Pradeep Kumar and Vyjayanthimala in Nagin (1954) - climactic sequence in lush Gevacolor

Filmistan’s dance-cum-musical romance, “Nagin,” directed by Nandlal Jaswantlal and starring vivacious Vyjayanthimala and Pradeep Kumar in the romantic leads, was premiered in Bombay at the luxurious Liberty Cinema on Friday, December 24th, 1954.

Based on a highly improbable story by Bijou Bhattacharya and scripted by Hamid Butt, with dialogue and lyrics by Rajinder Krishan, “Nagin” has a music score by Hemant Kumar. Dances are the highlights of this film and they have been designed and directed by Sachin Shanker, Hiralal and Yogen Desai.

Superbly mounted, the film has excellent production values throughout its length. Special mention should, however, be made of Fali Mistry (Shyama’s husband) who was responsible for pleasing photo­graphy throughout the film and the exqui­site Gevacolor sequences at the end. Sharing the credits with Fali Mistry for the climactic sequence in lush Gevacolor is Ram Kumar who designed the imaginative sets. Kudos should also go to Sayed Ahmed and G. J. More who are responsible for the black and white decor in the rest of the picture.

In spite of these redeeming factors which were smuggled into the picture with an eye on the box-office, “Nagin” is a deplorable pro­duction from a studio which won acclaim recently with such a thought-provoking film as “Nastik”.

The story is neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring, and defies classification. It has neither habitat nor locale, in spite of the claim by the producers that the two pivotal characters in the film belong to tribes “living in the hilly districts of India”. In fact the film is the crea­tion of wild imagination and Nandlal Jaswant­lal fails to rescue the hackneyed plot from the triteness in spite of this.

The fantastic story revolves round a boy and a girl belonging to rival tribes of snake catchers who deal in the poison extracted from the reptiles. Their love incurs the wrath of the warring tribes and in the ensuing turmoil the Nagin is bitten by a snake sent to kill her lover. She is, however, restored to life by him when he brings the venomous creature to cure her, and they live happily ever after.

Vyjayanthimala in the title role puts over a commendable performance besides looking ravishingly beautiful as the belle of the hills. Her dancing, too, is very graceful, specially in those eye-filling colour sequences and delight­ful ballets towards the finish.

Pradeep Kumar is unimpressive in a role -poorly etched and directed, and Jeevan as the jilted lover thirsting for the blood of the hero is theatrical throughout.

Mubarak, the old-timer, in spite of his out­landish costume and poorly-written role, is res­ponsible for an excellent characterization as the stern but kind-hearted father. The rest of the characters are lost in the scenic trappings.

Hemant Kumar’s musical score is in keep­ing with the theme and the songs have a rare lilt and may prove popular.

As mentioned earlier, the piece-de-resis­tance of the film are the superbly conceived and dexterously designed ballet sequences, a delec­table appendage to a depressingly poor film (Filmfare Magazine, 1955)

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 1954, Genre – Musical/Fantasy, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Filmistan,  Director – Nandlal Jaswantlal, Music Director –Hemant Kumar, Cast - Pradeep Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Jeevan, Sulochana, Krishna Kumari, I. S. Johar, Mubarak

The film’s plot revolves around Shin Shinaki (Rehana) who dreams of killing the man, Taishi, who had killed her parents. When the villain dies, she transfers her vengeful energies on to the man’s son. The story involves a fortune­teller, Chiang, who only surfaces publicly one day per year. The other key figure is her lover, the bandit Boobla Boo (Ranjan), who eventually falls in with her plans…

Other Info

Rehana in Shin Shinaki Boobla Boo (1952)

This orientalist fantasy with one of the most peculiar film titles was based on the modern dance ballets Sadhona Bose had been associated with on stage. Shin Shinaki Boobla Boo was one of the first films experimenting with jazz and Latin American rhythms by P.L. Santoshi’s regular composer, C. Ramchandra.  Classic songs include Yeh khilti kali koi lai… Han dai taka lai (Lata and C. Ramchandra) in a kind of question-answer mode using a fast-paced chorus, Shin’s number Aae baba yeh hansi baba yeh khushi baba (Lata) and her duet with Boobla, Kuch chahelen ho, kuch charchein ho (Lata and Kishore Kumar).

This film was the unlikely first victim of the central government’s authority to overrule the censor board, an action enabled by the Indian Cinematograph Act passed that year. Given a Universal certificate by the censors, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting banned the film because of its ‘low moral tone’ and because it `throws the glamour of romance and heroism over criminal characters, treats sacred subjects irreverently and is, in consequence, opposed to the interests of public decency and morality’. The ban was later revoked but ruined the film’s commercial chances.

The temporary ban on this film sent Rehana’s career (one of the top heroines of late 40s and early 50s) on a sharp decline. She was reduced to B-grade films like Hazar Raatein (1953), Samrat (1954) etc and then as a second lead in films like Dhola Maru (1956) and Delhi Darbar (1956). She migrated to Pakistan in 1955, but wasn’t able to make her mark even in Lollywood.

Trivia

Lyricist/Director P. L. Santoshi who directed this film was so infatuated with Rehana, that one cold night he spent the entire night outside her door. Rehana did not reciprocate his feelings. The disheartened and dishevelled Santoshi went home and penned one of his most memorable songs based on this experience – “Tum kya jaano, tumhari yaad mein hum kitna roye, hum kitna roye” (Do you know how many tears I shed remembering you… ), one of the finest thumris sung by Lata.

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 1952?, Genre – Fantasy, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – P.L. Santoshi,  Director – P.L. Santoshi , Music Director – C. Ramchandra, Cast - Sadhona Bose, Rehana, Ranjan, Veera, Baby Tabassum, Radhakrishen, Mumtaz Ali, Tiwari, Samson, Indu Paul, Shama Gulnar