Parakh (1960 film)
- This article is written about the 1960 film; for the 1937 film or the 1944 film, see Parakh (1937 film) or Parakh (1944 film).
| Parakh | |
|---|---|
 DVD Cover | |
| Directed by | Bimal Roy |
| Produced by | Bimal Roy |
| Written by |
Salil Choudhury Shailendra (dialogue) |
| Starring |
Sadhana Motilal Nazir Hussain Durga Khote |
| Music by | Salil Choudhury |
| Cinematography | Kamal Bose |
| Edited by | Amit Bose |
Release date |
|
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Box office | ₹1,00,00,000[1] |
Parakh is a 1960 Hindi film, based on a story by famed music director Salil Chowdhury, that displays Bimal Roy's lighter side and is a satirical look at Indian democracy in its early years. Roy received the Filmfare Best Director Award for the film.[2] The ensemble cast was led by Sadhana and Bengali cinema actorBasanta Choudhury. The film has music by Salil Choudhury, featuring Lata Mangeshkar's hit "O Sajana Barkha Bahaar Aai".[3]
The film became a "semi-hit" at the box office.[1]
Plot
The central character is the Post Master who is given a mysterious cheque for ₹500,000 to be given to anyone who will use it to benefit the people of the village. There is a postman who pretends to be lame and is secretly rich and may have sent the cheque. Then there is the postmaster's wife, who is sick and would rather use the money to cure her illness, and his beautiful daughter Seema (played by Sadhana), who has a crush on the village school master. Meanwhile all the greedy and influential people of the village are busy trying to convince everybody why they are most deserving of the money; they include the village priest, the land lord, the money lender, the village doctor and the school master, who is by far the most respected. They all decide democracy is the best means and decide to hold an election where the winner gets the money. The movie is a satirical look at democracy through various twists and turns in the plot, interweaved with a simple love story.
Cast
- Sadhana as Seema
- Durga Khote as J.C. Roy's mother (Rani Ma)
- Leela Chitnis as Mrs. Nivaran
- Praveen Paul
- Mumtaz Begum as Mrs. Tandav Tarafdar
- Mehar Banu
- Basanta Choudhury as Prof. Rajat Sen Sharma
- Nazir Hussain as Postmaster Nivaran
- Kanhaiyalal as Pandit Tarkalankarji
- Jayant as Rai Bahadur Tandav Tarafdar
- Rashid Khan as Village Doctor
- Asit Sen as Bhanju Babu
- Motilal as Haradhan / Sir Jagdish Chandra Roy
- Hari Shivdasani as School's Principal
- Moni Chatterjee as Kaviraj (Vaidji)
- Keshto Mukherjee as Keshto (The Compounder)
Music
This film has a very popular song "O Sajana, Barkha Bahar Aai..." sung by Lata Mangeshkar, penned by Shailendra and composed by Salil Chowdhary who also happens to be story-writer of the film.
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "O Sajana, Barkha Bahar Aai" | Lata Mangeshkar | |
| 2. | "Mila Hai Kisi Ka Jhumka" | Lata Mangeshkar | |
| 3. | "Yeh Bansi Kyon Gaaye" | Lata Mangeshkar | |
| 4. | "Mere Maan Ke Diye" | Lata Mangeshkar | |
| 5. | "Kya Hawa Chali Babu Rut Badli" | Manna Dey |
Awards and nominations
Parakh is one of the seven Bimal Roy's film where he won Filmfare Awards for Best Direction.
- Won
- Filmfare Best Director Award - Bimal Roy
- Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award - Motilal
- Filmfare Best Sound Award - George D'Cruz
- Nominated
References
- 1 2 "Box office 1960". BoxOffice India. Retrieved 7 Feb 2012.
- 1 2 "Filmfare Awards - Nominees & Winners" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- ↑ Sukanya Verma (25 September 2014). "Classic Revisited: Bimal Roy's satirical gem, Parakh". Rediff.com movies. Retrieved 2014-09-26.