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

Bharat Bhushan and Suraiya in Mirza Ghalib (1954)

Mirza Ghalib, Sohrab Modi’s eagerly awaited production, was released at a glittering premiere in Bombay on December 10th 1954, at the Minerva, Excelsior and Palace cine­mas.

Inspired by the tragic romance between the great poet Ghalib and Moti Begum, the dancing girl—whom the poet fondly named Chaudavin—J. K. Nanda’s adaptation of Minto’s original story closely follows the pattern of the lives depicted there, the depar­tures from recorded fact being dictated by dramatic considerations and regard for the censors.

Bharat Bhushan plays the title role while Suraiya portrays the feminine lead. They re­ceive excellent support from an all-star cast comprising Nigar Sultana, Ullhas, Durga Khote, Murad, Iftikhar, Mukri and —Baij Sharma, while veteran actor Jagdish Sethi appears as a guest artist.

Directed and produced by Modi on his usual lavish scale, the film magically re-crea­tes the poignant love story of the Poet and the Dancer in the atmosphere of the magni­ficent court of the last of the Moghul em­perors. He has with deftness preserved the atmosphere of the times and those aspects of life which inspired the wistful ghazals of Ghalib.

The film sympathetically depicts the torments suffered by the poet in his love for two women. Torn between his sense of duty to­wards his lovely wife Umrao Begum, and his love for Chaudavin, his troubles and frustra­tions increase and assume the proportions of tragedy.

Sohrab Modi’s direction is unquestionably inspired. Not only has he re-created the world of the Moghuls, but has paid due tri­bute to the poet in a film which is as warm and dignified as the story it tells. Ghalib’s exquisite ghazals and couplets have been admirably incorporated into the narrative and they richly embellish an already masterly production.

Bharat Bhushan is superb as the poet, Ghalib. Enacting his role with quiet restraint and dignity, he presents both the genius of Ghalib the poet, as well as his shortcomings as a man.

Suraiya beautifully brings to life the fascinating Chaudavin, drawing every ounce of sympathy through the character she por­trays. The skill she displays in her rendering of Ghalib’s exquisite ghazals together with the flexibility of her voice enables her to reach the depths of meaning in the poet’s words and draw out their subtlety to the full.

Nigar Sultana as Umrao Begum and Durga Khote as Chaudavin’s mother are both

brilliant in their character roles, while Baij Sharma as Fiddan the opium-eater turns in a noteworthy performance.

Ullhas, the villain of the piece, is con­vincingly evil and lecherous, Iftikhar with regal dignity almost instinctively lives his part of the Emperor, Bahadur Shah, and Mukri contributes a fine cameo of the self-important but kindly money-lender.

Rajinder Singh Bedi’s  expressive dialogue registers much of the elegance of speech characteristic of Moghul times. Ghulam Mohammed’s music and Shakil Badayuni’s lyrics give further evidence of their creative talents.

With delightful grace, Roshan Kumari and Kumkum present the spectacular dances directed by Lachhu Mahraj and Badri Prasad.

Production values of costume, sets and decor constitute spectacular additions to the film which also has excellent photography – Filmfare Review – January 7, 1955

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 1954, Genre – Historical/Romance/Drama, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Sohrab Modi, Director – Sohrab Modi, Music Director – Ghulam Mohammed, Cast - Bharat Bhushan, Suraiya, Nigar Sultana, Durga Khote, Ulhas, Mukri, Murad, Baij Sharma, Iftikhar, Jilani, Saadat Ali, Ghulam Mohiuddin, Kumkum, Roshan kumari

Dev Anand with Suraiya at a private party after they broke up

Off and on, I’ve fallen in and out of love. After all, I’m a human being, not a god or a sanyasi. But when you’re seriously in love,you propose to the girl and tell her, `I can’t live without you.’ That happened only once in my life — with Suraiya.

It was my first and only serious love affair. I was very young and callow at the time. As a teenager, I had been infatuated by a girl at the Government College, Lahore. She was our history professor’s daughter. But it was only from a distance, I barely spoke to her, and our so-called romance went nowhere. I suppose it happens to everybody at that age.

But Suraiya was another story. She was one of my early co-stars. I was thoroughly smitten by her. So much so that I wanted desperately to marry her. I even bought her a ring. And she was responding in equal measure.

There wouldn’t have been a love affair otherwise. I’m too much of an egoist to chase an unresponsive woman and nurse an unrequited love. The girl doesn’t like me, I don’t like her, forget it. That’s me.

Anyway, Suraiya and I decided to get married. But her conservative family and her self-seeking friends came in the way. They brought up this whole Hindu-Muslim communal bogey, and made a big deal of it.

There was this matriarchal grandmother of hers who was totally dead- set against our marriage, and so was an entire gang of her suitors and ex-suitors. Only her mother sympathised with us, but she couldn’t sway the others who managed to dissuade Suraiya.

Suraiya never married, but several men were keen to tie the knot with her. After all, she was a big star in the 1940s. And I was a nobody — just a budding newcomer — when we first met. Looking back, I feel it was her star-image that made her all the more desirable.

Her popularity as a singing star in those days was simply amazing — her songs were playing on the air all the time, and frenzied crowds mobbed her car wherever she went, clamouring for her attention. `Suraiya! Suraiya! Suraiya!’ It was as if the whole world was in love with her. So her physical beauty had this added aura of
public adulation.

When a woman as pretty and famous as that feeds your ego saying `I love you, too’ there was no escape for me — I got emotionally cornered.

After we broke up, there were several stories doing the rounds. One said I send her a rose on her birthday every year. I never did that. Once I was through with Suraiya, I immersed myself completely in my production company Navketan and began filming Baazi.

That’s when I also met a newcomer called Mona Singh whose screen name was Kalpana Kartik and who later became my wife. But if you ask me if I married on the rebound, I won’t deny it.

Even though I was busy working long hours after Suraiya and I went our separate ways, I realized I was still carrying the psychological baggage of that relationship. The more it was clear that I’d lost her, the more I wanted to make her mine. And for an egoist like me, those were hellish days.

I remember it got to a point where I once went across to my elder brother Chetan Anand (he was my only confidant then), and wept on his shoulder like a child.

You find yourself in a vacuum, you begin to wonder `mujhe ladki kyon nahi mil rahi, mujh mein kya problem hai?’ and in walked this young educated girl with a college degree, who spoke fantastic English, and was part of the new crowd.

We had a secret marriage on the sets during a lunch break because I hate elaborate wedding tamashas. At the time, I felt like this is better than what I had left behind. But somewhere deep down, I always knew Suraiya was the love and the passion of my life and I will always cherish her memory – Shekhar Hattangadi