Surendra (actor)

Surendra (11 November 1910 – 11 September 1987; Surendra Nath) was an Indian singer-actor of Hindi films.

Surendra's parents were against the idea of his joining films, but on being persuaded they agreed, stipulating that Surendra's name in the credit roll of the films should appear as "Surendra Nath B.A., LL.B", a condition agreed to by Mehboob Khan.[7]

Career

1930s

Mehboob Khan, who had made a commercially successful film Al Hilal in 1935, is credited for bringing Surendra into films. He offered him the leading role in Deccan Queen (1936), which was produced by Sagar Movietone.^[7] Khan also chose the singular name Surendra, which was to stay as his screen name. Deccan Queen, with music by Anil Biswas, was a story about a police inspector played by Surendra, who has twin sisters fall in love with him. A song sung by Surendra "Birha Ki Aag Lagi", which according to author Ashok Raj, was a "rehash" of K. L. Saigal's song from Devdas (1935), "Baalam Aaye Baso", became extremely popular.^[5] The other notable song from this film was a popular ghazal sung by Surendra "Yaad Na Kar Dil-e-Haseen Bhooli Hui Kahaniyan".^[8]

In 1936, Khan wanted to make a film in Bombay, that would rival Calcutta's Devdas. Manmohan (1936), directed by Khan had Surendra once again in the lead. Zia Sarhadi wrote the story, script and dialogues for the film. Though referred to as the "poor man's Devdas"^[9] the film went on to become a big hit. The third film in 1936 was Sagar's Grama Kanya, directed by Sarvottam Badami. The film had Surendra starring opposite Sabita Devi and Aruna Devi. The music of the film, composed by the famous bhajan singer Shankarrao Khatu became popular with the public.^[10]

In 1938, while working for Gramophone Singer Surendra met with a car accident and had to be hospitalised. The film's shooting was halted for a few days.^[11] Gramophone Singer was Ramachandra Thakur's debut directorial venture, which he co-directed with V. C. Desai. The film had music composed by Anil Biswas. It was cited as a "music-dominated" love triangle starring Surendra with Bibbo and Prabha, who played the role of his wife.^[12] Following the release of the film, Surendra and Bibbo became a popular pair and worked together in several films together. Surendra's song "Ek Chhota Sa Mandir Banaya Hua Hai" went on to become popular.^[13]

1940s

In 1940, Mehboob Khan produced Aurat under the banner of his National Studios. Mehboob was to later remake Aurat as Mother India in 1957. In Aurat, he cast Surendra as the older brother, a role to be played by Rajendra Kumar in Mother India. Yakub was cast as the younger brother Birju, with Sardar Akhtar playing the mother's role. The song "Utth Sajni Khol Kiware, Tere Sajan Aye Duware", sung by Surendra and Jyoti went on to become a "big hit",^[14] with Baburao Patel, editor of the cine-magazine Filmindia claiming that "Surendra had never sung better" in the June 1940 issue.^[15]

Ali Baba (1940) had Surendra starring in the title role,^[16] with Sardar Akhtar and Waheedan Bai. The film was a bilingual, made both in Hindi and Punjabi, with Surendra playing the double role of Alibaba and his son.^[17] The popular song from this film was "Hum Aur Tum Aur Ye Khushi Ye Kehkahe Ye Dillagi", sung by Surendra and Waheedan.^[18]

In 1940, it was reported by

Following a hiatus of two years he went on to act in Jawani (1942), directed by Wajahat Mirza. In 1943, he acted in Paigham, directed by music director Gyan Dutt, Vish Kanya, by Kidar Sharma and Vishwas, by Homi Wadia.

In 1944, Surendra acted in three films, Lal Haveli, Bhatruhari and Miss Devi. The first two were successful films of 1944. Lal Haveli starred him opposite the then reigning singer-actress Noor Jehan. Directed by K. B. Lall, it had music by Mir Sahib with the duet "Dil Le Ke Mukar Na Jaana, Nazuk Hai Bahut Zamana", sung by Noor Jehan and Surendra and two solos songs by Surendra, "Yehi Fiqar Hai Shyam Pichale Savere" and "Kyun Man Dhoondhe Prem Nadi Ka Kinara" becoming successful. Bhatruhari, also called Raja Bhatruhari, directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi, had music composed by Khemchand Prakash. The popular songs were "Bhanwara Madhuban Mein Ja", Prem Bina Sab Soona", Bhiksha De De Maa" and "Allah Naam Ras Pina Prani".^[5]

1946 had Surendra and Noor Jehan starring again with a third singer-actress Suraiya, in what was to be the highest-grossing film of that year, Anmol Ghadi. Directed by Mehboob Khan for his Mehboob Productions, it had music composed by Naushad. According to journalist and author Rauf Ahmed in his book Mehboob Khan, Mehboob had initially decided not to cast Surendra as the male lead in Anmol Ghadi, due to a misunderstanding created by the head of Ranjit Studios, Chandulal Shah.^[20] The role was written with Surendra in mind, and in an interview with journalist-author Bunny Reuben, for his book Mehboob, India's Demille: The First Biography Surendra stated that a frustrated Mehboob, unable to find the right man to enact the role told Faredoon Irani, his cinematographer, "it's really Surendra who should be doing this role".^[21] Faredoon Irani asked Mehboob to pick up the phone and patch-up with Surendra, which he did. Surendra's "pathos-ridden" "Kyun Yaad Aa Rahein Hain" has "stood the test of time".^[7] Surendra's other solo "Ab Kaun Hai Mera", and a duet with Noor Jehan "Awaaz De Kahan Hai" also became "big hits", with the music composition cited as Naushad's "crowning glory" of the 1940s.^[22] Two other films of 1946 were Mohan Sinha's 1857 opposite Suraiya, and Panihari directed by V. M. Gunjal.