Bahen (1941)

Name: Bahen (1941)
Director: Mehboob Khan
Released: 1941
Duration: 2 h 27 min 27 s

by Mehboob Khan 1941G General

1940s Mehboob Khan

— (0)

Directed by: Mehboob Khan
Produced by: Chimankant Gandhi, Mehboob Khan, Nanubhai Desai
Written by: Wajahat Mirza
Story by: Babubhai A. Mehta, Zia Sarhadi
Dialogue by: Wajahat Mirza
Music by: Anil Biswas
Lyrics by: Safdar 'Aah'
Cinematography: Faredoon A. Irani, Minoo Billimoria, Shivram Malaya
Edited by: Shamsuddin Kadri
Production design: Munawarali Mistry, V. H. Palnitkar
Sound design: Y. S. Kothare
Cast: Sheikh Mukhtar, Nalini Jaywant, Meena Kumari, Harish, Kanhaiyalal, Husn Bano, Swaroop Rani, Bhudo Advani, Meena Shorey
Also credited: N. R. Desai

Description

A brother's love for the sister he raised curdles into possessiveness, and he cannot let her marry. One of Mehboob Khan's early pictures, and unusually frank for 1941 about what the attachment actually is.

The songs

Piya Ghar Jaana, Sajan Ghar Jaana — Nalini Jaywant · music Anil Biswas · words Safdar 'Aah'
Aayi Jawani Jiya Laharaye — Sheikh Mukhtar, Nalini Jaywant · music Anil Biswas · words Safdar 'Aah'
Nahin Khate Hain Bhaiya Mere Paan — Sheikh Mukhtar, Nalini Jaywant · music Anil Biswas · words Safdar 'Aah'
YouTube ↗
Tore Kajra Lagaun Mori Rani — Beena Kumari, Baby Meena · music Anil Biswas · words Safdar 'Aah'
YouTube ↗
Mora Pihu Pihu Mann Bole — Husn Bano · music Anil Biswas · words Safdar 'Aah'
YouTube ↗
Ratoon Nish Din Tera Naam Re — Husn Bano · music Anil Biswas · words Safdar 'Aah'
YouTube ↗
Preet Nahin Jaane Balam More Bhole — Iqbal · music Anil Biswas · words Safdar 'Aah'
YouTube ↗
Mohe Le Chal Apni Nagariya — Husn Bano, Nalini Jaywant · music Anil Biswas · words Safdar 'Aah'
YouTube ↗
Koyal Ga Re Papihe — Husn Bano · music Anil Biswas · words Safdar 'Aah'
YouTube ↗
Kiye Ja Sabka Bhala — Anil Biswas · music Anil Biswas · words Safdar 'Aah'
YouTube ↗
Aaj Chali Sasural Sakhi Ri — Anil Biswas · music Anil Biswas · words Safdar 'Aah'
YouTube ↗
Kyun Karta Hai Murakh Asha — Anil Biswas · music Anil Biswas · words Safdar 'Aah'

What we found

We corrected this The article credits Dulari as a hospital nurse. Nothing consulted supports it.

From Wikipedia.

How we know

Wikidata gives her date of birth as 18 April 1928, which would make her thirteen when this was shot, and the print's own cast cards - which name Harish, Kanhaiyalal, Husn Bano and Swaroop Rani - do not include her. She is not credited on this page. If she is in the film, the evidence for it is not in the film, the archive or Wikidata.

We corrected this The article says Amar rescues his infant sister from a flood. The catastrophe in the film is an earthquake.

Refer more details : Wikipedia

How we know

filmindia's review in the month of release describes the sister as becoming 'the solitary relative of his existence after the catastrophe of an earthquake', and the film's own title cards credit V. H. Palnitkar for 'Earthquake Scenes and Special Effects'. Two independent sources, one of them the print itself, against one sentence in the article.

Wikidata holds Husn Bano twice: Q108532078, born 1922, with no sitelinks, and Q111592144, born 8 February 1919 and died in 1977, with four.

From Wikidata.

How we know

Two records of one actress, or two actresses sharing a name - nothing consulted distinguishes them. Her page here is built on the better-sourced of the two and this says which, rather than merging them quietly or picking in silence.

The print held here runs 8,847 seconds. The film is 9,360 - about eight and a half minutes longer than the copy on this page.

From Indiancine.ma.

How we know

The censor certificate photographed in this print's own first frame gives the length as 4278.78 metres on 16 reels of 35mm. At 24 frames a second 35mm passes 0.4572 metres every second, so that length is 9,359 seconds, or 156 minutes - which is what indiancine.ma and the encyclopaedia article both record. Our copy is short by about 511 seconds. The certificate also says why: see the next finding.

The certificate in this print's opening frame is not the film's original one. It is issued under the Cinematograph Act of 1952 - eleven years after release - to the applicant Kapur International, and it certifies a film entitled 'Sister (Revised)'.

From the print itself.

How we know

So the copy circulating is a revised version passed for re-release, not the 1941 original, which is the ordinary explanation for its being nine minutes shorter than the recorded length. The board passed it U, for unrestricted public exhibition. 'Sister' is also the film's own main title card, with Bahen beneath it in Devanagari, and indiancine.ma records Sister as an alternative title.

The editor's name is spelled both Kadri and Qadri in primary sources, and the catalogue cannot settle which is right.

From Wikipedia.

How we know

Bahen's own credit card reads SHAMSUDDIN KADRI and indiancine.ma spells it Kadri there. But Taqdeer (1943), two years later and from the same unit, credits SHAMSUDIN QADRI on its own title card, and indiancine.ma spells it Qadri on that film. Both forms come from the films themselves. An earlier version of this note said the encyclopaedia's Qadri was simply wrong; that was published for a day and was too confident, and this replaces it. Mother India (1957) credits KADRI on its own card as well, which makes the tally three films to one: Aurat, Bahen and Mother India against Taqdeer.

The film opened at the Pathe Cinema in Bombay on 6 August 1941, and the trade press advertised and reviewed it as SISTER rather than Bahen.

Refer more details : filmindia, August 1941

How we know

filmindia's credit block for the month of release gives the venue and the date, and runs the title as SISTER throughout - which agrees with the film's own main title card and with the censor certificate, both of which name it Sister. Neither the encyclopaedia article nor indiancine.ma records the cinema. The magazine is on the Internet Archive.

The film had a Production Chief, N. R. Desai. He is credited in neither database and does not appear on the film's own title cards.

Refer more details : filmindia, August 1941

How we know

filmindia's trade credit block for Sister lists, in order: Producers National Studios, Story Zia Sarhady, Dialogues Wajahat Mirza, Songs Dr. Safdar, Photography Faredoon Irani, Sound Y. S. Kothare, Music Anil Biswas, Production Chief N. R. Desai. Everything else in that list is confirmed by the print's own cards; this one credit is only here.

Kanhaiyalal plays the pickpocket - the thief Amar marries his sister to - and the contemporary review calls his the best performance in the film.

Refer more details : filmindia, August 1941

How we know

filmindia's review carries the subheading 'KANHAYALAL LIVES HIS PART' and says: 'The best performance is given by Kanhayalal in the role of a pickpocket. He lives the part.' The databases record only a character name for him. The same notice judges Sheikh Mukhtar 'too stagy and melodramatic' and says Nalini Jaywant 'has acted well for the first time' - her first film.

Mehboob Khan's Aurat (1940) was released in English as 'Woman', just as this film was released as 'Sister'.

Refer more details : filmindia, August 1941

How we know

The review opens: 'This is Director Mehboob's second picture at the National Studios. In comparison with the popular success scored all over India by Nationals maiden production, \u201cWoman\u201d...'. Both of Mehboob's National Studios pictures went out under English titles, which is why this one is Sister on its own main title card and in all its advertising.

Details

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Read about it: Wikipedia
We corrected this The article credits Dulari as a hospital nurse. Nothing consulted supports it.
How we know
Wikidata gives her date of birth as 18 April 1928, which would make her thirteen when this was shot, and the print's own cast cards - which name Harish, Kanhaiyalal, Husn Bano and Swaroop Rani - do not include her. She is not credited on this page. If she is in the film, the evidence for it is not in the film, the archive or Wikidata.

We corrected this The article says Amar rescues his infant sister from a flood. The catastrophe in the film is an earthquake.
How we know
filmindia's review in the month of release describes the sister as becoming 'the solitary relative of his existence after the catastrophe of an earthquake', and the film's own title cards credit V. H. Palnitkar for 'Earthquake Scenes and Special Effects'. Two independent sources, one of them the print itself, against one sentence in the article.

Wikidata holds Husn Bano twice: Q108532078, born 1922, with no sitelinks, and Q111592144, born 8 February 1919 and died in 1977, with four.
How we know
Two records of one actress, or two actresses sharing a name - nothing consulted distinguishes them. Her page here is built on the better-sourced of the two and this says which, rather than merging them quietly or picking in silence.

The editor's name is spelled both Kadri and Qadri in primary sources, and the catalogue cannot settle which is right.
How we know
Bahen's own credit card reads SHAMSUDDIN KADRI and indiancine.ma spells it Kadri there. But Taqdeer (1943), two years later and from the same unit, credits SHAMSUDIN QADRI on its own title card, and indiancine.ma spells it Qadri on that film. Both forms come from the films themselves. An earlier version of this note said the encyclopaedia's Qadri was simply wrong; that was published for a day and was too confident, and this replaces it. Mother India (1957) credits KADRI on its own card as well, which makes the tally three films to one: Aurat, Bahen and Mother India against Taqdeer.
In the film archive: indiancine.ma
The print held here runs 8,847 seconds. The film is 9,360 - about eight and a half minutes longer than the copy on this page.
How we know
The censor certificate photographed in this print's own first frame gives the length as 4278.78 metres on 16 reels of 35mm. At 24 frames a second 35mm passes 0.4572 metres every second, so that length is 9,359 seconds, or 156 minutes - which is what indiancine.ma and the encyclopaedia article both record. Our copy is short by about 511 seconds. The certificate also says why: see the next finding.
What we found: The certificate in this print's opening frame is not the film's original one. It is issued under the Cinematograph Act of 1952 - eleven years after release - to the applicant Kapur International, and it certifies a film entitled 'Sister (Revised)'.
How we know
So the copy circulating is a revised version passed for re-release, not the 1941 original, which is the ordinary explanation for its being nine minutes shorter than the recorded length. The board passed it U, for unrestricted public exhibition. 'Sister' is also the film's own main title card, with Bahen beneath it in Devanagari, and indiancine.ma records Sister as an alternative title.

The film opened at the Pathe Cinema in Bombay on 6 August 1941, and the trade press advertised and reviewed it as SISTER rather than Bahen. filmindia, August 1941
How we know
filmindia's credit block for the month of release gives the venue and the date, and runs the title as SISTER throughout - which agrees with the film's own main title card and with the censor certificate, both of which name it Sister. Neither the encyclopaedia article nor indiancine.ma records the cinema. The magazine is on the Internet Archive.

The film had a Production Chief, N. R. Desai. He is credited in neither database and does not appear on the film's own title cards. filmindia, August 1941
How we know
filmindia's trade credit block for Sister lists, in order: Producers National Studios, Story Zia Sarhady, Dialogues Wajahat Mirza, Songs Dr. Safdar, Photography Faredoon Irani, Sound Y. S. Kothare, Music Anil Biswas, Production Chief N. R. Desai. Everything else in that list is confirmed by the print's own cards; this one credit is only here.

Kanhaiyalal plays the pickpocket - the thief Amar marries his sister to - and the contemporary review calls his the best performance in the film. filmindia, August 1941
How we know
filmindia's review carries the subheading 'KANHAYALAL LIVES HIS PART' and says: 'The best performance is given by Kanhayalal in the role of a pickpocket. He lives the part.' The databases record only a character name for him. The same notice judges Sheikh Mukhtar 'too stagy and melodramatic' and says Nalini Jaywant 'has acted well for the first time' - her first film.

Mehboob Khan's Aurat (1940) was released in English as 'Woman', just as this film was released as 'Sister'. filmindia, August 1941
How we know
The review opens: 'This is Director Mehboob's second picture at the National Studios. In comparison with the popular success scored all over India by Nationals maiden production, \u201cWoman\u201d...'. Both of Mehboob's National Studios pictures went out under English titles, which is why this one is Sister on its own main title card and in all its advertising.

Transcript

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Chapters

Bahen (1941)

Description

Summary

The songs

Gallery

What we found

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