The five highest-grossing films at the Indian Box Office in 1940:
1. Zindagi
Zindagi (English: The Life) is a 1940 Indian film, directed by Pramathesh Barua and produced by Birendranath Sircar. Starring K. L. Saigal, Jamuna Barua, Pahari Sanyal, Shyam Laha, Sitara Devi, and Nemo, it revolves around Ratan, an unemployed university graduate, and his relationship with Shrimati, who is on the run from her cruel husband.
Earning ₹5.5 million net (valued at about ₹39.78 crore in 2009), Zindagi was the highest grossing Indian film at the time of its release, before its record was broken by Khazanchi in 1941. It currently stands as the highest grossing Indian film of 1940.
The film has been described as one of Barua's "most beautiful films, and his last for New Theatres". It was the last film by Barua for New Theatres. Barua later married Jamuna as his second wife No copy of the film is known to exist, making it a lost film.
Ratan, an unemployed graduate, who works as a gambler encounters an unnamed women, whom he addresses as Shrimati. Shrimati, who has escaped from her brutal husband, teams up with Ratan and they together pretend to run a charitable trust, collecting money from people in the name of donations. The duo buy an apartment and live together.
Shrimati receives news of her father's death and learn that she is the heir to his wealth. A new Shrimati shuns all forms of corrupt ways of life and starts to do good deeds as a redemption for her sins. She employs Ratan as a tutor to an orphaned girl Lakhia. Ratan realizes that he cannot live without Shrimati and approaches her. Shrimati, who feels that she must pay for her sins, rejects Ratan.
A heartbroken Ratan leaves Lakhia in the care of Shrimati and returns to his old life. Shrimati gives her fortune to a now-grown Lakhia and withdraws from worldly pleasures, awaiting death. The two lovers are shown to have died and reunited in afterlife.
Cast
K.L. Saigal,Pahadi Sanyal,Ashalata,Jamuna Barua,Shyam Laha,Nemo,Sitara Devi,Bikram Kapoor
Rajani Rani,Manorama
Reception
Zindagi generally received positive reviews for critics. Bombay Chronicle lauded the film for Pankaj Mullick's "divine music", two songs of Segal that are "the soul of melody and pathos," the "cynical" humour of the first half of the film and the "subtle, heart-wrenching" emotionalism of the second half. They also praised the "haunting" performance of Jamuna. Filmindia called the film an "all smoke" and described it as generally "too intellectual" for the average audience. Bhagwan Das Garga writes, "The plot is slight but Barua's nuanced characterization and wealth of observation makes it a richly rewarding work."
Controversy
In a frame sequence of the 1939 film Aadmi by V. Shantaram, which was simultaneously released along with Zindagi, the romantic "pessimism" of Barua was caricatured. According to Garga, this incident provided enough "grist" for the news media. An unnamed Gujarati weekly remarked, "Shantaram's eye is on life, Barua's on death."Jamil Ansari, a critic, strongly defended Zindagi. Khwaja Ahmad Abbas compared the two films and wrote:
The attitude of Barua and Shantaram towards life is perhaps most vividly reflected in their attitudes towards death. Life is for the Living symbolically ends with Moti's marching feet. Death-helpless, lingering, pathetic death-has been the ending of most of Barua's pictures including Devdas, Manzil, Mukti and Zindagi. In each of these cases it is the fundamentally good man or woman who dies, a victim of cruel, unrelenting circumstances.
Music
The music composer was Pankaj Mullick with lyrics by Kidar Sharma and Arzu Lucknavi.[11] One of the memorable songs from the film was "So Ja Rajkumari Soja". This lullaby was made famous in this film.
2. Bandhan
Bandhan is a 1940 Indian Bollywood film directed by N.R. Acharya. It stars Leela Chitnis, Ashok Kumar and Suresh. It was the second highest grossing Indian film of 1940. It was produced by Bombay Talkies.
Cast:Leela Chitnis as Beena, Ashok Kumar as Nirmal, Suresh,P.F. Pithawala,V.H. Desai as Bholanath
Shah Nawaz as Suresh, Purnima Desai as Gauri, Jagannath, Arun Kumar
3. Achhut
Achhut (The Untouchable) is a 1940 social Indian Bollywood film based on untouchability. It was the third highest grossing Indian film of 1940. The film was produced by Chandulal Shah for his Ranjit Studios. He also wrote the story and screenplay, and directed it. Achhut's premiere was attended by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on 23 December 1939, who stated: "If the picture helps India to remove this curse, it can be said to have helped India to win Swaraj as untouchability is one of the chief obstacles in the road to freedom".
The film had Motilal and Gohar in the main lead with, Sitara Devi, Mazhar Khan, Noor Mohammed Charlie, Vasanti and Rajkumari playing important roles. The music was by Gyan Dutt, with lyrics by Raghunath Brahmabhatt. The cinematography was by Krishna Gopal.
The film was made to "promote Gandhi's movement against untouchability". The film was initially released in the Gujarati version on 23 December 1939.
Plot
When Lakshmi (Gohar Mamajiwala), the daughter of a Harijan, fetches water from a temple an infuriated Pujari (priest) breaks the pot on her head. This incident, plus several other injustices that he has faced, forces the father to adopt Christianity into which he brings Lakshmi. The mother refuses to become one and continues to remain a Hindu along with her other child. A rich businessman, Seth Haridas, adopts Lakshmi and she becomes a friend to his daughter, Savitri. Lakshmi gets a good education and the two girls grow up to fall in love with the same man, Madhukar. As Madhukar comes from a high caste family, the Seth, in order to get his daughter married to him informs Madhukar's family of Lakshmi's background. Lakshmi returns to her mother in the village, where she meets Ramu (Motilal (actor)|Motilal), the boy to whom she had been wed as a child. The two get together and rebel against the atrocities against the untouchables (Harijans). The message finally gets through and they are allowed to enter the temple.
Cast
Gohar Mamajiwala as Lakshmi,Motilal,Sitara Devi,Vasanti,Noor Mohammed Charlie,Mazhar Khan
Rajkumari,Trilok Kapoor,Dixit,Ebrahim,Lala Yaqoob,Bhupatrai
Soundtrack
The music direction was by Gyan Dutt and the singers were Gohar, Vasanti, Sitara Devi, Popatlal, Kesari, and Khursheed.
4. Pagal
Pagal is a 1940 Indian Bollywood film. It was the fourth highest grossing Indian film of 1940. The psycho-social melodrama was directed by A. R. Kardar for Ranjit Movietone. The story and dialogues were also by Kardar. Khemchand Prakash composed the music with lyrics written by D. N. Madhok. The film had Prithviraj Kapoor playing a doctor with psychological problems, working in a "lunatic asylum". The rest of the cast included Madhuri, Sitara Devi, Noor Mohammed Charlie, Khatoon, Trilok Kapoor and Sunalini Devi. The film involves a doctor who loves a girl but marries her sister due to an unfortunate coincidence. His treatment of his wife and the girl he loves, and his own eventual deterioration into insanity forms the basis of story. Pithviraj Kapoor's was appreciated by the critics and the audience, making the film a big commercial success.
5. Nartaki
Nartaki (Dancer) is a 1940 film directed by Debaki Bose for New Theatres Ltd, Calcutta. A bilingual made in Hindi and in Bengali, it had story and screenplay written by Bose, with cinematography by Yusuf Mulji. Music was composed by Pankaj Mullick. The cast had actress Leela Desai playing the title role of Nartaki. Najam also called Najam-Ul-Hasain or Najmul Hussain had left Bombay Talkies following his affair and elopement with Devika Rani, had now joined New Theatres Ltd, where he was cast in films like Anath Ashram (1937), Dushman (1939), Kapal Kundala (1939), and Nartaki. The rest of the main cast included Jagdish Sethi, Wasti and Pankaj Mullick in the Hindi version. The story was a sixteenth century period costume drama about a courtesan who with the help of the king tries to avenge her insult against the priest of a temple monastery.
1. Zindagi
Earning ₹5.5 million net (valued at about ₹39.78 crore in 2009), Zindagi was the highest grossing Indian film at the time of its release, before its record was broken by Khazanchi in 1941. It currently stands as the highest grossing Indian film of 1940.
The film has been described as one of Barua's "most beautiful films, and his last for New Theatres". It was the last film by Barua for New Theatres. Barua later married Jamuna as his second wife No copy of the film is known to exist, making it a lost film.
Ratan, an unemployed graduate, who works as a gambler encounters an unnamed women, whom he addresses as Shrimati. Shrimati, who has escaped from her brutal husband, teams up with Ratan and they together pretend to run a charitable trust, collecting money from people in the name of donations. The duo buy an apartment and live together.
Shrimati receives news of her father's death and learn that she is the heir to his wealth. A new Shrimati shuns all forms of corrupt ways of life and starts to do good deeds as a redemption for her sins. She employs Ratan as a tutor to an orphaned girl Lakhia. Ratan realizes that he cannot live without Shrimati and approaches her. Shrimati, who feels that she must pay for her sins, rejects Ratan.
A heartbroken Ratan leaves Lakhia in the care of Shrimati and returns to his old life. Shrimati gives her fortune to a now-grown Lakhia and withdraws from worldly pleasures, awaiting death. The two lovers are shown to have died and reunited in afterlife.
Cast
K.L. Saigal,Pahadi Sanyal,Ashalata,Jamuna Barua,Shyam Laha,Nemo,Sitara Devi,Bikram Kapoor
Rajani Rani,Manorama
Reception
Zindagi generally received positive reviews for critics. Bombay Chronicle lauded the film for Pankaj Mullick's "divine music", two songs of Segal that are "the soul of melody and pathos," the "cynical" humour of the first half of the film and the "subtle, heart-wrenching" emotionalism of the second half. They also praised the "haunting" performance of Jamuna. Filmindia called the film an "all smoke" and described it as generally "too intellectual" for the average audience. Bhagwan Das Garga writes, "The plot is slight but Barua's nuanced characterization and wealth of observation makes it a richly rewarding work."
Controversy
In a frame sequence of the 1939 film Aadmi by V. Shantaram, which was simultaneously released along with Zindagi, the romantic "pessimism" of Barua was caricatured. According to Garga, this incident provided enough "grist" for the news media. An unnamed Gujarati weekly remarked, "Shantaram's eye is on life, Barua's on death."Jamil Ansari, a critic, strongly defended Zindagi. Khwaja Ahmad Abbas compared the two films and wrote:
The attitude of Barua and Shantaram towards life is perhaps most vividly reflected in their attitudes towards death. Life is for the Living symbolically ends with Moti's marching feet. Death-helpless, lingering, pathetic death-has been the ending of most of Barua's pictures including Devdas, Manzil, Mukti and Zindagi. In each of these cases it is the fundamentally good man or woman who dies, a victim of cruel, unrelenting circumstances.
Music
The music composer was Pankaj Mullick with lyrics by Kidar Sharma and Arzu Lucknavi.[11] One of the memorable songs from the film was "So Ja Rajkumari Soja". This lullaby was made famous in this film.
2. Bandhan
Bandhan is a 1940 Indian Bollywood film directed by N.R. Acharya. It stars Leela Chitnis, Ashok Kumar and Suresh. It was the second highest grossing Indian film of 1940. It was produced by Bombay Talkies.
Cast:Leela Chitnis as Beena, Ashok Kumar as Nirmal, Suresh,P.F. Pithawala,V.H. Desai as Bholanath
Shah Nawaz as Suresh, Purnima Desai as Gauri, Jagannath, Arun Kumar
3. Achhut
The film had Motilal and Gohar in the main lead with, Sitara Devi, Mazhar Khan, Noor Mohammed Charlie, Vasanti and Rajkumari playing important roles. The music was by Gyan Dutt, with lyrics by Raghunath Brahmabhatt. The cinematography was by Krishna Gopal.
The film was made to "promote Gandhi's movement against untouchability". The film was initially released in the Gujarati version on 23 December 1939.
Plot
When Lakshmi (Gohar Mamajiwala), the daughter of a Harijan, fetches water from a temple an infuriated Pujari (priest) breaks the pot on her head. This incident, plus several other injustices that he has faced, forces the father to adopt Christianity into which he brings Lakshmi. The mother refuses to become one and continues to remain a Hindu along with her other child. A rich businessman, Seth Haridas, adopts Lakshmi and she becomes a friend to his daughter, Savitri. Lakshmi gets a good education and the two girls grow up to fall in love with the same man, Madhukar. As Madhukar comes from a high caste family, the Seth, in order to get his daughter married to him informs Madhukar's family of Lakshmi's background. Lakshmi returns to her mother in the village, where she meets Ramu (Motilal (actor)|Motilal), the boy to whom she had been wed as a child. The two get together and rebel against the atrocities against the untouchables (Harijans). The message finally gets through and they are allowed to enter the temple.
Cast
Gohar Mamajiwala as Lakshmi,Motilal,Sitara Devi,Vasanti,Noor Mohammed Charlie,Mazhar Khan
Rajkumari,Trilok Kapoor,Dixit,Ebrahim,Lala Yaqoob,Bhupatrai
Soundtrack
The music direction was by Gyan Dutt and the singers were Gohar, Vasanti, Sitara Devi, Popatlal, Kesari, and Khursheed.
4. Pagal
Pagal is a 1940 Indian Bollywood film. It was the fourth highest grossing Indian film of 1940. The psycho-social melodrama was directed by A. R. Kardar for Ranjit Movietone. The story and dialogues were also by Kardar. Khemchand Prakash composed the music with lyrics written by D. N. Madhok. The film had Prithviraj Kapoor playing a doctor with psychological problems, working in a "lunatic asylum". The rest of the cast included Madhuri, Sitara Devi, Noor Mohammed Charlie, Khatoon, Trilok Kapoor and Sunalini Devi. The film involves a doctor who loves a girl but marries her sister due to an unfortunate coincidence. His treatment of his wife and the girl he loves, and his own eventual deterioration into insanity forms the basis of story. Pithviraj Kapoor's was appreciated by the critics and the audience, making the film a big commercial success.
5. Nartaki
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