Raj Kapoor and Suraiya in Dastan (1950)

Musical Pictures Limited’s presentation Dastan directed by Mr. A.R. Kardar from a story by Mr. Bannerji with music by Mr. Naushad, is a veritable dynamo of pulse pounding, heart throbbing drama. In comparison to the weak, feeble and semi-tottering results of cramped intelligence and doddering minds, as evident in some recent pictures Mr. Kardar’s Dastan is a dynamic picture, possessing all the power, the force of the roaring deep and the magnificent might of a colossus. From the bubbling, hilarious gaiety, which is sprinkled generously in the first half of the picture, the story swings on to swift action spurred on to gain momentum with every passing footage.

Dastan is obviously inspired from Samuel Goldwyn’s story of love and suffering, Enchantment. The broken dreams of love’s awakening, the scattered pieces of young hopes, the shattered fragments of faith sublime is the sizzling current charged through every breath-taking moment of this well produced picture. Brilliant direction, superb performance and excellent production values all fused together succeed in creating a dramatic thunderbolt.

Though the characters and earlier sequences are taken freely from Enchantment yet Mr. Kardar has, to a great extent moulded the delicate texture of the original material to fit into the Indian background. The master’s touch is most prominently conspicuous as every unfolding scene reveals an enchanting panorama of charm and delight – a fleeting landscape of human passion bared to the naked eye by the sheer brilliance of the histrionic talents of the artistes and Mr. Kardar’s vigorous and virile direction.

Seeing Dastan after an unending stretch of dry, insipid pictures is like coming across a merry, sparkling fountain after experiencing the torrid heat and maddening glare of a blazing sun. To a parched, weary traveler in the arid desert an oasis is God-send, to the critics and the public, who have day in and day out seen some decayed stuff of our industry, Dastan is a healthy, soothing remedy to the highly strung nerves.

There are of course a few niches in this well constructed story – a few ungainly nooks and corners that mar but superficially, the perfect symmetry and faultless proportions of an artistic piece of creation. But fortunately they are so tiny and insignificant that they are hidden away in the surrounding brilliance. The sudden departure of the older brother played by Mr. Al Nasir from the house when a word of explanation could have straightened out the misunderstanding was too flimsy to be convincing.

Even his own explanation for this act offered to his brother later on in the hospital was utterly lame and ambiguous. The accident of Raj, the younger brother, was yet another sequence which appeared like an artificial bead in a string of faultless purity. But as I have said before, they must not be weighed against the innumerable commendable qualities of the picture.

The unchecked fury of drama really springs from the character of the aristocratic, haughty sister, whose iron will, ruthless mind and cruel determination wreck other happy lives, twist their joys, blight their hopes and shatter their fine and cherished world. Veena puts over the role of this proud, defiant woman with an ability which really astounded me. She brings into life the spirit of grim, sordid, obstinacy verging to hate, which cleaves and slashes its way with relentless persistence, the unbending hauteur, the scorn and the flash of anger and contempt. In Dastan Veena’s was the best work of the picture and the greatest role of her career.

Raj Kapoor, as the younger brother, is presented to us in a new type of role altogether. Hitherto we had known him as a sorrow stricken, sobbing, frustrated lover; here he is presented to us, a sparkling, prank playing carefree lad. As a comedian and mimic, Raj raises himself to the caliber of Danny Kaye.

As for Suresh and Al Nasir, our milk sop heroes, the word is ham.

Suraiya as the unfortunate orphan and a victim of a cruel fate looks extremely coy, sweet and lovable.

Naushad’s orchestral compositions were extremely delightful. A couple of songs were well tuned though the rest were odd mixtures of Samba, Rhumbas, and Fox Trots. To a great extent the credit also goes to Dwarkadas Divecha for wonderful photography.

Dastan is definitely an unmissable picture and must see on the list (Source – The Motion Picture Magazine – December 1950)

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 1950, Genre – Drama, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Musical Pictures, Director –A. R. Kardar, Music Director – Naushad, Cast - Pratima Devi, Raj Kapoor, Al Nasir, Murad, Suraiya, Veena, Suresh, Shakila

Shakila

At a filmi function, the evergreen Dev Anand politely greeted a lady and then went right back to socializing with others. The lady approached him, smiled warmly and this time introduced herself as Shakila, his leading lady in his famous film, CID. Dev Anand, of course, couldn’t believe his eyes. “You have changed so much!” he said, happy at meeting her after so long, “And where have you been all this while? I thought you must have married a rich Arab and disappeared from India! I am really very happy to see you.” Shakila, of course, was equally happy and touched with the meeting. “Very few of us are as lucky as Dev saab, who is not affected by time at all. All of us have grown old and are ageing accordingly. There’s nothing to feel bad about it! Dev saab didn’t recognize me as we haven’t been in touch. But as we parted, we promised to meet up again soon,” she said.

This was the same Shakila who made her debut as a child artiste in Suraiya’s starrers Duniya (1949) and Dastaan (1950). After working in some nondescript films in secondary roles including Gumasta (1951), Sindbad the Sailor (1952), Rajrani Damyanti (1952), Aagosh (1953), Shahenshah (1953), Raj Mahal (1953), Armaan (1953) etc, people finally noticed her in Guru Dutt’s Aar Paar (1954). In Aar Paar, she played the other woman in Guru Dutt’s life, the cabaret dancer, who is disdained by society and is a complex and embittered person. Aar Paar was a superhit film and its best songs including Hoon abhi main jawan and Babu ji dheere chalna were picturized on Shakila.

Unfortunately, with the exception of Guru Dutt’s C.I.D. (1956) [even there she was eclipsed by Waheeda Rehman who made her debut in that film], Shakila was reduced to B-grade mythological and fantasy films because of her rudimentary acting skills. Some of these films include Alibaba and Forty Thieves (1954), Lalpari (1954), Veer Rajputani (1955), Roop Kumari (1956), Agra Road (1957), Al-Hilal (1958) etc. She created some stir in 1957, when her film opposite Kishore Kumar - Begunah was banned after 10 days of its release. The film was a carbon copy of Hollywood’s Knock on Wood (1954) starring Danny Kaye and the producers of that film went to court and won the case to stop the further screening of this film. As a consequence, all the negatives of this film were destroyed.

In 1958, she starred opposite Sunil Dutt in suspense/thriller Post Box. 999 where the evergreen duet by Lata and Hemant Kumar Neend na mujhko aaye was picturized on them. In the latter part of her career, China Town (1962) opposite Shammi Kapoor is a film worth mentioning because of its songs which were a rage back then.

Her last film Rishte Naate was released in 1965. After that, she quit the industry and got married. “My priorities changed after I tied the knot and my career assumed secondary importance,” Shakila said in an interview.

One wonders why she never thought of a comeback? “I keep getting film as well as television serial offers. But I don’t like any of them. Moreover, the industry has changed so much. I don’t know whether people will even recognize me!” she smiled. “And after being at the top and seeing all the glory, suddenly to be in a place where the same respect and dignity may not be accorded can be scary. But at the same time, we’ve seen the best of times and today if the limelight is on somebody else, why feel bad about it?” Shakila said. Youth and beauty may have faded, but Shakila is thankful for the wonderful friends who’ve been there for her all these years. “Waheeda, Nanda, Mala Sinha and Sairaji and Dilip saab, Nimmi…. the list is endless. We meet very often. Zindagi ke kuchh hi toh pal hain abhi, sab apni apni raftaar main chale gaye, saath reh gaye toh bas dost,” she said serenely – Ummer Siddique

Did you Know?

Shakila’s sister Noor also acted in Aar Paar (1954), Noor later married famous comedian Johnny Walker.

This is perhaps one of the best songs composed by O.P. Nayyar for Geeta Dutt. Accordion plays a major part in setting the overall mood of the song and Geeta sings this song in her distinctive frothy style.

This song was picturized on Shakila. According to her,

“Guru Dutt used to explain things well to us artistes. He was very mild, and patient. But he’d get angry when he didn’t get what he wanted. Then he would be very picky. There was a scene in which I had to look down and then fling my head back. We had five or six retakes. He wanted me to look exactly the way he had imagined. He was particular about the way my hair fell. I didn’t have the chance to work with him again, but I did act in Raj Khosla’s C.I.D. which was produced by Guru Dutt.

The first day I worked with Guru Dutt for Aar Paar involved a song sequence. I went to the sets, a room with cardboard boxes lying everywhere. It looked like nothing. Everyone asked Guru Dutt how he could possibly film there. But he did. The song was, Houn abhi main jawan (I am still young) and how fantastically he picturized it.”

Guru Dutt and Shakila in Aar Paar (1954)