''Al Hilal'' (Judgement of Allah) is a 1935

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

costume drama film. It was the debut directorial venture of

Mehboob Khan Mehboob Khan (born Mehboob Khan Ramzan Khan; 9 September 1907
at filmreference.com. – 28 ...

. He went on to become "one of the pioneer directors of Indian Cinema". The film is thought to be inspired by

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

's ''The Sign of the Cross''. The film was produced by

Sagar Movietone Sagar Movietone also Sagar Films, Sagar Film Company and Sagar Productions was an Indian film production company involved in the making of films for Indian cinema. It was launched by Ardeshir Irani with Chimanlal Desai and Dr. Ambalal Patel in 19 ...

. The director of photography was

Faredoon Irani Faredoon A. Irani was an Indian cinematographer who worked in Hindi films. He shot Mehboob Khan's films '' Andaz'' (1949), '' Aan'' (1952) and ''Mother India '' (1958). During his career, he won the Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer recor ...

. The music composer was Pransukh Nayak with lyrics by Munshi Ehsan Lucknavi. It starred Kumar, Indira, Yakub,

Sitara Devi Sitara Devi (named Dhanlakshm; 8 November 1920 – 25 November 2014) was an Indian dancer of the classical Kathak style of dancing, a singer, and an actress. She was the recipient of several awards and accolades, and performed at several pres ...

, Kayam Ali and Mehboob Khan. The film depicted fictionalised history in the form of a Roman-Arab conflict, with the son of the Ottoman Empire being captured by the Roman army and his escape from them.

Plot

Set in the Ottoman Empire it deals with the Caesar's (Pande) army and their skirmishes with the local Muslim rulers. The Sultan's (Asooji) son Ziyad (Kumar) is arrested by the Roman army. The Roman princess Rahil falls in love with him. A Muslim maid Leela (

) and the princess help him escape. What follows are long chase scenes and fights which ultimately led to success for Ziyad and his people.

Cast

* Kumar *Indira * Yakub *

*Pande *

Mehboob Khan Mehboob Khan (born Mehboob Khan Ramzan Khan; 9 September 1907
at filmreference.com. – 28 ...

*Wallace *Asooji *Razak *Kayam Ali *Azurie

Production

Sets were lavish and extensive use of variations made in camera technique like "tight close-ups" and skilfully captured battle scenes. Through the film Mehboob Khan also showed his expertise in the field of editing.

Reception

The film was a "commercial success" and Mehboob Khan earned "critical acclaim" as a director. According to Rauf Ahmed

Baburao Patel Baburao Patel (1904–1982) was an Indian publisher and writer, associated with films and politics. Career He was the editor and publisher of India's first film trade magazine, ''Filmindia'', the first edition of which was published in 1935. ...

of ''

Filmindia ''filmindia'' is an Indian monthly magazine covering Indian cinema and published in English language. Started by Baburao Patel in 1935, ''filmindia'' was the first English film periodical to be published from Bombay. The magazine was reportedl ...

'' declared after watching the debut direction that "He will go far".

Songs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hilal 1935 films 1930s Hindi-language films Films directed by Mehboob Khan Indian drama films 1935 drama films Indian black-and-white films Hindi-language drama films Films set in the Ottoman Empire Films set in the Byzantine Empire