Naya Daur

1957 173’ b&w Hindi d/p B.R. Chopra pc B.R. Films s Akhtar Mirza dial Kamil Rashid lyr Sahir Ludhianvi c M.N. Malhotra m O.P. Nayyar lp Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Ajit, Chand Usmani, Jeevan, Manmohan Krishna, Nasir Hussain, Leela Chitnis, Pratima Devi, Johnny Walker, Daisy Irani, Radhakrishen, Kumkum, Minoo Mumtaz

A melodrama about the perils of progress: villain Kundan (Jeevan) introduces an electric saw and cars into an isolated, sylvan village while economic, caste and religious divisions between the rurals are woven into the main story of the rivalry between Shankar (D. Kumar) and Krishna (Ajit) over the heroine Rajani (Vyjayanthimala). The dramatic high point sees everyone joining forces to build a road to prove (via a race between a bus and a horsedrawn carriage) that traditional technology is just as good as the new machinery. Ironically, the nationalist modernisation argument is advanced by the villain while the benevolent father-figure Seth Maganlal (Hussain) hopes that a humanist attitude will abolish all class divisions. The hero Shankar argues for collectivisation as the proletarian way of managing new technology. Classic Nayyar numbers included Reshmi salwar kurta jaali ka (sung by Asha Bhosle and Shamshad Begum), Saathi haath badhana (sung by Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle) and the Rafi solo Main bambai ka babu.

Film