20 best films that were made in Hindi Cinema between 1913- 1957

20 best films that were made in Hindi                Cinema between 1913- 1957

by Devesh Sharma | May 20, 2018, 11:59 IST

20 best films that were made in Hindi Cinema between 1913- 1957

There’s something about a 100 that makes us feel euphoric. The whole country erupts in a hurrah when Sachin Tendulkar scores his 100th hundred. The reactions are doubly loud when Salman Khan’s movies cross the 100 crore mark. The party for Indian cinema turning 100 began in 2012 and continues to ring in our ears even as a hundred more Indian films are being canned every month in 2013. Filmfare is celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema by compiling its list of best films.

20 best films that were made in Hindi Cinema between 1913- 1957

But the quantum seems inadequate and in all honesty unfair. In 100 years there have been so many movies we’ve held close to our hearts. There have been so many moments on the silver screen when all we could do was get emotional. But Filmfare has had to overlook many gems in an effort to put forth a definite 100 films that have stood the test of time. And we assume shall continue to do so. This isn’t the list. Believe us, if we had a free hand we’d have compiled a 1000 movie list. Instead, we prefer a hot list that stands for what is the best of our cinema. Yes no amount of commiserations can console the runners up who didn’t make the cut. But every single movie featured in the following list deserves its place at the top of the marquee.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Raja Harishchandra

Year: 1913

Director: Dadasaheb Phalke

Producer: Dadasaheb Phalke

Cast: Dattaraya Damodar Dabke, Salunke, Bhalachandra D Phalke, P G Sane

The ad for the first Indian film read like this: Raja Harishchandra. A performance with 57,000 photographs. A picture two miles long. All for only three annas. Dadasaheb Phalke was influenced by Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings and based his film on the travails of king Harishchandra, who gave up his kingdom, his wife and children to keep his promise to sage Vishwamitra. Dadasaheb couldn’t find women to act the female parts and eventually had to settle for young boys for such roles. The film was processed in London. It’s said Phalke’s wife manually perforated the reels in the night. Live music was used as an accompaniment. The film was an instantaneous success. It opened to packed houses everywhere. Sadly, only an incomplete copy of the film exists today. Harishchandrachi Factory, a tribute to Phalke made by Paresh Mokashi, is a must-see for all cinema history buffs as it gives a fair idea about the challenges faced by the man who pioneered Indian cinema.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Phalke's wife cooked food all alone for the cast and crew of more than 500 people.

2. Filmmaking as a profession was virtually unknown back then. Hence, Phalke advised his cast and crew to tell others that they were working in the factory of one 'Harishchandra'.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Alam Ara

Year: 1931

Director: Ardeshir Irani

Producer: Imperial movie tone

Cast: Master Vithal, Zubeida, Jillo, J Sushila, Prithviraj Kapoor

Music: Ferozshah M Mistri, B Irani

Alam Ara, as we know it was our first talkie. When it was first released on March 14, 1931 at Majestic cinema in Mumbai, police had to be brought in to control the crowds. This Ardeshir Irani film had many firsts to its name. The first song of Indian cinema, Dil de khuda ke naam par, was sung by Wazir Mohammed Khan. It was recorded live (Khan played a fakir in the film) as there was no playback then. The period film was mostly shot at night to avoid modern daytime ambient sounds. Hence, Alam Ara also started the tradition of shooting under studio lights. Hidden microphones were used to record the voices of the actors. Incidentally, two actors connected with the film, Prithviraj Kapoor and LV Prasad, went on to become giants in their own right. Both were awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (Kapoor posthumously in 1972 and Prasad in 1982) for their immense contribution to Indian cinema.

DID YOU KNOW?

1.The last known print of this film was destroyed in a fire at the National Archives of India, Pune, in 2003.

2. Director Mehboob Khan was briefly considered for the male lead’s role, which finally went to Master Vithal.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Devdas

Year: 1936

Director: Pramathesh Chandra Barua

Starring: K L Saigal, Jamuna Barua, TR Rajakumari

Music: R C Boral, Pankaj Mullick

If the West has the classic Romeo And Juliet, we have Devdas. The immortal love story written by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee has seen numerous cinematic interpretations down the years. The pioneering one was this Bengali/ Hindi bilingual directed by PC Barua. The Hindi version had KL Saigal playing the doomed lover while Barua himself essayed the role in the Bengali version. The story was a critique on the prevalent cast system. Devdas couldn’t marry his childhood sweetheart Paro as she belonged to a lower caste. The dejected lover finds solace in the arms of a nautch girl, Chandramukhi who gets reformed through love. Paro is married off to a wealthy widower and a distraught Devdas, his health deteriorated by excessive alcohol, finally dies at her doorstep. The film helped Saigal carve his superstardom and its influences impacted all the subsequent interpretations.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Achhut Kanya

Year: 1936

Director: Franz Osten

Producer: Himanshu Rai

Cast: Ashok Kumar, Devika Rani

Music: Saraswati Devi

If Devdas talked about disparity between the classes then Achhut Kanya went a step further and tackled untouchability, which was a curse during those days and is still rampant in our social fabric. Interestingly, Ashok Kumar was cast in the film because the original actor Nazam-ul-Hassan tried to elope with the producer’s wife Devika Rani. Ashok Kumar played a Brahmin’s son in love with an untouchable girl played by Devika Rani. Director Franz Osten didn’t shrink away from depicting the truth of the situation and the film is remembered for its intense mob scenes. It’s also known for its musical score. The song, Main ban ke chidiya sung by the lead stars is popular even today. Incidentally, the music was given by Saraswati Devi, one of our pioneering women composers.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Ashok Kumar worked as a laboratory assistant in Bombay Talkies when he was asked to play the lead in the film.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Kismet

Year: 1943

Director: Gyan Mukherjee

Producer: Bombay Talkies

Cast: Ashok Kumar, Mumtaz Shanti, Shah Nawaz

Music: Anil Biswas

This can be termed as Bombay Talkies’ most successful film and earned for its protagonist Ashok Kumar the tag of the superstar. The dye for the suave, urban hero was cast and Ashok Kumar’s urban chic serves as a model to date. The film pioneered the lost-and-found formula and the ‘double role’ formula as well. Also, the public accepted that lead characters could be grey-shaded as well. The film is also known for its nationalistic song, Door hato ae duniyawalon Hindustan hamara hai. The British thought lyricist Pradeep was writing anti-German and anti-Japanese slogans in the middle of World War but the Indians got its true meaning. By the time the British realised it, it was too late. Another song, a duet between Ashok Kumar and Amirbai Karnataki, Dheere dheere, is also remembered till date.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Kismet ran for three years at a theatre in Kolkata. 

2. The movie also has the distinction of being the first 'double-role' played by any Indian actor.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Neecha Nagar

Year: 1946

Director: Chetan Anand

Producer: Rashid Anwar

Cast: Kamini Kaushal, Uma Anand

Music: Ravi Shankar

The film’s top notch quality shared the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film award at the first ever Cannes Film Festival held in 1946. The film was director Chetan Anand’s magnum opus and brought to light the disparities of the millions of Indians who have next to nothing while a few rich enjoy all the benefits. In an era which thrived on escapist musicals, the maverick director brought out his Marxist leanings into play to make a grim realistic film, which stands tall with the best of Satyajit Ray or Ritwik Ghatak products. It can be called the granddaddy of the parallel film movement that was to follow later. The film is still relevant in the sense that nothing has changed, there are parallel Indias which co-exist – the India of glass towers and the India where people don’t have access to clean water are juxtaposed. Kamini Kaushal and sitar maestro Ravi Shankar were the other two besides Chetan to begin their careers with this film.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. The opening credit shows the certificate of the award won by the movie at the Cannes Film Festival.

2. The film starred Uma Anand, Chetan Anand’s wife in a prominent role.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Mahal

Year: 1949

Director: Kamal Amrohi

Producer: Ashok Kumar and Savak Vacha

Cast: Ashok Kumar, Madhubala Kanu Roy, Vijayalaxmi

Music: Khemchand Prakash

Kamal Amrohi’s classic is home to many firsts – it started off the trend for reincarnation thrillers, it turned the 16-year-old Madhubala into a superstar and made Lata Mangeshkar  a household name. It’s said that the name of the singers on record jackets started appearing only after the immense popularity of Lata’s Aayega aanewala. Music director Khemchand Prakash brought out the echo effect in the song by making the singer walk from one corner of the recording room to the mike kept in the middle. Cinematography by German cinematographer Josef Wirsching, reminiscent of German expressionist cinema added to the film’s appeal. The film was the biggest earner at the Indian box office that year, its revenue eclipsed that of Andaz and Barsaat released the same year. The film proved to be another feather in Ashok Kumar’s cap, who was also one of the producers of the film.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Mahal was the first Hindi thriler to have a song which worked as a leitmotif throughout the film. This became a trend and was followed in other such films like Madhumati, Woh Kaun Thi and Mera Saaya.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Andaz

Year: 1949

Director: Mehboob Khan

Producer: Mehboob Khan

Cast: Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Nargis

Music: Naushad

This Mehboob Khan venture was the only film in which Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor starred together. Andaz was a sizzling love triangle with Nargis and offered a preachy take on the flirtatious nature of modern women. The film played up the strength of its heroes. Dilip was the shy, introverted lover who takes to tragic undertones after rejection while Raj was the happy-go-lucky man who charms the heroine and later lectures her on how she shouldn’t be engaging as it lead to misunderstandings. We might find the melodrama involving missing letters and miraculous revelations a bit clichéd today but the audience went berserk seeing their favourite stars in tandem and the film’s popularity gave rise to multistarrer romances. It could be a precursor to the Yash Chopra formula of having stylised, upper class characters falling in love in exotic locales. Another highlight of the film was music director Naushad effecting a reverse by making Mukesh sing for Dilip Kumar and Mohammed Rafi for Raj Kapoor.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Cameraman Faredoon Irani was unhappy with Dilip Kumar's casting and allegedly asked, "Who's this monkey?" when Khan first walked in on the set

2. At the time of its run at the theatre, Andaz was considered an ill omen for the director and his stars, with Mehboob losing his mother and brother, Nargis losing her mother and Dilip Kumar being assaulted by goons at Worli.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Awara

Year: 1951

Director: Raj Kapoor

Producer: Raj Kapoor

Cast: Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Leela Chitnis, KN Singh

Music: Shankar Jaikishan

The Russians loved it, the Turks loved it, the Egyptians loved it and so did the Europeans. Such was the film’s craze that it was remade in Turkey as Avaray. The song Awara hoon is still popular in the former Soviet bloc countries. Awara is touted as a premier Indian product, which found a global audience. Its lead pair Raj Kapoor and Nargis achieved cult status abroad. The film, written by leftist writer Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, dealt with the issue of nature versus nurture. It railed against the false notion of lineage – that the son of a criminal would have crime running in his veins and vice versa. One can also interpret it as a critique about the class disparity in India. The film cut a chord with the Nehruvian socialism that was sweeping across the country at the time. Another reason for its evergreen popularity is the sizzling chemistry between Raj and Nargis, which owed much to their off-screen romance.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. The character Raj is given prisoner number 308, which is the same as article number of Indian Penal Code for which he is charged and tried i.e.'Attempt to commit culpable homicide' in the film.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Baiju Bawra

Year: 1952

Director: Vijay Bhatt

Producer: Prakash Pictures

Cast: Bharat Bhushan, Meena Kumari

Music: Naushad

The myth of Baiju, the underdog singer who challenged the might of court singer Tansen has been deified in cultural history since eons. Director Vijay Bhatt and composer Naushad decided to translate the myth to celluloid and the result was a musical masterpiece. Naushad convinced Ustad Amir Khan to be part of the project and thanks to his guidance the classical based songs like Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj, O duniya ke rakhwale or Mohe bhool gaye saawariya are still evergreen. Amir Khan and another classical exponent DV Paluskar also sang in the film. Mohammed Rafi demonstrated that he could sing classical based songs along with romantic numbers. His versatility remained unchallenged for close to two decades. Both Meena Kumari, who won the first ever Filmfare Best Actress Award and Bharat Bhushan (who played Baiju) enjoyed instant popularity after the release.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Meena Kumari almost drowned while shooting the song Tu ganga ki mauj for Baiju Bawra. She fell off the boat but thankfully was rescued in time.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Do Bigha Zamin

Year: 1953

Director: Bimal Roy

Producer: Bimal Roy

Cast: Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy, Ratan Kumar, Jagdeep, Murad, Nana Palsikar

Music: Salil Choudhury

Why is Do Bigha Zamin still so relevant? Because nothing really has changed in the last 60 years. Our villages still lack basic amenities like water and electricity, The debt-ridden villagers are still caught in the clutches of moneylenders, as the recent spate of suicides in the Vidarbha region clearly show. All this was presciently brought to light 50 years ago by Bimal Roy, who was inspired by Italian neo-realist cinema, in particular The Bicycle Thieves to make this phenomenal film. Lead actor Balraj Sahni played a rickshaw puller. He actually hired a rickshaw and plied the trade on the streets of Kolkata and made friends with other rickshaw pullers to get the nuances right. The most poignant scene in the film is where Sahni is enticed by a man to overtake his lover’s rickshaw. The promise of reward makes him run beyond his physical capabilities, his degradation to an animal becomes complete as he is reduced to a beast of burden in the eyes of his customer. Roy won the first Filmfare Best Director Award for his effort.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. The movie got its name from a famous poem by Rabindranath Tagore, called Dui Bigha Jomi.

2. Meena Kumari makes a special appearance in Do Bigha Zamin with the lullaby, Aa ja ri aa. She saw some rushes of the film and expressed a desire to be part of it.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Anarkali

Year: 1953

Director: Nandlal Jaswantlal

Producer/banner: Filmistan Ltd.

Cast: Pradeep Kumar, Bina Rai, Noor Jehan

Music: C Ramchandra

Salim and Anarkali rest up there with Laila-Majnu when we talk about eternal lovers. Anarkali, starring Bina Rai and Pradeep Kumar was a precursor of sorts to K Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam. Asif was in the process of making his magnum opus since the pre-Partition days and its plot was the industry’s worst kept secret. Anarkali was released when Asif’s film was still in pre-production. Bina Rai excelled in the role of the courtesan Anarkali while Pradeep Kumar brought out the reluctance of a prince in love with a commoner. The film is known for its soundtrack by C Ramchandra. Yeh zindagi usi ki hai sung by Lata is comparable to Jab pyar kiya toh darna kya, such is the quality of music that the two songs sound as they belong to one film. The other memorable songs were Aaja ab to aaja, Jaag-dard e-ishq jaag, Zindagi pyar ki do char ghadi hoti hai, sung by Hemant Kumar for a Moghul prince’s character in a Bengali accent but magical nevertheless.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Vasant Prakash began work as music director, for Anarkali but died having recorded just one song with Geeta Dutt. C. Ramchandra took over as composer and insisted not only that all songs be sung by Lata Mangeshkar but that the Geeta number be removed from the film. Although the Filmistan people agreed, the Geeta song stayed in the movie and was the famous Aa jaane wafaa.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Boot Polish

Year: 1954

Director: Prakash Arora

Producer: Raj Kapoor

Cast: Naaz, Ratan Kumar, David

Music: Shankar Jaikishan

This Raj Kapoor production won international acclaim despite not being directed by him. Raj’s socialist leanings come into full force in the film. Children’s films weren’t the norm those days and Kapoor took a gamble by producing a film that looked into the plight of homeless children. It depicted how the destitute care for each other despite having nothing at their disposal. It suggested a way of uplifting orphaned children, in that rich childless couples should adopt them. Baby Naaz and Master Rattan stood out as the protagonists while David, who plays the kindly bootlegger John Chacha, gave a great performance as a street smart crook and won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. The film is remembered for its Nanhe munne bachche song, as also the classical parody, Lapak jhapak tu aa re badarwa, sung by Manna Dey. Such is its impact still that the story of children of a lesser God still brings a lump in the throat.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Raj Kapoor appeared in his tramp avatar from Shri 420 in an uncredited blink-and -you-miss-it scene where he's shown travelling in a local train compartment.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Devdas

Year: 1955

Director: Bimal Roy

Producer/banner: Bimal Roy

Cast: Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Suchitra Sen, Motilal

Music: Sachin Dev Burman

Bimal Roy was the cinematographer when PC Barua directed Devdas (1936) and was itching to make his own version. He chose Dilip Kumar as the tragic lover and such was the thespian’s dedication that it’s said he had to consult shrinks to get out of the character. He deservedly won the Filmfare Best Actor Award. Vyjayanthimala, who was renowned as a dancer, was taken seriously as a dramatic actor after Devdas. Roy took cinematic liberties from both the original and Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s novel. Paro and Chandramukhi do not meet, both in the novel and the original film but here they fleetingly see each other and guess each other’s identity. Bengali actress Suchitra Sen, known for her natural ease, was introduced to Hindi film audiences through this film as Parvati, while Vyjayanthimala played the nautch girl with the heart of gold, Chandramukhi. The atmosphere of doomed love prevailed throughout. Devdas was destined to die a lonely death and audiences viewed his end with a mixture of relief and pity.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Meena Kumari wanted to do the role of Paro in Devdas, which she lost to Suchitra Sen.

2. Vyjayanthimala refused to take home her Filmfare Best Supporting Actress trophy as she felt she was the film's lead heroine.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Jagte Raho

Year: 1956

Director: Amit Maitra, Sombhu Mitra

Producer/banner: Raj Kapoor

Cast: Raj Kapoor, Nargis

Music: Salil Choudhury

This surrealist film, directed by Bengali directors Sombhu Mitra and Anil Maitra, brought to light the murkier side of society. It’s perhaps Raj Kapoor’s best social comment as a producer and actor. Kapoor had played the lovable tramp before but here the tramp isn’t some urban European parody but a nameless entity who has left his village and come to find work in the big city. His only crime is that he’s thirsty and his thirst makes him enter a posh building where everything isn’t as it seems. The residents believe a thief has entered their compound and organise a manhunt. What follows is pure mayhem. This was the last time Nargis acted in an RK film. She acts as a ray of hope, as a woman who helps quench our parched hero’s thirst in the end. In another departure from norm, the film didn’t feature Kapoor’s favourite composers Shankar-Jaikishan but Salil Chaudhary, who gave us memorable songs like Zindagi khwab hai, filmed on Motilal. The actor seemed to have carried his Chunnilal act from Devdas to this film. It also featured the first ever bhangra in films –Teki main jhooth boliya. A shortened version of the film won the Crystal Globe Grand Prix at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 1957.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

CID

Year: 1956

Director: Raj Khosla

Producer: Guru Dutt

Cast: Dev Anand, Shakila, Johnny Walker, Waheeda Rehman and KN Singh

Music: OP Nayyar

Legend has it that Guru Dutt and Dev Anand made a pact as strugglers to give the other a chance if one of them made it big. Dev Anand gave Guru Dutt a chance to direct with Baazi (1951), his first home production. Guru Dutt cast Dev in CID, his second production but didn’t direct him. So technically, Dev Anand was never directed by Dutt in a Guru Dutt production. CID, like Baazi and Jaal was heavily influenced by American noir films and was directed by Guru’s assistant Raj Khosla, who found his bearings with this film and became known for his grey shaded films. Mehmood played a cameo as a villain and it also marked the Hindi film debut of Waheeda Rehman, who wasn’t the leading lady but a gangster’s moll. The story revolved around the murder of a news editor and had enough twists and turns to keep every potboiler fan happy. Dev Anand, of course, played a suave CID inspector, hence the name. The film had evergreen songs by OP Nayyar like Ankhon hi ankhon mein ishara ho gaya, sung by Geeta Dutt and Mohammed Rafi and Leke pehla pehla pyar sung by Shamshad Begum and Rafi, where you can see a glorious seaside view of old Bombay.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Guru Dutt reportedly gifted Raj Khosla a swanky foreign car after the success of C.I.D.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Mother India

Year: 1957

Director: Mehboob Khan

Producer: Mehboob Khan

Cast: Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, Raaj Kumar

Music: Naushad

Mehboob Khan remade his own Aurat (1940) 17 years later and kind of rewrote cinematic history. Nargis was just 26 when she was offered the role of a mother to two grown up children. Dilip Kumar was to be originally cast in the twin roles of Raaj Kumar and Rajendra Kumar, playing father and son but it’s said that Nargis objected to it saying the audience would never accept Dilip as her son as they had played lovers earlier. Sunil Dutt, who played her other son, saved Nargis from being burnt to death when the studio fire got out of hand. Love soon blossomed between the two and the duo got married a year later. The film was a cinematic tribute to the resilience of the Indian woman. Nargis epitomised Shakti, destined to root out evil and leading mankind to salvation. The ‘noble mother’ character played by her became the benchmark for screen mothers, finding echoes in such stalwart roles as Nirupa Roy’s in Deewaar, which was a modern interpretation of Mother India. Nargis won her, her only only Filmfare Best Actress Award for her stellar performance.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. In 1955, Uttar Pradesh witnessed a great flood. Cameraman Faredoon Irani went to the region and shot some footage, which was later used in the film.

2. For shooting the flood scene, a farmer agreed to flood 500 acres of his land. In the exodus scene following the flood, 300 bullock carts, 200 farmers and many horses, tractors and ploughs were used.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Pyaasa

Year: 1957

Director: Guru Dutt

Producer: Guru Dutt

Cast: Guru Dutt, Mala Sinha, Waheeda Rehman, Johnny Walker, Rehman

Music: S D Burman

Dilip Kumar was cast in the role of the tragic poet Vijay but backed out at the last minute. Showbiz corridors whispered that Nargis and Madhubala couldn’t decide whether they wanted to play the courtesan or old flame and hence were replaced by Waheeda Rehman and Mala Sinha respectively. The film allegedly was based on poet Sahir Ludhianvi’s own experiences, who provided the lyrics. Undeterred by Dilip Kumar’s volte face, Guru Dutt cast himself in the role of a poet who couldn’t reconcile himself with the mores of the world. And what a masterstroke it proved to be in hindsight. Because Guru was struggling to find himself in the film industry and was fighting a losing battle against crass commercialism. It’s counted as one of the best films ever made by numerous polls and its technical finesse and romantic idealism hasn’t been surpassed since. Guru Dutt’s Christ-like figure silhouetted in the doorframe, denouncing the fickle world is sure to haunt you for a lifetime.

DID YOU KNOW?

1.Guru Dutt wanted to film red light area scenes on locations in Kolkata but the crew was attacked by a group of pimps.

2.The romantic duet Hum aapki aankhon mein was said to be added at the behest of distributors who thought the film was too morbid.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Naya Daur

Year: 1957

Director: B R Chopra

Producer: B R Chopra

Cast: Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Ajit, Chand Usmani, Jeevan

Music: O P Nayyar

The original cast of this iconic film has the dream pairing of Dilip Kumar and Madhubala. The actress’ father Ataullah Khan, didn’t want his daughter to go on an extended outdoor as the duo were rumoured to be in love. Director BR Chopra saw it as a breach of contract and sued the actress. Dilip Kumar sided with his director and also famously confessed in court that he indeed loved Madhubala. Naya Daur was heavily influenced by BR Chopra’s Marxist beliefs and spoke against the rampant industrialisation of our vastly agrarian society. The film united Vyjayanthimala with Dilip Kumar after Devdas and the duo went onto make many successful films after

that. The film’s message that our population is an asset and should go towards a labour incentive model for development, found favour with the Nehruvian policies. The highlight of the film was the race between the bus and the tonga, what with Vyjayanthimala and Ajit valiantly supporting the bridge which Ajit had hacked off in a fit of jealous rage. Dilip Kumar won yet another Filmfare Best Actor Award for his rustic tongewala act.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Naya Daur helped Asha Bhosle to come out of sister Lata Mangeshkar’s shadow as she got to sing all the songs for the heroine.

100 best films of all time (1913-1957)

Do Ankhen Barah Haath

Year: 1957

Director: V Shantaram

Producer: V Shantaram

Cast: V Shantaram, Sandhya

Music: Vasant Desai

Showbiz went into a tizzy when V Shantaram hurt his eyes while fighting with the bull in a scene for Do Ankhen Barah Haath. The wrestler-bodybuilder was around 56 when he took the bull by its horns. The socialist director went to the hospital, patched up and returned to shoot as if nothing had happened. Shantaram saw cinema as a medium of social change. The film was based on a real life open jail experiment. Shantaram made the film to impart the humanitarian message that prisoners are humans too and should be given a chance to repent, redeem and reform. A closed jail would lead to closed minds and prisoners should be allowed to utilise their skills for the betterment of society in an open system. The film depicted how one lonely warden puts the fear of God into six hardened prisoners and reforms them through his Gandhian philosophy.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. The film was inspired by the story of an 'open prison' experiment Swatantrapur in the princely state of Aundh near Satara.

2. The film won the Samuel Goldwyn Award at the Golden Globes and also the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

More on: Filmfare

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