''Sehra'' (Desert) is a 1963

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 ...

romantic family drama film directed by V. Shantaram, who also wrote the screenplay. The story and dialogue writer was Shams Lucknowi. Made by Shantaram Productions, it had music composed by Ramlal with lyrics by

Hasrat Jaipuri Hasrat Jaipuri, born Iqbal Hussain (15 April 1922 – 17 September 1999), was an Indian poet, who wrote in the Hindi and Urdu languages. He was also a renowned film lyricist in Hindi films, where he won the Filmfare Awards for Best Lyri ...

. The actress Mumtaz played a small character role in this film and also in Shantaram's earlier '' Stree'' (1961). The film starred Sandhya, Prashant, Mumtaz,

Lalita Pawar Lalita Pawar (née Amba Laxmanrao Shagun; 18 April 1916 – 24 February 1998) was a prolific Indian actress, who later became famous as a character actress, appearing in over 700 films in Bollywood, Hindi, Marathi cinema, Marathi and Gujarati c ...

, Manmohan Krishan, Ulhas, Babloo, M. Rajan and Baburao Pendharkar. Krishanrao Vashirde won the Best Cinematography (Colour)

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Times G ...

. This was the first of the two Filmfare awards he won. He was to win again in the same category for '' Geet Gaya Patharon Ne'' (1964). He also won the "newly instituted" A. J. Patel Award for Best Colour Cinematography, where he received Rs. 5000 as cash award. The film, set against the backdrop of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, is about a rivalry between two clans and the situation that takes a melodramatic violent turn when the children of the opposing family fall in love.

Plot

Sherpal (Ulhas) and Tailab ( Manmohan Krishan) are chiefs of two opposing clans who regularly meet at an annual competition that highlights their combative strengths in fields of weaponry. Sherpal's daughter Angara ( Sandhya) is a tomboy who has been taught all that is required for the competition. She defeats Vikram (

Prashanth Prashanth Thiagarajan (born 6 April 1973), known professionally as Prashanth, is an Indian actor, businessman, playback singer and film producer known for his works predominantly in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil films, he has also appeared in f ...

) who is from the clan of Taibal. The two fall in love, but cannot marry due to the old feud between their clans. Angara's mother (

) is after her to behave like a girl and dress accordingly. She finally gives in to her mother's demands. When her father dies, Mangal (M. Rajan) appears claiming to be her betrothed, chosen by her father. When things start taking a violent turn, she agrees to marry him. Mangal then treats her badly after marriage. Angara suffers the humiliation and even carries a heavy weight across the desert, a punishment meted out to her by Mangal. As she trudges through the desert, she comes across a dying Vikram, who asks for water. She attempts to give him water against her husband's wishes, and is shot by Mangal. Angara and Vikram die together.

Cast

* Sandhya as Angara *

as Vikram *

Manmohan Krishna Manmohan Krishna (26 February 1922 – 3 November 1990) was an Indian film actor and director, who worked in Hindi films for four decades, mostly as a character actor. He started his career as a professor in Physics and held master's degree i ...

as Chief Tailab * Lalita Kumari as Tailab's wife *

as Angara's mother * Baburao Pendharkar * Babloo * Ulhas as Chief Sherpal * Keshavrao Date *

Jeetendra Jeetendra (born Ravi Kapoor ; 7 April 1942) is an Indian actor who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Hindi cinema. He is noted for his acting, style and dance. He has worked in more than Je ...

in a small role * Mumtaz as Juhi * M. Rajan as Mangal

Crew

The crew for the film consisted of: * Producer: V. Shantaram * Director: V. Shantaram * Music: Ramlal * Lyrics:

* Editing: V. Shantaram * Cinematography: Krishnarao Vashirdi * Art Direction: Kanu Desai * Make-up: Baba Vardam * Art: Baburao Jadhav * Choreographer: Shyam Kumar * Audiographer: Mangesh Desai

Awards

Filmfare Best Cinematographer Award: Krishnarao Vashirde

Soundtrack

Some of the popular songs of the film were "Taqdeer Ka Fasana" in male and female solos by

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

and

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice ...

, "Pankh Hote To Ud Aati, Rasiyaa O Zalima" by

, and two duets by

and

"Tum To Pyar Ho Sajni" and "Ja Ja Ja Re Tujhe Hum Jaan Gaye". With music direction by Ramlal and lyrics by

, the playback singers were

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; ; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the ...

and

Hemant Kumar Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989), known professionally as Hemanta Mukherjee and Hemant Kumar, was an Indian music director and a playback singer who primarily sang in Bengali and Hindi, along with several other India ...

Song list

References

External links

*
Songs
- Sehra at Muvyz, Inc. {{V. Shantaram 1963 films 1960s Hindi-language films Films directed by V. Shantaram