Witnessed a component of cinematic historical past
10 min read
By
Sharada Iyer
March 2nd, 2024, was a unforgettable working day for yesteryear followers and lovers of previous Hindi films when we witnessed the screening of the 1939 Ashok Kumar-Leela Chitnis starrer Kangan on massive display at the iconic Regal cinema of Mumbai. Arranged by Film Heritage Foundation, NFDC-Nationwide Movie Archive of India, The German Consulate Typical of Mumbai, and The Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, it was a historic night as we have been transported back again in time to 1939 to watch this tremendous-hit film remaining screened after 85 decades!
Created by the famous studio Bombay Talkies Ltd., the movie was directed by Franz Ozten, and experienced cinematography by Josef Wirsching. Any one aware of our cinematic historical past appreciates about the critical role played by Bombay Talkies in shaping the future of our film sector. Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani in 1934 and produced about 40 videos starting up from Jawani Ki Hawa in 1935 to Baadbaan, in 1954. At the time of its inception, the studio was thought of the finest movie studio in the country equipped with the most technically innovative amenities similar to film manufacturing which bundled sets, digicam, lighting, sound high quality, images, costumes, and new music.
Having familiarized themselves with the most recent movie-producing procedure in Germany, when the couple came back to India to start off their own studio, there ended up quite a few German technicians who arrived with them as they have been an integral portion of the studio group, and hence performed a major function in laying down the foundation of Hindi cinema. The most crucial amid them had been director Franz Osten, and cinematographer Joseph Wirsching.
It was an emotional and historic second on March 2nd, to have the presence of Himanshu Rai’s grandson Peter Dietze, go to the screening. Although Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani had no little ones of their own, he had a daughter Nilima, from his initially spouse Mary Heinlin, who was a German. Before long they parted ways and mom and daughter moved to Australia. Peter is Nilima’s son.
It was a chance discovery of an previous photograph of Himanshu Rai one working day in his house that led Peter to become informed of his Indian ancestry. From then on, Peter has been on a mission to get to know about the revolutionary function played by his grandfather Himanshu Rai in laying the basis of our film business. Nowadays, as the operator of all the archival material of Bombay Talkies, he needs to bring to daily life the priceless photos and artefacts of this the moment-flourishing studio in the sort of exhibitions and screening of restored movies.
Immediately after her retirement from movies and relationship to Russian painter Svetoslav Roerich, Devika Rani passed on all the documents ,images, etc., of Bombay Talkies in her possession to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York. In the 1980’s, when Peter Dietze visited this museum and knowledgeable the curator about his connections with Himanshu Rai and Bombay Talkies, he acquired all the archival material from the museum, as the rightful lawful heir.
The screening was also attended by the grandsons of the cinematographer Josef Wirsching- Georg and Joseph. When a youthful 16-calendar year-old Josef received a digicam as a present on his birthday, small did he recognize how this was not only going to adjust his everyday living but also how he would a person working day form the aesthetics of Indian cinema with his priceless contribution in the fields of pictures and cinematography. He is credited for bringing factors of German Expressionism including dreamy lighting, atmospheric compositions, unconventional camera angles and fantastic pictures to the Indian talkies.
He started off as an assistant cameraman in 1925 when he labored in the film Light of Asia, co-directed by Himanshu Rai together with Franz Osten. His initially film as a cinematographer in India was Jawani Ki Hawa (1935) which was also the first film made by Bombay Talkies. It is mentioned that ‘His camerawork brought luminosity to the display and turned the heroes and heroines of the time like Devika Rani, Leela Chitnis, Ashok Kumar and Dilip Kumar among other people into ethereal creations on celluloid’. Source: https://www.bbc.com/information/world-asia-india-42422599. He was part of the crew of Bombay Talkies for 20 a long time and his final movie ahead of he passed absent was Kamal Amrohi’s Pakeezah, released in 1972.
Josef remained in India and when he passed absent, his son Wolfgang Wirsching donated all the images devices to the Pune Movie Institute but preserved all the priceless images very diligently in watertight boxes. When his sons Joseph and Georg came of age, they recognized the worth of the elements in their possession and made the decision to research their grandfather’s contribution to Indian cinema.
As points stand these days, the trio of Peter, Joseph, and Georg, are the keepers of the great legacy of anything connected with the Bombay Talkies studio. It is to their credit history that not only have they taken care to maintain a priceless element of our cinematic heritage, but noticing the historic value of these rare visible and printed supplies in comprehending the glorious earlier of this century-old field of ours, they have taken the trouble to deliver it again to India to showcase them by way of exhibitions and videos.
[The gentleman in white-Peter Dietze & the two men in suits-Georg and Joseph Wirsching]
Immediately after the screening, all three of them arrived on stage and reported a several phrases about the relevance of the groundbreaking works of their respective grandfathers to our cinematic legacy.
This was adopted by the guide release of ‘Bombay Talkies: An unseen record of Indian cinema’, edited by Debashree Mukherjee. She is an Associate Professor of Movie and Media at Columbia College, New York, United states.
This guide has images taken by Josef Wirsching and some essays relating to the historic price of photos from Wirsching’s archive to understand our cinema of that time. The pictures display that as an market we were technically really excellent and our pioneers belonged to unique lessons, religions, genders and nationalities and every person labored in tandem out of their love for the craft. Bombay Talkies was the to start with to employ the service of a feminine new music director Khorshed Homji who took the title of Saraswati Devi and is regarded as Indian cinema’s first woman songs director.
Priced at rupees 2700/-, the guide was a steal and many people today ended up obtaining it. Sure! I did too…
KANGAN (1939)
Coming to the movie, Kangan was one particular of the initially tremendous-strike films of Bombay Talkies and after considerably really hard function by numerous folks a excellent restored model of the unique print was now offered for folks to appreciate the film. The exhibit started out on the dot at 5.00 pm and was free for all viewers. It was excellent to see a big turnout of people to view this gem from a bygone period together with quite a few youngsters also.
The selection of Regal cinema also experienced a story. Regal cinema is an Artwork Deco movie theatre situated in Colaba Causeway in Mumbai and retains the difference of becoming the initial air-conditioned cinema hall of the country. Developed for the duration of the cinema growth of the 1930’s, it opened to the community in 1933, and ironically Kangan was unveiled in this really cinema corridor in 1939. It was in fact a uncommon celebration to have the film screened in the exact same cinema hall following 85 several years!
The film noticed the pairing of Ashok Kumar and Leela Chitnis for the initial time and right after this they went on to turn into a substantially loved and remarkably well-known on-screen pair of that era. Other individuals in the solid included artistes linked with Bombay Talkies at that time- V H Desai, P F Pithawala, Pratima, Nana Palsikar, Saroj Borkar, and so forth. Lyrics had been by Kavi Pradeep and new music was by Ramchandra Pal and Saraswati Devi.
Kangan is generally an harmless enjoy story amongst a wealthy zamindar’s son and a inadequate orphan girl introduced up by the village priest. Actor Mubarak performs the zamindar and Ashok Kumar the protagonist, is his son. He has no desire in his father’s zamindari business enterprise and wishes to turn out to be a poet and author. The zamindar has a ‘munshi’ or accountant played by V H Desai and he gives the comedian scenes in the film. Leela Chitnis performs the orphan girl and P F Pithawala plays the priest who provides her up like a father. V H Desai’s spouse played by Pratima is Leela Chitnis’s close friend and confidante.
It is claimed that cinema demonstrates culture and the activities unfolding on display screen give us a crystal clear plan of the thought course of action of the modern society in these times. In the movie, how the guide pair meet and drop in adore captures the innocence and simplicity of that period. He items her a pair of bangles or ‘Kangan’ as a token of his like for her and needs it to be retained a secret from his father. But a person of the father’s employees Banwari, who also fancies Leela Chitnis sees this and instantly studies this.
Right here is the YouTube website link of a duet from the film- ‘Radha Radha Pyari Radha…’. This print is not very fantastic but a single can get an idea…
When the zamindar will come to know of his son’s things to do, he will get offended and goes and threatens the priest that if he does not get Leela Chitnis married off to somebody and quit her from viewing Ashok Kumar at any time yet again, he would melt away the temple intricate and all the hutments of the staff together with the priest. And realizing his son’s non-desire in the spouse and children zamindari, he packs him off to the metropolis where he pursues his luck to develop into a writer.
In the meantime, Banwari is despatched to enquire no matter if Leela Chitnis’s wedding day ceremony is remaining planned or not. But the priest has no intentions of forcing her and in the ensuing scuffle involving the zamindar’s personnel and the priest’s helpers, the temple advanced receives burnt and Banwari manages to whisk absent Leela Chitnis to an empty area with evil intentions. But she jumps out of the window and falls into the deep river from a top and the villagers think her to be dead as her body is never uncovered.
When this information reaches Ashok Kumar in the town, he is really offended with his father and feels sad that she had died without having looking at the initially revealed copy of the novel he experienced penned and now he was turning into effectively-known as a writer. A female working a theatrical business falls for Ashok Kumar’s charm and needs to get the legal rights of the book to direct a participate in based mostly on it.
We are then revealed that Leela Chitnis had not died, but had only been washed ashore. She proceeds to the city in lookup of Ashok Kumar. After days of browsing, ironically when she finds the residence and is waiting around to meet him, she hears passionate dialogues from inside in Ashok Kumar and a lady’s voice. The two experienced been rehearsing the dialogues from the play based on Ashok Kumar’s novel, but Leela Chitnis misunderstands that he has identified another lady. After she watches them get into a automobile and push absent, she gets rid of the bangles, leaves them at his doorstep and proceeds in the direction of the riverfront to conclusion her daily life.
In the village by now the zamindar has realized his folly and the anxiety of dropping his son endlessly will make him regret his have behaviour. He also proceeds to the city with the munshi in look for of Leela Chitnis.
Ashok Kumar upon his return finds the bangles and realizes that the love of his everyday living is alive and before long the action shifts to the route of the riverfront exactly where all the characters are shown chasing just one an additional. Ashok Kumar reaches on time and manages to help you save her. The ending is content with the ‘Kangan’ being duly placed on her wrists yet again and the zamindar blessing them both.
If one seems at the narrative, Bombay Talkies had obviously set in motion the variety of template which appeared to have been copied for decades to appear. The fans experiencing the prosperous boy-very poor girl dilemma, the villainous henchman, the comedian sidekick, the father vs son drama, the social commentary, the mentality of the female to close her lifetime if her lover does not take her, etcetera. The movie produced in pre-unbiased India at a time when course and caste distinctions mattered a great deal in society and the zamindar’s son rebelling from his father to stand by his really like resonated with the viewers.
The USP of the film is the organic acting by all primarily the lead pair. Their on-monitor chemistry reeks of simplicity and that is what is touching. Ashok Kumar appears so handsome and youthful Leela Chitnis appears to be like beautiful.
The camera operate is superb and the shut-up shots and outside pictures specially that of the transferring coach are all laudable. Watching the restored variation of this typical was in fact a dream-come-accurate, as we travelled back again in time to get a glimpse of an era gone by, when our founding fathers had been striving their very best to use all approaches at their disposal to convey to a story in an entertaining way.
Future performed a big job in signing up for the seemingly unconnected incidents getting area in various pieces of the earth from the 1930’s to the 1990’s involving three generations of persons who experienced taken the difficulties to preserve the unique content devoid of recognizing how valuable and priceless it would demonstrate a person working day to familiarize us with the roots of our own movie sector.
As I experienced stated in the beginning, the night felt like strolling into a component of our movie history…
