Dharti Ke Lal
Dharti Ke Lal | |
---|---|
Directed by | Khwaja Ahmad Abbas |
Written by | Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (screenplay, dialogue), Bijon Bhattacharya (screenplay), Krishan Chander (story), |
Story by | Krishan Chander |
Produced by | Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, IPTA Pictures |
Starring | Balraj Sahni Tripti Mitra Sombhu Mitra |
Cinematography | Jamnadas Kapadia |
Music by | Ravi Shankar |
Release date |
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Running time | 125 mins |
Country | India |
Language | Hindustani |
Dharti Ke Lal (Hindi pronunciation: ['d̪ʱəɾ.t̪iː 'keː 'lɑːl]; transl. Children of the Earth) is a 1946 Hindustani film, the first directorial venture of the noted film director Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (K. A. Abbas). It was jointly written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Bijon Bhattacharya, based on plays by Bhattacharya and the story Annadata by Krishan Chander. The film had music by Ravi Shankar, with lyrics by Ali Sardar Jafri, Nemichand Jain, Vamiq, and Prem Dhawan.
The film was based on the
Overview
Dharti Ke Lal was critically acclaimed for its scathing view of the notorious
The film uses the plight of a single family caught in this famine, and tells the story of human devastation, and the loss of humanity during the struggle to survive.
During the Bengal famine of 1943, members of the IPTA travelled all over India, performing plays and collecting funds for the survivors of the famine, which destroyed a whole generation of farmer families in Bengal.[4]
Thus Abbas was deeply influenced by the work of IPTA, and hence based his script upon two of IPTA's plays,
The film marked another chapter in the influential new wave in Indian cinema, which focussed on socially relevant themes as in
It was the first and perhaps the only film produced by IPTA (Indian People's Theater Association) and remains one of the important Hindi films of that decade. The film marked the screen debut of Zohra Sehgal and also gave actor Balraj Sahni his first important on screen role.[5]
The New York Times called it "...a gritty realistic drama."[6]
It proved to be tremendously influential not only to future filmmakers who admired its neorealist-like qualities—but also to intellectuals of India's left-wing.[7]
Cast
- Tripti Mitra
- Sombhu Mitra
- Balraj Sahni
- Rashid Ahmed
- Damayanti Sahni (Balraj Sahni's actual wife)
- Rashid Khan
- K. N. Singh
- David
- Zohra Sehgal
- Snehaprabha
Notes
- ^ ISBN 9780191034770. Archivedfrom the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- Indian Express.
- ^ "With love from India to Russia". Russia Beyond. 22 October 2009. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- ^ "Indian arts". Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
- ^ Balraj Sahani Archived 19 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine Rediff.com.
- ^ "Dharti Ke Lal - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes - NYTimes.com". movies.nytimes.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
- ^ Dharti ke Lal Overview The New York Times
References
- Dictionary of Films (Berkeley: U. of CA Press, 1977), p. 84.
- Vasudev and Lenglet, eds., Indian Cinema Super-bazaar (New Delhi: Vikas, 1978).
- Shyamala A. Narayan, The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 1 1976; vol. 11: pp. 82 – 94.
- Amir Ullah Khan and Bibek Debroy, Indian Economic Transition through Bollywood Eyes.
External links
- Dharti Ke Lal at IMDb