Kala Pani (1958 film)

Kala Pani (transl. "Black Water" or lit. 'solitary confinement in jail') is a 1958 Hindi-language thriller film, produced by Dev Anand for Navketan Films and directed by Raj Khosla. The movie is a remake of the 1955 Bengali film Sabar Upaarey which itself was based on A.J. Cronin's 1953 novel Beyond This Place.[2] The film's music is by Sachin Dev Burman, and the lyrics are by Majrooh Sultanpuri.[3]

For other uses, see Kala Pani (disambiguation).

Kala Pani
Poster
Directed byRaj Khosla
Produced byDev Anand
Written byG. R. Kamath
Anand Pal
Bhappi Sonie (dialogue)
Based onBeyond This Place
by A.J. Cronin
StarringDev Anand
Madhubala
Nalini Jaywant
Music bySachin Dev Burman
Production
company
Release date
May 9th, 1958 (India)[1]
Running time
164 mins.
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budgetest. ₹12 million

Kala Pani was the story of a young man who, upon learning about his father's wrongful implication in a fifteen-year-old murder, vows to bring the true criminals to justice and release his innocent father from prison. Dev Anand starred as the young man named Karan Mehra, while Madhubala and Nalini Jaywant played a fearless journalist and a prostitute respectively. Bir Sakuja and Agha starred in supporting characters.

Upon its release on 9th May 1958, the film became a huge critical and commercial success, with the leading actors earning high praises for their respective portrayals.[1] Anand and Jaywant were also nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress at the 6th Filmfare Award function, and both of them won.

Plot

Karan (Dev Anand) comes to know that his father Shankarlal, is in jail. Also, that his mother has been pretending from his childhood that his father has died. On meeting his father, Karan comes to know that he has been jailed for a murder that he did not commit. Karan sets out to gather proof of his father's innocence so that he can get the case reopened, filed against him, and get him freed.

Karan comes to meet one of the witnesses who had spoken for his father in the court, who tells him about the investigating officer, Inspector Mehta (Nasir Husain).

Karan stays as a paying guest, of which Asha (Madhubala) is the owner. Asha is also a journalist.

From Inspector Mehta, Karan comes to know about other witnesses - Kishori (Nalini Jaywant) and Jumman (Krishan Dhawan). The Inspector confesses that although he smelt a rat, he was silenced by the prosecutor Jaswant Rai (Kishore Sahu). Inspector Mehta also tells Karan that he overheard Kishori and Jumman speaking of a letter, and that this might prove to be a mighty proof of Shankarlal's innocence.

Karan goes about to woo Kishori, so that he can get the letters possessed by her. In the meantime, romantic feelings develop between Karan and Asha.

Karan also approaches Jaswant Rai as to how he can reopen the case to prove his father's innocence. He also asks if it will be enough if he can get the letter from Kishori. The prosecutor tells him to get the letter first, so that he can see what to make out of it.

The prosecutor turns out to be a villain. He warns Sardari Lal, the person who actually committed the murder, that Karan is after the letter that Kishori possesses. Sardari Lal, in turn, asks Jumman to warn Kishori about this. Kishori confronts Karan saying that he cheated her, that he was showing false love to her. But Karan answers back, that one who is the cause for jailing his innocent father cannot complain to him of lying to her. Kishori, upon knowing the truth, repents and gives the letter to Karan.

An overjoyed Karan shows the letter to the prosecutor, only to see Jaswant Rai burn the letter. Karan realizes that the prosecutor was also involved in the plot. He starts a protest against the prosecutor outside his house, but gets arrested by the police.

Asha tries to help him by printing about the prosecutor in the newspaper she works for. However, she is stopped by her editor, who says that she does not have proof to print anything against him.

Kishori comes to know of this. She comes to Karan, now carrying the original letter. Karan submits this to get the case against his father reopened. The prosecutor Jaswant Rai admits his crime. And the story ends with Shankarlal coming out of the prison.

Cast
Madhubala's performance as a journalist and Dev Anand's love interest was critically acclaimed.[4]

Soundtrack

The songs of the film are composed by Sachin Dev Burman and lyrics are by Majrooh Sultanpuri.[5] Song list is as follows:[6]

Song Singer
"Hum Bekhudi Mein Tum Ko Pukaare Chale Gaye" Mohammed Rafi
"Achchha Ji Main Haari Chalo Maan Jaao Na" Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi
"Dilwale Ab Teri Gali Tak Aa Pahunche" Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi
"Nazar Laagi Raja Tore Bangle Par" Asha Bhosle
"Dil Lagaake Kadar Gayi Pyaare" Asha Bhosle
"Jab Naam-E-Mohabbat Leke" Asha Bhosle

Technical specs

Release and reception

Kala Pani was theatrically released on 9th May 1958, and critic reviews were mostly positive. Bhaichand Patel wrote, "Brilliant performances and songs are highlights of this film." He stated about the performances of lead actors: "The facile charm toned down, the mannerisms off-loaded, [Anand] brings intensity and conviction to his role. Madhubala is effervescent, especially in the song sequence "Accha Ji Main Haari". The film [also] has some fine acting by Nalini Jaywant."[8]

Box office

Kala Pani was the eight highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1958. It grossed ₹12 million, including a nett of ₹6 million. Best of The Year estimated the film's gross in today's value to be ₹2.2 billion.[1]

Awards

References
  1. "Kala Pani - Lifetime Box Office Collection, Budget, Reviews, Cast, etc". BOTY. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  2. U, Saiam Z. (2012). Houseful The Golden Years of Hindi Cinema. Om Books International. ISBN 9789380070254.
  3. Pioneer, The. "Hindi film Kala Paani screened". The Pioneer. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  4. "Remembering Madhubala's best roles". filmfare.com. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  5. "Kala Pani : Lyrics and video of Songs from the Movie Kala Pani (1958)". HindiGeetMala.
  6. "Kala Pani (1958) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  7. "Kala Pani (1958) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  8. Patel, Bhaichand. Bollywood's Top 20: Superstars of Indian Cinema.
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