Hamlet (1954 film) explained

Hamlet
Director:Kishore Sahu
Producer:Kishore Sahu
Music:Ramesh Naidu
Cinematography:K. H. Kapadia
Editing:Kantilal B. Shukla
Studio:Hindustan Chitra
Runtime:79 minutes
Country:India
Language:Hindi

Hamlet (Urdu: हेमलेट) is a 1954 Hindi tragedy drama film, produced and directed by Kishore Sahu.[1] The film was a free adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy, with Sahu playing Hamlet as well as writing the screenplay, while the dialogue was by Amanat Hilal and B. D. Verma.[2] It was produced by Hindustan Chitra, a production company started by Sahu in 1944.[3] It was Ramesh Naidu's first film as a music composer. The film starred Mala Sinha, Kishore Sahu, Venus Banerji, Kamaljeet and Jankidas.[4]

Sahu was influenced by "classic European sources".[5] Though termed a "free adaptation" in the credit roll of the film, Sahu's Hamlet stayed true to the title, its setting and the original names in the play, remaining as close as possible to Laurence Olivier's Hamlet film (1948).[6]

Plot

After seeing his father's ghost the film follows the play focusing on Hamlet's revenge on his Uncle Claudius, who has married his mother Gertrude after murdering Hamlet's father. He pretends to be insane and is in the process of staging a play where he plans to denounce his mother and Uncle.

Cast

Production

There were several plot changes, with Ophelia telling her part in flashback and singing songs with friends, while the gravediggers were "used for comic effect", thus giving in to Indian film-goers sensibilities.[7] The film took its inspiration from the Parsi theatre days, with Sahu's monologue inculcating couplets from famous Indian poets and using parts of dialogues from Ahsan's Khoon-Nahak (1928). Ophelia sang Bahadur Shah Zafar's "Na Kisi Ki Ankh Ka Noor Hoon" and a dying Hamlet quoted Zauq's "Layee Hayaat Aaye, Qaza Le Chali Chale".[8]

The "Parsi theatre tradition", which gave rise to several freely adapted Hindi films from Shakespeare including Modi's Khoon Ka Khoon (1935), Akhtar Hussain's Romeo and Juliet (1947) and Cleopatra (1950), came to an end with Hamlet.

Reception

The film did "reasonably well" at the box office. Acclaimed by the Filmfare critic, it was panned harshly by Filmindia, which called it a "slander" to Shakespeare. According to Manju Jain, Sybil Thorndike, who was present at the premiere of the film in Bombay, thought that Gertrude was "magnificent".

Other Indian Hamlet adaptations

Soundtrack

Ramesh Naidu was the debutant music director. He went on to score music for Telugu films in the 1970s, the most popular being Meghasandesam (1983), for which he won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction. The lyrics were written by Hasrat Jaipuri, while the playback singing was provided by Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi and Jagmohan Bakshi.[12]

Songlist

Title Singer
1"Ankhon Mein Pyar Mere Diwana Haal Mera"Asha Bhosle
2"Aa Jao Mere Pyare Arman Tujhko Pukare"Asha Bhosle
3"Chahe Sataye Wo Chahe Rulaye"Asha Bhosle
4"Sitamgar Kya Maza Paya Bata To Dil"Asha Bhosle
5"Ghir Ghir Aaye Badarwa O Bhaiya"Mohammed Rafi, Jagmohan Bakshi

Notes and References

  1. Book: Graham Bradshaw. Tom Bishop. The Shakespearean International Yearbook: Volume 12: Special Section, Shakespeare in India. 13 March 2015. 1 November 2012. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. 978-1-4094-7108-0. 101–. Google Books.
  2. Web site: Hamlet (1954). Gomolo. 13 March 2015. 2 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402195629/http://www.gomolo.com/hamlet-movie-cast-crew/2440. dead.
  3. Web site: Kishore Sahu (1915-1980). Cineplot. 13 March 2015. 29 March 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150329153853/http://cineplot.com/kishore-sahu-1915-1980/. dead.
  4. Web site: Hamlet (1954). citwf.com. Alan Goble. 13 March 2015. 23 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150923204034/http://www.citwf.com/film141946.htm. dead.
  5. Book: Ashish Rajadhyaksha. Paul Willemen. Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. 13 March 2015. 10 July 2014. Taylor & Francis. 978-1-135-94325-7. 1–. Google Books.
  6. Book: Dennis Kennedy. Yong Li Lan. Shakespeare in Asia: Contemporary Performance. 13 March 2015. 4 February 2010. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-51552-8. 86–. Google Books.
  7. Book: Poonam Trivedi. Singing to Shakespeare in Omkara. Martin Procházka. Andreas Höfele. Hanna Scolnicov. Michael Dobson. Renaissance Shakespeare: Shakespeare Renaissances: Proceedings of the Ninth World Shakespeare Congress. https://books.google.com/books?id=ZpJlAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA346. 13 March 2015. 12 December 2013. University of Delaware. 978-1-61149-461-7. 346–. Google Books.
  8. Book: Manju Jain. Narratives of Indian Cinema. 13 March 2015. 2009. Primus Books. 978-81-908918-4-4. 231–. Google Books.
  9. News: S Ramachandran. The Bard in Bollywood. 13 March 2015. The Telegraph. 30 July 2006. 24 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924133321/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060730/asp/look/story_6542197.asp. dead.
  10. Web site: Sohrab Modi - The lion of Minerva. Film Ka Ilm. 13 March 2015. 5 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141105121023/http://www.filmkailm.com/sohrab-modi-the-lion-of-minerva/. dead.
  11. Web site: Kay Kay Menon to play Shahid Kapoor's evil uncle in 'Haider' . The Indian Express . https://web.archive.org/web/20141027151905/http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/kay-kay-menon-to-play-shahid-kapoors-evil-uncle-in-haider/. 27 October 2014. 23 January 2014 . 13 March 2015.
  12. Web site: Hamlet (1954). MySwar. 13 March 2015. 20 August 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150820061709/http://myswar.com/album/hamlet-1954. dead.

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