The five highest-grossing films at the Indian box office in 1941:
1 Khazanchi
Khazanchi is a 1941 (pre-partition) blockbuster, directed by Moti B. Gidwani, starring M. Ismail, S.D. Narang, Ramola Devi and Durga Mota in lead roles. M. Ismail played the title role of a Khazanchi (English: Cashier). The movie was the biggest hit and the top earner of 1941.
Khazanchi is a murder mystery. Shadi Lal is a Khazanchi (English: Cashier) in a bank in Lahore. His son Kanwal wants to marry Madhuri, the daughter of a rich man, Durga Das. A wicked wealthy, Ajmal, also wants to marry Madhuri. One day, Shadi Lal goes to Bombay for some bank work and the news comes from the city that Shadi Lal murdered an actress and stolen her jewellery and money:
A clever women, Tarawati, tricked Shadi Lal in a night club and stolen his money but her two accomplice men murdered her while snatching money from her and when intoxicated Shadi Lal wakes up he finds himself with her dead body and his money stolen. Seeing this, he run away and the on next day newspaper headlines, Khazanchi killed actress. He spends very bad days of his life during this period. Later, he gets caught and his son, Kanwal (an advocate now), fought the case from his side. Meanwhile, the newspaper reporter stumbles upon important facts regarding the stage actress' murder and got kidnapped by the villain but manages an escape and reach the court, revealing the truth. Thus Shadi Lal gets acquitted.
Music
The music director Ghulam Haider made an experiment by combining popular Raags of Indian classical music with Punjabi folk music and revolutionalized the film music industry. The music songs were a hit. The playback includes Shamshad Begum, Noor Jehan and more.
Songs list
Diwali Phir Aa Gayi Sajni Shamshad Begum
Laut Gayi Papan Shamshad Begum
Mohe Bhabhi La Do Bhaiyya Shamshad Begum
Mori Chudiya Aayegi Aali Shamshad Begum
Naino Ke Baan Ki Reet Anokhi Shamshad Begum
Pine Ke Din Aaye Piye Ja Shamshad Begum
Sawan Ke Najare Hai Shamshad Begum
Man Dhire Dhire Rona Shamshad Begum
Cast
M. Ismail Shadi Lal
S.D. Narang Kanwal
Ramola Devi Madhuri
Durga Mota Durga Das
Manorma Durga Das' daughter and Kanwal's sister
Ajmal Ramesh
Jankidas News reporter
Pran
2 Chitralekha
Chitralekha is a 1941 Indian Bollywood film, directed by Kidar Sharma and based on 1934 Hindi novel of the same name by Bhagwati Charan Verma. Its music is by noted classical musician Ustad Jhande Khan, giving popular songs like "Sun sun Neelkamal Muskaye," "Saiyyan Saware Bhaye Baware," and "Tum Jao Bde Bhagwan Bane, Insaan Bano."
It was the second-highest grossing Indian film of 1941.Khan used he used classical Ragas like Bhairavi and Asavari to the score making it influential for classical based Hindi film songs.This was the debut of actor Bharat Bhushan, who later achieved fame with Bhaiju Bawra (1952). Sharma cast Mehtab as he felt she was "perfect" for the role of Chitralekha. Mehtab achieved both fame and notierity with the famous bathing scene in the film. It was remade by Sharma in 1964, also titled Chitralekha, starring Meena Kumari and Ashok Kumar.
Cast
Miss Mehtab as Chitralekha,Nandrekar as Samant Bijgupt,A.S. Gyani as Kumargiri,Rajendra,Monica Desai as Yashodhara,Ram Dulari,Leela Mishra,Ganpatrai Premi as Mrityunjay,Bharat Bhushan
3 Sikandar
Sikandar is a 1941 epic Bollywood film directed by Sohrab Modi and starring Prithviraj Kapoor as Alexander the Great.
Plot
The story is set in 326 B.C. The film begins after Alexander the Great (Sikander in Hindi/Urdu) conquers Persia and the Kabul valley and approaches the Indian border at Jhelum. He respects Aristotle and loves Persian Rukhsana (known in the west as Roxana). Sohrab Modi plays the Indian king Puru (Porus to the Greeks). Puru requests neighbouring kingdoms to unite against a common foreign enemy. The story goes that when Sikander defeated Porus and imprisoned him, he asked Porus how would he like to be treated. Porus replied the same way a king is treated by another king . Sikander was impressed by his answer and set him free.
The battle sequences featuring thousands of extras along with horses, elephants and chariots were picturised in Kolhapur.
Cast
Prithviraj Kapoor,Sohrab Modi,Zahur Raja,Shakir,Vanmala,Meena Shorey,Sheela,Sadiq Ali,Shakir
K N Singh,Lala Yakub,Gagendra Singh,Jillobai,Zahur Raja,Abu Bakar,Ghulam Hussain,Noor Jehan
Prakash,G. S. Shorry,Athavale,Mumtaz and others.
Release
The release of the film coincided with World War II and the quest for Swaraj or Quit India at its peak. In India, the political atmosphere was tense, following Gandhi's call to civil disobedience. Sikander further aroused patriotic feelings and nationalistic sentiment. Thus, though Sikander was approved by the Bombay censor board, it was later banned from some of the theatres serving British Indian Army cantonments. However, its appeal to nationalism was so great and direct, it remained popular for years. It was revived in Delhi in 1961 during the Indian march into Goa. After the movie was a huge box office success, it was dubbed and released in Persian.
4 Jhoola
Jhoola is a 1941 Indian Bollywood social film directed by Gyan Mukherjee. It was produced by Sashadhar Mukherjee under the banner of Bombay Talkies. The film starred Ashok Kumar, Leela Chitnis, Rajkumari Shukla, V. H. Desai, Mumtaz Ali, Shah Nawaz, and Jyoti. The music was composed by Saraswati Devi with lyrics by Kavi Pradeep.
A young widow called Kamala (Aruna Devi) approaches the new zamindar of her village to waive off the land tax as she is in financially straitened circumstances. She is called for a private audience with him, where she is surprised to discover that the new zamindar is none other than Mahesh (Shah Nawaz), her one time lover. Mahesh inquires about her late husband out of curiosity, only to discover to his surprise that she never married. Having considered him her husband, she pretended to be a widow to avoid being forced into marriage against her will. The irresponsible, hedonistic Mahesh waives off her taxes, but refuses to take the relationship any further. On his way back, he stops at the post office to send a telegram. There he meets a young lady Geeta (Leela Chitnis) seated on a swing (Jhoola), to whom he is instantly attracted. Geeta is the niece of the postmaster (V.H. Desai), with whom she is living. An amateur photographer, Mahesh captures pictures of Geeta before leaving for his home in the city. Back home, he gets into a heated discussion with his father, who intends to make a will distributing his property equally between his two sons: Mahesh and his adopted younger brother Ramesh. The old man strains his already weak heart in the course of the quarrel, suffering a heart attack. News of the heart attack is instantly relayed to Ramesh (Ashok Kumar), who rushes to meet his dying adopted father one last time. After a short meeting, the old man passes away. Mahesh, who is angry with his father for giving away half the property to a man who is not even his real son, picks up a quarrel with Ramesh. Disgusted with his brother's behaviour, Ramesh leaves the house in a huff. Unsure where to go, Ramesh boards a train. There he chances on the image of Geeta seated on the swing, which is the cover photo of a magazine. Instantly drawn to the face, he heads for Jharnaghat, the village where the young lady lives- unaware of the fact that the village is part of his inheritance. Once in Jharnaghat, Ramesh lives next door to the postmaster's assistant (Mumtaz Ali). He uses an alias to conceal his actual identity, writing love letters to Geeta using his actual name. The circumstances lead Geeta to think that her anonymous lover is none other than the man with the camera (who she later discovers is also the zamindar of her village). Ramesh' innocent actions result in a series of misunderstandings, which are eventually sorted out. The brothers finally patch up, Ramesh marrying Geeta and Mahesh agreeing to marry Kamala.
Cast
Leela Chitnis as Geeta,Ashok Kumar as Ramesh,Shah Nawaz as Mahesh,Aruna Devi as Kamala
V.H. Desai as Postmaster,Mumtaz Ali as Dancing Courtier
Reception
Jhoola was the fourth highest grossing Indian film of 1941.
Legacy
The song na jaane kidhar aaj meri naav chali re (I know not where my boat is heading) sung by Ashok Kumar was an immensely popular song in the 40s.
Another song from the movie, Dilli se aayi meri Dulhan too was extremely popular. Dance master Mumtaz Ali capitalised on the success of that song to start his own dance troupe.
Having played second fiddle to his heroines in all his earlier movies, Jhoola was the first movie in which Ashok Kumar played the lead role. The success of the movie established him as one of the popular actors of the era, two years before the runaway success of Kismet (1943) would propel him to stardom.
5 Lagan
Lagan is a 1941 Indian Bollywood film. It was the fifth highest grossing Indian film of 1941. The film was directed by Nitin Bose for New Theatres Ltd. Calcutta. The film was a bilingual with K. L. Saigal and Kanan Devi acting as the lead in the Bengali language version of it, Parichaya. The music for both versions was by R. C. Boral.This was the last film Saigal did for New Theatres, Calcutta, before his move to Bombay to make films for different studios there.
The film was a romantic triangle involving a poet, his beloved, and her wealthy husband. A theme, which was later followed by Guru Dutt for his Pyaasa (1956).
At the annual college event the main singer goes missing. To help matters, Kusum Kumari (Kanan Devi) plays a record. The lyrics of the song are by a young poet (K. L. Saigal) living in a village. The Principal of the college, impressed by the poet’s work brings him to the city. The poet takes to training Kusum to sing for the next event and falls in love with her. One of the patrons (Nawab) is a wealthy businessman. He is enthralled by Kusum and after negotiations with her father, gets married to her in spite of the poet trying to intercede. The poet disappears but after some time the husband listens to Kusum and helps in furthering the poet’s career. The gesture is misunderstood by the poet who thinks that the help was given to him because of Kusum’s love for him. Finally Kusum has to let him know that for her the poet was a Guru she respected.
Cast
K. L. Saigal as the Poet,Kanan Devi as Kusum Kumari,Nawab as Deendayal,Nemo as Madholal
Rehmat Khatoon as Poet’s Aunt,Jagdish Sethi,G. Vaid
Reception
The film was a big hit at the box-office. Kanan Devi won the Best Actress award from the Bengal Film Journalists Association’s in 1942 for the Bengali version Parichaya.
Music
The music director was R. C. Boral, with lyrics Arzu Lucknavi and Pandit Madhur. Boral made use of western influences in the music for this film like the use of piano in Kaaheko Raad Machayi.The major reason for the success of the film is cited as the songs sung by Kanan Devi and Saigal
Songlist
1 Kaaheko Raad Machayi K. L. Saigal
2 Hat Gayi Lo Kari Ghata K. L. Saigal
2 Koi Manushya Kitna Hi Bura Ho K. L. Saigal
3 Ye Kaisa Anyay Data K. L. Saigal
4 Main Sote Bhag Jaga Dunga K. L. Saigal
5 Kaise Kate Ratiyan Balam K. L. Saigal
6 Hamari Laaz Nibhao Swami Kanan Devi
7 Koi Samjhaye Ye Geet Sakhi Kya Hai Kanan Devi
8 Tum Bin Kal Na Aave Mohe Kanan Devi
9 Taakat Tu Haari
10 Madbhari Madbhari Matwari Kanan Devi
1 Khazanchi
Khazanchi is a 1941 (pre-partition) blockbuster, directed by Moti B. Gidwani, starring M. Ismail, S.D. Narang, Ramola Devi and Durga Mota in lead roles. M. Ismail played the title role of a Khazanchi (English: Cashier). The movie was the biggest hit and the top earner of 1941.
Khazanchi is a murder mystery. Shadi Lal is a Khazanchi (English: Cashier) in a bank in Lahore. His son Kanwal wants to marry Madhuri, the daughter of a rich man, Durga Das. A wicked wealthy, Ajmal, also wants to marry Madhuri. One day, Shadi Lal goes to Bombay for some bank work and the news comes from the city that Shadi Lal murdered an actress and stolen her jewellery and money:
A clever women, Tarawati, tricked Shadi Lal in a night club and stolen his money but her two accomplice men murdered her while snatching money from her and when intoxicated Shadi Lal wakes up he finds himself with her dead body and his money stolen. Seeing this, he run away and the on next day newspaper headlines, Khazanchi killed actress. He spends very bad days of his life during this period. Later, he gets caught and his son, Kanwal (an advocate now), fought the case from his side. Meanwhile, the newspaper reporter stumbles upon important facts regarding the stage actress' murder and got kidnapped by the villain but manages an escape and reach the court, revealing the truth. Thus Shadi Lal gets acquitted.
Music
The music director Ghulam Haider made an experiment by combining popular Raags of Indian classical music with Punjabi folk music and revolutionalized the film music industry. The music songs were a hit. The playback includes Shamshad Begum, Noor Jehan and more.
Songs list
Diwali Phir Aa Gayi Sajni Shamshad Begum
Laut Gayi Papan Shamshad Begum
Mohe Bhabhi La Do Bhaiyya Shamshad Begum
Mori Chudiya Aayegi Aali Shamshad Begum
Naino Ke Baan Ki Reet Anokhi Shamshad Begum
Pine Ke Din Aaye Piye Ja Shamshad Begum
Sawan Ke Najare Hai Shamshad Begum
Man Dhire Dhire Rona Shamshad Begum
Cast
M. Ismail Shadi Lal
S.D. Narang Kanwal
Ramola Devi Madhuri
Durga Mota Durga Das
Manorma Durga Das' daughter and Kanwal's sister
Ajmal Ramesh
Jankidas News reporter
Pran
2 Chitralekha
Chitralekha is a 1941 Indian Bollywood film, directed by Kidar Sharma and based on 1934 Hindi novel of the same name by Bhagwati Charan Verma. Its music is by noted classical musician Ustad Jhande Khan, giving popular songs like "Sun sun Neelkamal Muskaye," "Saiyyan Saware Bhaye Baware," and "Tum Jao Bde Bhagwan Bane, Insaan Bano."
It was the second-highest grossing Indian film of 1941.Khan used he used classical Ragas like Bhairavi and Asavari to the score making it influential for classical based Hindi film songs.This was the debut of actor Bharat Bhushan, who later achieved fame with Bhaiju Bawra (1952). Sharma cast Mehtab as he felt she was "perfect" for the role of Chitralekha. Mehtab achieved both fame and notierity with the famous bathing scene in the film. It was remade by Sharma in 1964, also titled Chitralekha, starring Meena Kumari and Ashok Kumar.
Cast
Miss Mehtab as Chitralekha,Nandrekar as Samant Bijgupt,A.S. Gyani as Kumargiri,Rajendra,Monica Desai as Yashodhara,Ram Dulari,Leela Mishra,Ganpatrai Premi as Mrityunjay,Bharat Bhushan
3 Sikandar
Sikandar is a 1941 epic Bollywood film directed by Sohrab Modi and starring Prithviraj Kapoor as Alexander the Great.
Plot
The story is set in 326 B.C. The film begins after Alexander the Great (Sikander in Hindi/Urdu) conquers Persia and the Kabul valley and approaches the Indian border at Jhelum. He respects Aristotle and loves Persian Rukhsana (known in the west as Roxana). Sohrab Modi plays the Indian king Puru (Porus to the Greeks). Puru requests neighbouring kingdoms to unite against a common foreign enemy. The story goes that when Sikander defeated Porus and imprisoned him, he asked Porus how would he like to be treated. Porus replied the same way a king is treated by another king . Sikander was impressed by his answer and set him free.
The battle sequences featuring thousands of extras along with horses, elephants and chariots were picturised in Kolhapur.
Cast
Prithviraj Kapoor,Sohrab Modi,Zahur Raja,Shakir,Vanmala,Meena Shorey,Sheela,Sadiq Ali,Shakir
K N Singh,Lala Yakub,Gagendra Singh,Jillobai,Zahur Raja,Abu Bakar,Ghulam Hussain,Noor Jehan
Prakash,G. S. Shorry,Athavale,Mumtaz and others.
Release
The release of the film coincided with World War II and the quest for Swaraj or Quit India at its peak. In India, the political atmosphere was tense, following Gandhi's call to civil disobedience. Sikander further aroused patriotic feelings and nationalistic sentiment. Thus, though Sikander was approved by the Bombay censor board, it was later banned from some of the theatres serving British Indian Army cantonments. However, its appeal to nationalism was so great and direct, it remained popular for years. It was revived in Delhi in 1961 during the Indian march into Goa. After the movie was a huge box office success, it was dubbed and released in Persian.
4 Jhoola
Jhoola is a 1941 Indian Bollywood social film directed by Gyan Mukherjee. It was produced by Sashadhar Mukherjee under the banner of Bombay Talkies. The film starred Ashok Kumar, Leela Chitnis, Rajkumari Shukla, V. H. Desai, Mumtaz Ali, Shah Nawaz, and Jyoti. The music was composed by Saraswati Devi with lyrics by Kavi Pradeep.
A young widow called Kamala (Aruna Devi) approaches the new zamindar of her village to waive off the land tax as she is in financially straitened circumstances. She is called for a private audience with him, where she is surprised to discover that the new zamindar is none other than Mahesh (Shah Nawaz), her one time lover. Mahesh inquires about her late husband out of curiosity, only to discover to his surprise that she never married. Having considered him her husband, she pretended to be a widow to avoid being forced into marriage against her will. The irresponsible, hedonistic Mahesh waives off her taxes, but refuses to take the relationship any further. On his way back, he stops at the post office to send a telegram. There he meets a young lady Geeta (Leela Chitnis) seated on a swing (Jhoola), to whom he is instantly attracted. Geeta is the niece of the postmaster (V.H. Desai), with whom she is living. An amateur photographer, Mahesh captures pictures of Geeta before leaving for his home in the city. Back home, he gets into a heated discussion with his father, who intends to make a will distributing his property equally between his two sons: Mahesh and his adopted younger brother Ramesh. The old man strains his already weak heart in the course of the quarrel, suffering a heart attack. News of the heart attack is instantly relayed to Ramesh (Ashok Kumar), who rushes to meet his dying adopted father one last time. After a short meeting, the old man passes away. Mahesh, who is angry with his father for giving away half the property to a man who is not even his real son, picks up a quarrel with Ramesh. Disgusted with his brother's behaviour, Ramesh leaves the house in a huff. Unsure where to go, Ramesh boards a train. There he chances on the image of Geeta seated on the swing, which is the cover photo of a magazine. Instantly drawn to the face, he heads for Jharnaghat, the village where the young lady lives- unaware of the fact that the village is part of his inheritance. Once in Jharnaghat, Ramesh lives next door to the postmaster's assistant (Mumtaz Ali). He uses an alias to conceal his actual identity, writing love letters to Geeta using his actual name. The circumstances lead Geeta to think that her anonymous lover is none other than the man with the camera (who she later discovers is also the zamindar of her village). Ramesh' innocent actions result in a series of misunderstandings, which are eventually sorted out. The brothers finally patch up, Ramesh marrying Geeta and Mahesh agreeing to marry Kamala.
Cast
Leela Chitnis as Geeta,Ashok Kumar as Ramesh,Shah Nawaz as Mahesh,Aruna Devi as Kamala
V.H. Desai as Postmaster,Mumtaz Ali as Dancing Courtier
Reception
Jhoola was the fourth highest grossing Indian film of 1941.
Legacy
The song na jaane kidhar aaj meri naav chali re (I know not where my boat is heading) sung by Ashok Kumar was an immensely popular song in the 40s.
Another song from the movie, Dilli se aayi meri Dulhan too was extremely popular. Dance master Mumtaz Ali capitalised on the success of that song to start his own dance troupe.
Having played second fiddle to his heroines in all his earlier movies, Jhoola was the first movie in which Ashok Kumar played the lead role. The success of the movie established him as one of the popular actors of the era, two years before the runaway success of Kismet (1943) would propel him to stardom.
5 Lagan
Lagan is a 1941 Indian Bollywood film. It was the fifth highest grossing Indian film of 1941. The film was directed by Nitin Bose for New Theatres Ltd. Calcutta. The film was a bilingual with K. L. Saigal and Kanan Devi acting as the lead in the Bengali language version of it, Parichaya. The music for both versions was by R. C. Boral.This was the last film Saigal did for New Theatres, Calcutta, before his move to Bombay to make films for different studios there.
The film was a romantic triangle involving a poet, his beloved, and her wealthy husband. A theme, which was later followed by Guru Dutt for his Pyaasa (1956).
At the annual college event the main singer goes missing. To help matters, Kusum Kumari (Kanan Devi) plays a record. The lyrics of the song are by a young poet (K. L. Saigal) living in a village. The Principal of the college, impressed by the poet’s work brings him to the city. The poet takes to training Kusum to sing for the next event and falls in love with her. One of the patrons (Nawab) is a wealthy businessman. He is enthralled by Kusum and after negotiations with her father, gets married to her in spite of the poet trying to intercede. The poet disappears but after some time the husband listens to Kusum and helps in furthering the poet’s career. The gesture is misunderstood by the poet who thinks that the help was given to him because of Kusum’s love for him. Finally Kusum has to let him know that for her the poet was a Guru she respected.
Cast
K. L. Saigal as the Poet,Kanan Devi as Kusum Kumari,Nawab as Deendayal,Nemo as Madholal
Rehmat Khatoon as Poet’s Aunt,Jagdish Sethi,G. Vaid
Reception
The film was a big hit at the box-office. Kanan Devi won the Best Actress award from the Bengal Film Journalists Association’s in 1942 for the Bengali version Parichaya.
Music
The music director was R. C. Boral, with lyrics Arzu Lucknavi and Pandit Madhur. Boral made use of western influences in the music for this film like the use of piano in Kaaheko Raad Machayi.The major reason for the success of the film is cited as the songs sung by Kanan Devi and Saigal
Songlist
1 Kaaheko Raad Machayi K. L. Saigal
2 Hat Gayi Lo Kari Ghata K. L. Saigal
2 Koi Manushya Kitna Hi Bura Ho K. L. Saigal
3 Ye Kaisa Anyay Data K. L. Saigal
4 Main Sote Bhag Jaga Dunga K. L. Saigal
5 Kaise Kate Ratiyan Balam K. L. Saigal
6 Hamari Laaz Nibhao Swami Kanan Devi
7 Koi Samjhaye Ye Geet Sakhi Kya Hai Kanan Devi
8 Tum Bin Kal Na Aave Mohe Kanan Devi
9 Taakat Tu Haari
10 Madbhari Madbhari Matwari Kanan Devi
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