Naya Daur (1957 film)
Naya Daur (English: New Era) is a 1957 Indian sports drama film, starring Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Ajit and Jeevan. It was directed and produced by B.R. Chopra, and written by Akhtar Mirza and Kamil Rashid. Originally filmed in black and white, the film was colourised and re-released on 3 August 2007.[2] The film's plot is a "man vs. machine" underdog tale, involving a race between a village tongawallah who rides a tonga horse cart against a landlord who drives a bus.[3]
| Naya Daur | |
|---|---|
 Original Hindi film poster | |
| Directed by | B. R. Chopra |
| Produced by | B. R. Chopra |
| Written by | Akhtar Mirza Kamil Rashid |
| Starring | Dilip Kumar Vyjayanthimala Ajit Chand Usmani Jeevan Johnny Walker |
| Music by | O. P. Nayyar |
| Cinematography | M. Malhotra |
| Edited by | Pran Mehra |
| Distributed by | BR Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 173 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Box office | ₹54 million[1] ($11 million) |
For this film, Dilip Kumar won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for the third time in a row, being his fourth overall. The film was later dubbed in Tamil as Pattaliyin Sabatham (English: The Proletariat's Vow) in 1958.[4] Naya Daur also inspired Aamir Khan's Academy Award nominated film Lagaan (2001).
Plot
The film is set in post-independence India, where industrialisation is slowly creeping in. The focus is on tongawallahs who earn their living transporting people on tongas (horse carts). Their livelihood is threatened when the son of a rich landlord (Jeevan) begins operating a bus service in the town, which he subsidises heavily with the sole intention of first driving the tongawallahs out of the town and then making a profit.
Dilip Kumar plays one of the tongawallahs, who petitions the landlord over this injustice. Jeevan's character proposes a competition to decide which service is the best: the bus or the tonga. It is decided that there will be a race between the vehicles. If the bus wins, the tongawallahs will not complain further. If the Tonga wins, the bus service will stop. This competition was a farce from the start, since nobody could dream that a horse cart could beat a machine. Kumar, however, accepts the challenge to everybody's surprise. His logic is that they would be driven to starvation if the bus service continues. This race at least gives them an opportunity to try to do something.
The rest of the tongawallahs do not share his hope. They blame him for his foolishness. In the end, he is left alone with nobody's support except his sweetheart, played by Vyjayanthimala. As the movie unfolds, a hopeless situation begins to turn around because of the way the people come together. Mishap after mishap occurs, but nothing can deter the determined. The highlight of the film is definitely the heart-stopping final race where the underdog wins.
Cast
- Dilip Kumar as Shankar
- Vyjayantimala as Rajni
- Ajit as Krishna
- Jeevan as Kundan
- Chand Usmani as Manju
- Johnny Walker as Journalist
- Nazir Hussain as Seth Maganlal
- Manmohan Krishna as Jumman Dada
- Leela Chitnis as Shankar & Manju's Mother
- Pritima Devi as Durga Mausi or Rajni's Mother
- Kumkum as Dancer In Song "Reshmi Salwaar Kurta Jaali Ka"
- Minoo Mumtaz as Dancer In Song "Reshmi Salwaar Kurta Jaali Ka"
Production
During filming, the Naya Daur production was involved in a highly controversial and widely publicised court case. Initially, the actress Madhubala was cast as the female lead. An advance payment was given to her and shooting began and continued smoothly for 15 days. B.R. Chopra, the director, wanted the unit to travel to Bhopal for an extended outdoor shooting. Ataullah Khan, the father of Madhubala, objected to this and claimed that the entire Bhopal schedule was a ruse to give Dilip Kumar the opportunity to romance his daughter (Kumar and Madhubala were in a relationship at the time). Finally, Chopra sued Madhubala for the cash advance she received from him for a film she now had no intention of completing.
He replaced her with the South Indian actress Vyjayanthimala, who acted with Kumar in Devdas. Madhubala obediently supported her father despite her commitment to Dilip Kumar. Kumar testified against Madhubala and Ataullah Khan in favour of B.R. Chopra in open court. The case was lost by Madhubala and her father amid much negative publicity. During the case, the film was released and declared a success. Chopra dropped the case and saved Madhubala from the humiliation of a possible prison sentence.[5]
Critical reception
The Times of India wrote, "A picture with a purposeful and distinctly impressive theme Naya Daur from almost the beginning to the end, the picture sparkles with scenes and sequences filled with song, dance and revelry, which maintain with fine authenticity the rural atmosphere against the mounting tension of the drama created by the advent of the machine.. Naya Daur remains a brilliant, beautiful and very entertaining picture. Filmfare wrote, "A powerful and vibrantly gripping picture, B. R. Films' Naya Daur is a distinctly successful combination of pertinent social education and moral and top-rate entertainment."[6]
Box office
Naya Daur collected around ₹54 million, becoming the second highest-grossing film of 1957 behind Mother India.[1] This was equivalent to $11.34 million in 1957,[lower-alpha 1] or $103 million (₹6.706 billion) adjusted for inflation.
Music
All the songs were composed by O. P. Nayyar and the lyrics were penned by Sahir Ludhianvi. Playback singers were Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Shamshad Begum and Balvir.
| # | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Dil Leke Dagaa Denge" | Mohammed Rafi |
| 2 | "Aana Hai To Aa" | Mohammed Rafi |
| 3 | "Main Bambai Ka Babu" | Mohammed Rafi |
| 5 | "Yeh Desh Hai Veer Jawaanon Ka" | Mohammed Rafi, Balvir |
| 4 | "Maangke Saath Tumhara" | Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi |
| 6 | "Ude Jab Jab Zulfen Teri" | Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi |
| 7 | "Saathi Haath Badhaana" | Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi |
| 8 | "Reshmi Salwaar, Kurta Jaali Ka" | Asha Bhosle, Shamshad Begum |
| 9 | "Ek Deewana Aate Jaate Humse Chhed Kare" | Asha Bhosle |
Legacy
Aamir Khan's Academy Award nominated film Lagaan (2001) was inspired by Naya Daur.[8][9]
Re-release
Naya Daur was colourised and re-released in 2007, along with the re-release of another film starring Dilip Kumar, Mughal-e-Azam.[2] However, this re-release failed commercially.[10]
Notes
- 4.7619 Indian rupees per US dollar from 1951 to 1965[7]
References
- "Box Office 1957". Boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
- http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-07-18/bollywood/27959273_1_naya-daur-dilip-kumar-colour
- "Naya Daur is relevant even today". Rediff. 3 August 2007.
- Pillai, Swarnavel Eswaran (2015). Madras Studios: Narrative, Genre, and Ideology in Tamil Cinema. India: SAGE Publications. p. 84.
- "Flashback When Dilip Kumar and Madhubala dragged each other to court". mid-day. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
- "The Indian Express - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
- "Pacific Exchange Rate Service" (PDF). UBC Sauder School of Business. University of British Columbia. 2016. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "I'm not aware if Big B & SRK have copied me". Filmfare. 30 April 2013.
- South Asian Cinema. South Asian Cinema Foundation. 2001. p. 86.
- "Classic in colour: 50 years on, 'Hum Dono' fails to light up BO - Times of India".