''Chhalia'' is a 1960 Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Manmohan Desai. It stars

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (; born as Shrishti Nath Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influen ...

, Nutan, Pran, Rehman and Shobhna Samarth. The story is loosely based on the 1848 short story " White Nights" by

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

, but is focused on the issue of estranged wives and children in the aftermath of partition. ''Chhalia'' was shot in black-and-white. Music by Kalyanji-Anandji, played a part in the film's box office success.

Plot

Shanti is married off to Kewal on the eve of partition. But while the two families move away to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

from

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, she inadvertently is left behind, and is forced to share a roof with the Afghan bandit Abdul Rehman, who has a sister of Shanti's age in India. When she returns to India five years later with her son, she is first welcomed by her husband, Kewal, with open arms but disowned when the child identifies himself as Anwar, and his father as Abdul Rehman. Even her own father refuses to give her shelter, though in the years she had lived with Abdul Rehman she hadn't even seen his face. Physically and emotionally shattered, Shanti tries to commit suicide after leaving Anwar in a remand home, but is rescued by an outlaw, Chhalia who as time and events progress, flips for the lady. Rehman lands in Delhi to settle old scores with Chhalia and threatens to kidnap Shanti. The bloody fight that ensues between the two adversaries eventually ends in a truce. The hurried climax, set amidst Dussera festivities, has Chhalia bringing about a rapprochement between the estranged couple, Shanti and Kewal, and himself walking into infinity, while Rehman is reunited with his sister on the return train.

Cast

as Chhalia * Nutan as Shanti * Pran as Abdul Rehman * Rehman as Kewal * Bupet Raja as Anwar * Shobhana Samarth as Shanti's mother

Production

''Chhalia'' was the debut film of director Manmohan Desai. ''Chhalia'' was amongst the first of the lost-and-found-formula films that Desai went on to chisel to perfection, the most popular being '' Amar Akbar Anthony'' (1977) (except perhaps his last two '' Ganga Jamuna Saraswati'' and '' Toofan''), ''Chhalia'' was also first amongst his 13 star-studded films out of a total of 20 that Desai churned out in a career spanning 29 years. Laxmikant Pyarelal were the assistant music directors; who went on to be music directors for most of Manmohan Desai's films.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of ''Chhalia'' is composed by the duo Kalyanji-Anandji with lyrics by Qamar Jalalabadi. The initial

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

ep release of the soundtrack by Angel Records consisted of 4 songs sung by singers Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar. The complete soundtrack was released by EMI with 3 new songs and an Instrumental added to the initial soundtrack. ''Chhalia'' is considered a landmark in the career of Kalyanji-Anandji. The duo composed the kind of folksy, simple tunes that had come to be associated with Raj Kapoor's collaborations with Shankar-Jaikishan. The songs "Dum Dum Diga Diga" and "Chhalia Mera Naam" are still popular today.

Release

''Chhalia'' was released in 1960 and was a moderate box office success. Raj Kapoor and Nutan were nominated for 1961 Filmfare Awards in the category of Best Actor and Best Actress respectively. Chhalia was made available on DVD from the Indian distributor Shemaroo and the international firm Baba Digital.

Awards and nominations

; 8th Filmfare Awards (Nominations) * Filmfare Award for Best Actor for

* Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Nutan

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1960 films 1960s Hindi-language films 1960s Indian films Films about dysfunctional families Films about father–son relationships Films about feuds Films about immigration Films about internal migration Films about kidnapping in India Films about mother–son relationships Films about religious violence in India Films about suicide Films based on White Nights (short story) Films directed by Manmohan Desai Films scored by Kalyanji Anandji Films set in the partition of India Indian family films Indian romantic drama films Indian romantic musical films India–Pakistan relations in popular culture Melodrama films Cultural depictions of Afghan people Films shot in Mumbai