Flashback: Shehnai -- independent India's first film
In the September 1946 issue of FilmIndia magazine, its Pictures in Making section offers an update about Filmistan’s upcoming production, Shehnai. This “social with lilting melodies” is nearing completion, it reports and mentions director PL Santoshi’s confidence about its box office success.
Almost a year later, Shehnai earns its place in history as one of the two films that released on India’s Independence Day – August 15, 1947. While details of the other film, Mera Geet remains obscure, Shehnai proved Santoshi’s prediction correct and became the first roaring hit of free India. It was among the five top-grossing films of the year and had a straight up silver jubilee run in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur and Karachi.
Starring Rehana, Nasir Khan and Indumati, Shehnai’s story flits around four sisters and their respective suitors. The ensemble drama also features acclaimed performers of the era like comedy great VH Desai, Mumtaz Ali (actor Mehmood’s father), Dulari, and Leela Misha among others. Desai plays a struggling entertainer trying to keep his dance company afloat with the help of his four daughters. However, his wife (Mishra) is worried about the disrepute the profession is bringing the girls and diminishing their chances of marriage. Rehana plays the second eldest sibling, Kamla, a gutsy girl who clashes with Pramila (Indumati) – the snobbish, college-educated daughter of the zamindaar. When Pramila humiliates Kamla’s family, the latter gets even by tricking Pramila’s soon-to-be fiancé Rajesh (Khan) into believing that she is his betrothed but ends up falling for him. The mix up goes a step further when Pramila mistakes her father’s adversary for Rajesh and falls in love with him.
With its light-hearted humour, Shehnai creates an entertaining tale of romance and mistaken identities. An animated Rehana with her blithe moves and a suave Nasir Khan made a fetching pair. Indumati’s constant squabbles with the sisters and Desai-Mishra’s bickering couple gag offered the necessary comic relief. But what truly did wonders for the film was its stupendous soundtrack.
For a country reeling under the aftermath of the Partition and the daunting prospects of an uncertain future, the wildly hummable Aana Meri Jaan Sunday Ke Sunday became the perfect temporary escape. Penned by Santoshi himself, this delightful ditty is picturised on Dulari and Mumtaz Ali, who play love interests in the film. The pair enacts a dance performance wherein Dulari, a village belle gets serenaded by an English speaking gentleman. The terrific use of rhymes and wordplay, and music director C Ramchandra’s inventive usage of Western and Indian tunes made it a smashing success and a precursor to the composer’s other fusion pieces like Gore Gore O Banke Chhore and Shola Jo Bhadke.
The film’s album, wide ranging as it was, had playful numbers like Chhuk Chhuk Chhaiyya Chhaiyya, Tirchhi Topi Waalon Se, a Krishna bhajan, and romantic duets like Jawani Ki Rail and Aji Aao Mohabbat sung by some of the most popular female playback voices of that period: Shamshad Begum, Meena Kapoor, Geeta Dutt, Amirbai Karnataki and Binapani Mukherjee. The album’s sole male voice belonged to Ramchandra.
What’s fascinating is at the time of its release, Jawani Ki Rail and Sunday Ke Sunday were considered frivolous and even vulgar by certain sections. In a letter to FilmIndia, a reader blamed these songs for bringing “moral degradation and mental corruption to young tender minds.” Decades later, in the early ’90s, the Sunday song would serve as the inspiration for National Egg Coordination Committee’s public service message promoting the consumption of eggs. The jingle Khaana Meri Jaan Meri Jaan Murgi Ke Ande became one of the most popular ads of its time and has a tremendous recall value even today.
Shehnai's success was greatly rewarding for Santoshi. The filmmaker had a long, fruitful career and delivered classics like Barsaat Ki Raat (1960) and Dil Hi Toh Hai (1963). His son, filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi carries on his legacy. Rehana went on to star in hit films like Sajan (1947), Sargam (1950) and Sagai (1951) and later migrated to Pakistan. As for Nasir Khan, he continued to appear in films but couldn’t achieve stardom like his famous elder brother, Dilip Kumar with whom he featured in Gunga Jumna (1961). Across the border, Khan would always be the hero of Teri Yaad (1948) – the first film made in Pakistan.
The post was first published in Yahoo India on August 15, 2019.
