Of Men, Music And Movies

In arts and entertainment, 1962 is notable for several events. The Rolling Stones made their debut at Marquee Club, London; Marilyn Monroe never got up after an overdose of sleeping pills; the Beatles released their first solo for EMI, “Love Me Do”; “Lawrence of Arabia” became the biggest film hit; and the James Bond era began with “Dr. No”.
In the sub-continent, Biswajit became an all India star with Hemant Kumar's musical, “Bees Saal Baad”. Satyajit Roy wrote his first original screenplay to make his first colour film, “Kanchenjungha”; and “Chanda” directed by Ihtesham became Dhaka's first (released) Urdu film. The last may seem to be an unusual item to be included in such a historical scenario, but it serves to remind us that this film gave us something to record!
Smart thinking. If films produced in Lahore and Karachi could make money in Dhaka, could it not be the other way around? Producer-director, Ihtesham looked for a possibility and consulted FA Dossani, a local businessman. A deal was soon struck between the two that an Urdu film would be made with local resources.

And action!
Rahman, Shabnam, Soovas Dutta and Mustafa, who starred in the Bangla hit “Harano Din”, were tapped. So was Sultana Zaman, an established actor. Ihtesham then formed the rest of his crew with Robin Ghosh (music), QN Zaman (photography), Bashir Hossain (editing), Suroor Barabankvi (lyrics) and Naqi Mustafa (dialogues). They were all Dhaka-based with the last two being migrants from India. But none of the actors could even speak a sentence of flawless Urdu! On top of that, the film was to compete with Indian films of the glorious '50s and '60s when great Hindi melodramas studded with catchy music, lyrics and dialogues hit the screen to win the heart of the middle class audience.

Another clever move…
A “Do Phool Ek Mali” approach was taken. The story was revolved around two sisters -- village belles, and a “Pardesi”; in other words, the dialect and accent needed for the film was simple Urdu that allowed the actors and the general audience to easily grasp the language. The stage being complete, homework began.
Shabnam mingled with Suroor Barabankvi's family for at least two hours a day for her “spoken Urdu”. As Rahman was a “once upon a time” receptionist of the then well known “Shahbagh Hotel” (now PG Hospital), he knew a smattering of Urdu; he picked up the language fast. Mustafa did not require much of tuition; he was a quick learner as he was well educated. “Actions speak louder than words”, was adequately practiced by Soovas Dutta, then a popular comedian and known in the local circle as “Charlie”. Nargis and Fatty Mohsin who were inducted later knew Urdu quite well.
Music in the form of songs always played an intrinsic part in non-Bengali films. Robin Ghosh, fresh from his “Harano Din” and “Natun Sur” laurels, moved with his team of singers and musicians; Urdu was not new to him. Thanks to those Bombay musicals of '40s and '50s, tuning with Suroor Barabankvi was no issue. For Ferdousi Begum (Rahman), Anjuman Ara and Farida Yasmeen, coming from well to do educated families, Urdu was not unknown. They only needed to be fine-tuned. Akhtar Abbas, the male singer, was an Urdu speaking employee of EMI Dhaka office. After weeks of rehearsals with the musicians Sakhawat Hussain (tabla), Dhir Ali (flute), Mansoor and Alauddin (violin) at Ferdousi Begum's parental house at Purana Paltan, the EMI office in the then Jinnah Avenue (now Banga Bandhu Avenue) and at the maestro's house, the songs were finally recorded at FDC studio. “Chanda” was now ready for the shoot.
The “outdoor” was in Cox's Bazar with the unit camped in the dressing rooms of the stadium barring the leading ladies, Sultana Zaman and Shabnam who stayed in the newly built motel. After three weeks of intense shooting, the unit returned to Dhaka for the FDC “indoors”, dubbing and editing. The film under “Leo-Dossani” banner, which cost just under Rupees one lac, was ready for release.
“Chanda” made its premiere on August 3, 1962 at Gulistan, then Dhaka's finest cinema hall, where candyfloss was available on the ground floor and cutlet and coffee on the first floor. The film started amidst speculation; but there were signs of appreciation amongst the viewers in the dark as it progressed. When it finally ended, there were intrusive exclamations from the viewers queuing out of the hall; it came from an audience that was taken by surprise. As days went by, the whispers and chatters inside the hall while the show were on became the usual habit, especially during the delicate dialogues and songs, which simply meant the film became a repeat for many. In other words, “Chanda” was a big hit.
“O Pardesi Aaja”, in two versions by Ferdousi Begum and Farida Yasmeen, “Saiyan Bedardi Mora” by Farida Yasmeen, “Chandni Bheegi Bheegi Hawa” by Anjuman Ara, “Samhal Ke O Albeli” by Akhtar Abbas and Anjuman Ara and the chorus numbers led by Ferdousi Begum, “Chhalke Gagariya” and “Rangey Roop Hai Jawani” became a rage within a short time.
Cinematically, “Chanda” was no great shake as it lacked the cinematic images of Bimal Roy, the screenwriting of Nabendu Ghosh, the camera effects of Radhu Karmakar or the editing level of Hrishikesh Mukherjee. But it's plain and simple storytelling gave the audience a breather from the “Lahore school of filmmaking”; and above all it gave four outstanding Bengali artistes -- Rahman, Shabnam, Robin Ghosh and Ferdousi Begum.
Rahman and Shabnam, the pair which earlier established themselves as Dhaka's Uttam-Suchitra with “Harano Din”, became the first lead pair to counter the monopoly of Sabiha and Santosh. It was big time for Robin Ghosh too. His marvelous use of folk motifs in the film brought a new trend in film music that was a deviation from the “mujra” flavoured Pakistani music. For a while, cine-goers even thought the film's music was scored by SD Burman and that Robin Ghosh was all fake. Ferdousi Begum became a powerful force in the industry along with Noorjehan, Mala, Irene Parveen and Naseem Begum. In fact the quartet in course of time were to leave a permanent impression in the entertainment world and ultimately become legendary figures in their respective domains.
With the release of “Chanda”, the local film industry that had gone into abyss suddenly got a new lease of life and there was a rush to make bold Urdu films. These included the well known journalist Sadeq Khan's “Carvaan”, directed by SM Pervez, the first Pakistani film to be shot overseas (Nepal); the first colour and cinemascope films of Pakistan, respectively “Sangam” and “Bahana”, both directed by Zahir Raihan; the first colorscope film, “Mala” directed by Mustafiz. Classics were canned into celluloid too, as in “Begana” by SM Pervez based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's, “The Idiot” and Syed Shamsul Huq's, “Phir Milengey Hum Dono” on William Shakespeare's, “The Comedy of Errors”. “Chanda” thus opened a new chapter of filmmaking in Pakistan and Dhaka emerged a new winner in the Pakistan film industry. Last but not the least “Chanda” provided Soovas Dutta, a second life. In 1971, a movie addict Pakistani soldier while on a killing spree had spotted Soovas Dutta; he paused for a moment. “Bhaago”, he told him!

The writer is a music connoisseur. He has recently written a biography on Sachin Dev Burman.