lahore:the missing link of hindi cinema
The language of the post is Non-English.. only the script is in english.
do hafte pahle pakistan jaane ka mauka mila.mujhe lahore jana tha.wahan meri beti vidha saumya beackon house national university mein independent studen ke taur pa saarc fellowship ke tahat padh rahi hai.bahana us se milne ka tha ya bahana pakistan dekhne ka?mujhe lagta hai ki donon bahanon ne mil kar yah trip mumkin kiya.
filmon mein interest hone ki wajah main janna chahta tha ki filhaal lahore ki film industry ke kya haal haai.wahan ke evernew studio mein jana hua.wahan koi shooting nahin ho rahi thi. tv serials,jise pakistan mein tv drama kaha jata hai,ki dubbing ke liye aaye kuchh tv stars se albatta mulaqat hui.ek director ne bataya ki saal mein do-teen filmon ki hi shooting ho pati hai,jinmein se do punjabi ki hoti hain.ek zamane mein gulzar rahe multan road par aaj bhi studios hain,lekin wahan filmi chahal-pahal nahin bachi hai.evernew ke paas hi shahnoor studio hai.jise malika-e-pakistan noorjehan ne banwaya tha.use unke warison ne phir se chamkaya hai,lekin shooting shayad hi kabhi hoti hai.
wahan meri mulaqat is sub-continent ki filmon ke gajab ke jaankaar dr.omar adil se hui.dr. omar adil pakistani fauj ke surjon hain,lekin filmon ka shauk rakhte hain.purani cheejen jama karna aur itihaas ke toote taron ko jodna unka shagal hai.unke pass azadi ke pahle ki filmon ka bemisaal khajana hai.purane lp records,filmon ke ishtehaar aur booklet…in sabko jod kar unhone 1947 ke pahle ki lahore film industry ka visual itihaas banaya hai.unke is important kaam ko pakistan tv ne telecast kiya tha.agar india aur doosre deshon mein bhi unki yah documentry mil pati to bahut achchhi baat hoti.dr. omar adil se baat karte hue kai muddon ka samna hua.
gaur karen to bharat ke partition ke pahle calcutta(kolkata),lahore aur bombay(mumbai) milkar filmon ka ek aisa creative traingle banate hain,jisne hindi filmon ki buniyaad rakhi aur generally hindi cinema ke developement mein bada role nibhaya.partition ke baad bharat mein log lahore ke contribution ko bhool gaye aur pakistan ne 1947 ke pahle ke lahore mein bani filmon ko yaad karna jaroori nahin samjha.nai pehchaan ke liye pakistan mein filmon ke purane nishanon ko dhak diya gaya.yah behad afsos ki baat hai ki hum is daur ke baare mein jyada nahin jante.
lahore mein 1935 mein pahli film bani thi.film ka naam tha delhi express.partition ke pahle lahore mein pancholi ke do studios the.is studio ke saamne filmon mein jagah pane ke liye logon ki jamat lagi rahti thi.kahte hain tab chhote-bade 11 studios the.punjabi aur urdu filmen banti thin.azadi ke pahle urdu-hidi ka saaf vibhajan nahin tha.lahore north india ka pramukh educational,cultural aur institutional gadh tha.wahan ki film industry phal-phool rahi thi.vibhajan ke baad jyadatar hindu kalakaar aur technitians mumbai aa gaye aur kuchh muslim filmmakers aur technitians ne lahore ko adda banaya.br chopra,pran,shamshad begum,sahir ludhiyanvi jaise kai log mumbai aaye to manto,syed shaukat hasan rizvi,w z ahmed.noor jehan,sibtain fazli,shamim ano.luqman,nazir,swarnlata,khursheed,s gul,manto adi ne lahore ki film industry ko aage badhaya.
pakistan ki pahli release film teri yaad thi,jise dawood ne direct kiya tha.is film ke hero dilip kumar ke chhote bhai nasir khan the.film 2 september 1948 ko release hui thi aur buri tarah flop hui thi.
ek jamane mein film industry ke adde ke taur par mashoor royal park mein aaj bh raunak hai,lekin is raunak mein filmon ki roshni nahin hai.rihaishi bastiyon aur bazar ke aaj ki chahal-pahal ateet kee goonj nahin hai.kakshmi chauk aaj lachhmi chauk ke naam se mashhorr hai.
pakistan hindi fimen pahunchne lagi hain.theatre mein release ho rahi hain.idhan bharat mein pajistani filmon ki bhi aamad hui.aaj bharat mein bhale hi pakistani filmon aur wahan ki film industry ko adhik tawajjo nahin diya jata ho,lekin pakistan mein hindi filmon ke mureedon ki kamai nahi,filmon ne anek yuddhon,jhadpon au shaq-o-subha ke bawjood bharat aur pakistan ko jod rakha hai.hamare hukmaraan is tathya se aaj bhale hi inkaar karen,lekin itihaas gawah ahi aur kal koi na koi ise rekhankit karega.
main PFC ke pathhkon se appeal karta hoon ki agar aap kolkata,mumbai aur lahore ke kisi bhi missing ya common lonk ke baare mein jante hon to awshya likhen.shayad ham apni tarah se itihaas ko bacha saken.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Bahut khoob.. Lahore gave us legends like Dev saab, Pran saab (interesting description in his biography of Lakshmi Chowk in Lahore) and Balraj Sahani and many more.. Kolkata, Bombay and Lahore were three pillars of Indian (and Pakistani) films in the earlier era of 30s and 40s.. The studios should be declared as heritage property…
bahut badhiya ajaybhai…I should tell you that at one time we both were working with bhaskar group. I was incharge of Gujarati Navrang and you were with Hindi.
Very good article.
As a Pakistani, a confirm that this article is factually correct.
Also an indication of how far Lahore was, ahead of it’s times, is the fact that Teji Kaur Bachchan, the mother of AB,was a prominent lecturer in Lahore University. My Bua, a doctor in Vasant Vihar Delhi, was her student and in awe of her, socially. It is often said that AB is AB cause of Teji (influence of Lahore) as opposed to his dad (of course not in a negative way, but in allof us one parent’s influence is more prominent).
When my family visited Lahore (to see their ancesteral home there), they had a wonderful time (this was during the thaw in Indo Pak relations when the cricket test series restarted. I have never had a chance to visit, but what I see are some of the most amazing, powerful, strong, female personalities come out of Lahore, as much if not more than the male.
When my family did visit their ancesteral home, they were welcomed by the current inhabitants and asked to stay overnight there. They (my two Bua’s and their children, much older than me) felt that nothing had changed!!
I remember reading in BBC Urdu that most expensive film of India was made in Lahore in 1934. Its cost was 18 Lakh Rupees (at that time!!!!). Its name was ‘ShireeN Farhaad’
thanks fayyaz.i would like to know more about lahore film industry.write your account.
Iss filmi history ne bohot kuch yaad dila dia. Abhi ziyada arsa nahin guzra, 1977 tak Lahore ki film industry arooj per thi, uss waqt saal main 100 se ziyada films banti theen. Uss waqt ki Pakistani aur Indian film aik saath daikh len, aap ko kuch ziyada faraq nazar nahin aaye ga. Music, acting, story, songs, singers, itna dekh lain keh jis industry main Madam Noor Jehan aur Mehdi Hasan jee ke paas time na ho, itnay busy hon, woh industry kaisi ho gi? Partition se pehlay Lahore main 14, 15 Cinema Houses theh. Mere father journalism main theh, apna akhbar nikaltay theh, uss ke kuch files daikhnay ka moqa mila, uss main filmon ke ishtahar dekhe, Puranay Cinemas main se Plaza abhi tak bacha hua hai. 1934 main jo cinema haal theh woh sub khatam ho gaye, partition ke baad bohot cinemas banay. 1977 main shayed 80 ke kareeb cinemas lahore main theh. Aur her cinema per rush hota tha. Abb wo sub khuwab ki baatain lagti hain. Main ne 1969 main matric kiya tha, aur aksar hum dost school se bhaag kar shooting daikhnay Multan Road per chalay jatay theh. Aik studio to hamaray Muslim Town main bhi tha, jo partition se pehlay ka tha. Shayed yehi pancholi studio tha, badd main kai dafa iss ka naam badla, aakhir band ho gaya. Hamari film industry ki barbadi 1977 main shuru hui aur chand saal main industry khatam kar di gayee. Itna barrhya likhnay per mubarak baad pesh karta hoon.
amjad,
aap ne to lahore kee tasveer hi khinch di.ar koi wahan ki yadon ko likhta to behtar hota.aap ke father ke akhbaar mein chhape ishtehar ko scan karwa kar photo nikal kar bhejen.mera mail id hai brahmatmaj@gmail.com