It was Friday on 15th August 1947. Two films were released in Bombay on the Independence Day itself, 'Shehnai' at Novelty on Grant Road and 'Mera Geet' at Swastik on Lamington Road around the corner. 'Mera Geet' starring Sushil Kumar and Naseem Jr must have sunk like a stone since there seems to be no record of it anywhere but Shehnai was one of the biggest hits of the year. In fact, it became the first roaring hit of free India.
Shehnai was produced by Filmistan Studio and Directed by PL Santoshi. Nasir Khan, the brother of Dilip Kumar was the hero and Rehana was the heroine. The music of the film was composed by C Ramchandra. Its song 'Aana Meri Jaan Meri Jaan Sunday Ke' was a super hit. The film had a straight-up. silver jubilee run in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur, and Karachi.
A Still from Shehnai 1947
Starring Rehana, Nasir Khan, and Indumati, Shehnai's story run 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 zamindar. 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.
Aana Meri Jaan Sunday Ke Sunday
The music was the highlight of this film, it was composed by C Ramchandra. It had 9 songs, all the songs were written by P L Santoshi, who was the director of this film also. The song' Aana Meri Jaan Meri Jaan Sunday Ke Sunday' became a rage.It was the first song of Bollywood based on western beats, It was the first time western instruments were used in any Hindi song. It was C Ramchandra who brought music from many other countries in Bollywood music, In 1950 he brought Burmese music in the song 'Gore Gore Banke Chhore' in the film Samadhi, and ' Mein Hun Ek Khalasi' in Sargam(1950)
Nasir-Khan -Brother of Dilip Kumar in Shehnai 1947
There were five major film production centers, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Lahore, and to a lesser extent Poona till 1947. Bombay was the main center, In Bombay alone, 114 films were made and released that year. Six films, 'Shehnai, Elan Jugnu, Do Bhai, Dard, and Mirza Sahiban' were super hit. The other hit film was Parwana of K L Saigal, which was released after his death on 18th Jan 1947.
In March, we had Kidar Sharma’s Neel Kamal with Raj Kapoor and Madhubala in their first lead roles. He was twenty-three and she was just sixteen.
Songs of Shehnai 1947
Song of Shehnai 1947
Song of Shehnai 1947
Song of Shehnai 1947
Song of Shehnai 1947
Song of Shehnai 1947
Song of Shehnai 1947
