''Gorakh Aya'' (Gorakh Has Come) is a

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the authoritarian regime. ** State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France ...

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 ...

mythology film from Ranjit Movietone. It was the debut directorial venture for

Chaturbhuj Doshi Chaturbhuj Doshi (1894–1969) was a Hindi and Gujarati writer-director of Indian cinema. He was one of the top Gujarati screenplay writers, who helped script stories for the Punatar productions. He is stated to be one of the leading figures who ...

, who had made a name for himself as a journalist and publicist. The screenplay was by Gunvantrai Acharya, with dialogues by Pyare Lal Santoshi. The cinematographer was Krishna gopal and music was composed by Gyan Dutt. The film starred Rajkumari, Mazhar Khan,

Trilok Kapoor Trilok Kapoor (11 February 1912 23 September 1988) was an Indian actor and a member of the Kapoor family who worked in Bollywood films. He was the younger brother of actor Prithviraj Kapoor. Early and personal life Trilok was born as the sec ...

, and Kalyani in the lead roles. The film was also Rajkumari's debut as a

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not ap ...

. The story based on the legend of Machhindra and his disciple Gorakh, involves Machhindra's retreat to the Himalayas for meditation. His belief that women are to blame for all troubles divides the Indian Kingdom into two armies, one run by Tilottama, leading the women's army and another, an all-male army, led by Machhindra himself.

Synopsis

Machchindra ( Mazhar Khan) leves the monastery after he witnesses excesses at the temple. He goes for meditation to the Himalayas for a period of seven years and comes to the conclusion that women are responsible for the problems facing mankind. His thinking becomes pervasive all over India. Meanwhile, the Egyptian Queen plans to raid India, setting up her camp by the Indus river. A Rishi's daughter in the nearby forest, becomes influenced by the power the Queen wields and sets up a woman's army of her own to fight the invading army. India gets divided into two sets of armies, one, the women's army, led by Tilottama and the second, all-male, led by Machchindra who has by now defeated the invaders with the help of his army. The story continues with the meeting of Machchindra and Tillottama, with both falling in love. Ultimately Machchindra's disciple Gorakhnath comes and helps him return to his spiritual path.

Cast

* Rajkumari as Tilottamma * Mazhar Khan as Machhindra *

Gorakhnath Gorakhnath (also known as Goraksanath, c. early 11th century) was a Hindu yogi, saint who was the influential founder of the Nath Hindu monastic movement in India He is considered one of the two notable disciples of Matsyendranath. His followe ...

, Machhindra's disciple * Kalyani as Vish Kanya * Ila Devi * Ram Apte * Bhagwandas

Review

The film was released on 30 July 1938 at West End theatre, Bombay. According to

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. ...

in his review of the film in the September 1938 issue 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 ...

, "Drastic editing" was required to improve the film. The photography was stated to be "too beautiful in places" as were the trick shots, but the cinematographer was cautioned to handle the outdoor photography better. Use of an art director would have helped keep "in composition and angle selection". The dialogues were good as was the music, which was "cleverly mixed". The direction was praised: "Chaturbhuj Doshi has given an excellent account of himself as a director considering that this is his very first effort". The publicity, by having the opening day limited only to women was commended. The box-office verdict as stated by Patel was "Plenty of entertainment with a popular plot makes the picture a great box office possibility". The film was reported to be drawing large crowds in later sections of the magazine.

Soundtrack

The music direction was by Gyan Dutt, with lyrics by Pyarelal Santoshi. The film was also Rajkumari's debut as a playback singer. She shifted from acting to playback singing full-time singing for nearly a hundred films. The singers were Rajkumari, Kantilal, Ram Apte, E. G. Pargaonkar and Kalyani Das.

Song List

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0213685, Gorakh Aya (1938) 1938 films 1938 drama films 1930s Hindi-language films Films scored by Gyan Dutt Indian drama films Indian black-and-white films Hindi-language drama films Films directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi