Synopsis
Anand
(Kishore Kumar), a Punjabi boy comes from Jullunder to Delhi
but is unable to find a place to stay as everywhere he goes
people want to give their room only to a person of their caste.
Desperate, Anand masquerades as a Tamilian, Anand Kumaraswamy,
and finds a place to stay with a Tamilian family. There he
meets the daughter of the South Indian Cultural Association
Head, Janki (Vyjayantimala). Romance develops but Anand is
unable to reveal his true identity to her. Daulatram Khanna
(Nasir Hussain), Anand's father and Janki's father, Subramanyam's
(Nana Palsikar) superior, gets transferred to Delhi. Anand's
sister Nikki (Jabeen) comes close to Anand's friend, Ashok
Banerjee, a Bengali painter who teaches her art. When Daulatram
finds out he kicks Ashok out. Anand makes his Tamilian servant
Kumaraswamy (Dhoomal) masquerade as his father and they even
meet Janki's father to discuss the marriage. But soon they
are found out and Daulatram opposes the marriage. Subramanyam
too turns against his daughter who tries to kill herself.
She is saved by a kindly shop owner (Radhakishen) and passed
off as his Punjabi niece, Mohini. Both Subramanyam and Anand
are kept in the dark and are convinced Janki is no more. Subramanyam
realizes his mistake but sadly he thinks it is too late. Thinking
Mohini to be a good Punjabi girl, Anand's family readily agrees
to his marriage with her and also fix Nikki's marriage within
their community. But the marriage is almost called off when
the boy's father demands a huge dowry. It is Ashok who offers
his family jewels to Daulatram so that Nikki's marriage can
take place. Daulatram's eyes open and he calls off the wedding
and marries Nikki to Ashok. The truth about Janki/ Mohini
also comes out and now that both the groups have shed their
prejudices Anand marries Janki. All's well that ends well.
The film
 New
Delhi is one of those few films that
prove you can make entertaining films which
are sensible and thought provoking as well.
The purpose behind New Delhi was
to expose and emphasize the cross and inherent
stupidity of that widely prevalent attitude
in India called provincialism and which
makes the people of one linguistic region
deride and distrust those of others (something
that continues even today).
New
Delhi's attempt
is commendable more so since it adopts satire
as the form of denunciation. Before New
Delhi, satire was a form not really
used in Indian Cinema. Perhaps the only
other earlier efforts of this form were
done by Master Vinayak, father of the actress
Nanda, in the late 1930s with films like
Brahmachari (1938)
and Brandi ki Bottle (1939). The
satire in New Delhi provides plenty of laughs
and amusement and at the same time effectively
communicates the film's message. And since
a good satire is dependent on wit and sharply
razored dialogues, New Delhi excels
in the departments of screenplay and dialogues.
Full marks to writers Inder Raj Anand, Radha
Krishnan and Mohan Segal as the dialogues
are funny yet hard hitting and with several
references to contemporary politics of the
time.
What
further helps the film greatly is that laughs
come naturally from characters in their
normal behaviour and situations in which
they are involved rather than being apparently
forced. In fact the comic scenes appeart
to be well thought out and nicely executed.
Likewise the drama and romance come naturally
too. In fact the romantic track between
Kishore Kumar and Vyjayantimala
is brisk, energetic and appealing. And to
its credit the film doesn't flag in spite
of its 3 hours length.
The
film is ably manned by Mohan Segal at the
helm. Segal was born in Jullunder in 1921.
rmed with a degree in literature, he studied
dance at Uday Shankar's India Culture Centre,
Almora. He was a member of a theatre group
invited by IPTA and PWA to tour their Shadow
Play in working class areas throughout
Bombay to raise funds for Bengal famine
relief. He then worked in Prithviraj Kapoor's
Prithvi Theatre as actor and choreographer
while being closely involved with IPTA in
Bombay. Segal wrote and directed the play
Desh Bhakt and also directed Balraj
Sahni's play Jadu ki Kursi. He joined
films as as actor and assistant director
to Chetan Anand. He made his directorial
debut in 1954 with the films Aulad
and Adhikar. However Segal's best
known films are the freewheeling Kishore
Kumar satires of the 50s and early 60s-
New Delhi, Apna Haath Jaganath
(1960) and Karodpati (1961).
His spectacular hit Sawan Bhadon (1970)
introduced Rekha to Hindi films and other
films include Devar (1966),
Kanyadaan (1968), Saajan (1969),
Raja Jani (1972) and Ek hi
Raasta (1977). But it is New Delhi
which is perhaps Segal's best and most well
known film.
New Delhi is full of wonderful performances.
Kishore Kumar is in full form and carries
the film on his shoulders. His comic timing
is spot on and he is as energetic as ever.
The traditional concept of a comedian has
always been one of lowly stature, that of
a sidekick. It was Kishore Kumar who successfully
became Hindi cinema's comic hero whose popularity
relied primarily on his comic talents. Add
to that his phenomenal acting talent and
amazing singing voice and you have a performer
who bordered on the genius.
Vyjayantimala proves to be the perfect foil
for Kishore Kumar. She was the first South
Indian actress who made it as a national
star and was one of the biggest ever Hindi
Film female stars in a career lasting almost
two decades. Besides her ability as an actress,
which was considerable, her greatest legacy
to Indian Cinema perhaps is that it has
become a must for any aspiring actress in
Indian Cinema to be an accomplished dancer.
Vyjayantimala has always had the mandatory
dance sequence in practically every film
of hers evoking 'classical art' associations.
She excels in the two main dances in
New Delhi - the solo bharatnatayam Aliruppu
number and the Bhangra folk dance in her
Punjabi avtaar and she is absolutely brilliant
in the Bhangra folk dance. Kishore Kumar
and Vyjayantimala proved to be a successful
screen team teaming up again successfully
in Asha (1957) and Rangoli (1962).
The
lead duo are ably supported by Nana Palsikar,
Radhakishen and Dhoomal. However on the
flip side Jabeen as Kishore Kumar's sister,
Nikki is a big no-no coming up woefully
short in both the looks and histrionic departments.
What is interesting in New Delhi
however is that barring Vyjayantimala playing
the Tamilian Janki, none of the other cast
members played characters from their region.
Kishore Kumar, a Bengali played a Punjabi,
Palsikar from Maharashtra played a Tamilian
and in her second avtar even Vyjayantimala
played a Punjabi girl and most successfully
too, one might add. Interestingly life imitated
art as in real life too Vyjayantimala, a
South Indian ultimately married a Punjabi,
Dr. Bali.
The
music by Shankar-Jaikishen is one of the
highlights of the film and proved to be
extremely popular. However the one song
which outdid the others in terms of its
popularity was Nakhrewaali with Kishore
Kumar dressed as Fred Astaire with a cane
and top hat. The song is perhaps one of
the earliest where the famous Kishore kumar
yodelling began. The other extremely propular
songs in the film included the Bhangra number
Tum Sang Preet Rachayi Rasiya
and Ae Bhai Zara Nikal Ghar se.
New
Delhi was a tremendous success at the
box office. Interestingly one of the writers,
Inder Raj Anand, went on to script another
extremely popular film which had the lead
duo separated by linguistic and regional
barriers with one family being Punjabi and
the other, Tamilian. Only, this film was
not a satire but an intense love story.
The film? Ek Duje ke Liye (1981)
starring Kamal Hassan and Rati Agnihotri!
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