offered to the Bollywood film industry!