Zindagi
1940 poster
Directed byPramathesh Barua
Written byJaved Hussain and Kidar Nath Sharma
Produced byBirendranath Sircar
StarringK. L. Saigal
Jamuna
Pahari Sanyal
Sitara Devi
CinematographyPramathesh Barua
Music byPankaj Mullick
Production
company
Release date
  • 1940 (1940)
Running time
120 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindustani
Box office₹5.5 million[2]

Zindagi (transl. 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,[3] 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.[4][2]

The film has been described as one of Barua's "most beautiful films, and his last for New Theatres".[5] It was the last film by Barua for New Theatres.[6][7] Barua later married Jamuna as his second wife.[8] This film was remade into Bengali as Priyo Bandhabi in 1943 directed By Soumen Mukherjee. No copy of the film is known to exist, making it a lost film.[9]

Plot

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 heiress 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.[10]

Cast

Credits adapted from the films's pressbook:[10]

  • Saigal as Ratan, The Vagabond
  • Pahari Sanyal as Ratan's friend
  • Asalata as Ratan's friends's mistress
  • Jamuna as Mrs. X. (Shrimati)
  • Sham Laha as Shrimati's husband
  • Nemo as Shrimati's father
  • Sitara as Shrimati's sister
  • Dhruba Kumar Shrimati's officer
  • Bikram Kapoor as Shrimati's lawyer
  • Rajnirani as Shrimati's companion
  • Manorama as Lakhia, Shrimati's mother-in-law
  • Ramkumari as Shrimati's sister-in-law
The Sonthal Dancers
  • Brajabasi, Lakhmi, Kalo & the crowd

Promotional activities

An advertisement of Zindagi compares Gothe and Voltaire's notions of life with that of Baura's.[11]

Release

Critical reception

Zindagi generally received positive reviews for critics. The 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.[6] Filmindia called the film an "all smoke" and described it as generally "too intellectual" for the average audience.[6] Bhagwan Das Garga writes, "The plot is slight but Barua's nuanced characterization and wealth of observation makes it a richly rewarding work."[6]

Controversies

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.[6] According to Garga, this incident provided enough "grist" for the news media.[6] An unnamed Gujarati weekly remarked, "Shantaram's eye is on life, Barua's on death."[6] Jamil Ansari, a critic, strongly defended Zindagi.[6] Khwaja Ahmad Abbas compared the two films and wrote:[6]

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.[12] One of the memorable songs from the film was "So Ja Rajkumari Soja". This lullaby was made famous in this film.[13][14][15]

All songs are sung by K. L. Saigal.[16]

Track listing
No.TitleSingerLength
1."Hey Diwana Hoon, Diwana Hoon"K. L. Saigal3:45
2."Bichhada Sajan Aaj Mila Hai"K. L. Saigal 
3."So Ja Rajkumari So Ja"K. L. Saigal2:55
4."Door Door Hare Bhare Is Ban Mein"K. L. Saigal 
5."Jeevan Asha Ye Hai Meri"K. L. Saigal3:00
6."Kaajar Kaahe Daarun Nainan Mein"K. L. Saigal 
7."Main Kya Jaanu Kya Jaadu Hai[17]"K. L. Saigal2:54

References

  1. ↑ "Zindagi (Life), 1940, 120 mins - Film Heritage Foundation". 28 August 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  2. 1 2 Box Office India. "Top Earners 1940". boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2008.
  3. ↑ "Zindagi (1940)". Complete Index to World Film. Alan Goble. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "BoxOffice India.com". 5 February 2009. Archived from the original on 5 February 2009. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  5. ↑ Garga, Bhagwan Das (1996). So many cinemas: the motion picture in India. Eminence Designs. pp. 89–92. ISBN 978-81-900602-1-9. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Garga, B. D. (1 December 2005). Art Of Cinema. Penguin UK. ISBN 9788184754315.
  7. ↑ Patel, Bhaichand (15 January 2016). Bollywood's Top 20: Superstars of Indian Cinema. Penguin UK. ISBN 9788184755985.
  8. ↑ Nevile, Pran (11 May 2011). K. L. Saigal: The Definitive Biography. Penguin UK. ISBN 9789352141609.
  9. ↑ "India's Top 10 Lost Films - Compiled by P.K. Nair - Film Heritage Foundation". Film Heritage Foundation. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Zindagi (1940) Pressbook". Endangered Archives Programme. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  11. ↑ Bingham, Adam (29 July 2015). Directory of World Cinema: INDIA. Intellect Books. ISBN 9781841506227.
  12. ↑ "Songs-Zindagi (1940)". muvyz.com. Muvyz, Inc. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  13. ↑ Shahriari, Andrew (16 October 2015). Popular World Music. Routledge. ISBN 9781317345381.
  14. ↑ Nevile, Pran (19 January 2017). "The immortal voice!". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  15. ↑ "The Sunday Tribune - Spectrum". www.tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  16. ↑ "#77 Zindagi: Top 100 Bollywood Albums - Film Companion". Film Companion. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  17. ↑ Gokulsing, K. Moti; Dissanayake, Wimal (17 April 2013). Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas. Routledge. ISBN 9781136772917. Retrieved 28 February 2018 – via Google Books.
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