''Aina'', ( ur, ) also known as ''The Mirror'', is a 1977 Pakistani

romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

film directed by

Nazar-ul-Islam ''Nazar-ul-Islam'' (1939 – 11 January 1994) was a Pakistani film director known for his movies like, "Ehsaas (film), Ehsaas"(1972), "Sharafat (1974 film), Sharafat"(1974), "Aina (1977 film), Aina", and "Bandish (1980 Pakistani film), Band ...

and starring

Nadeem Nadeem (also spelled Nadim or Nedim; ar, نديم) is an Arabic masculine given name. It means "best friend of the drinker" "companion", "confidant" or "friend". Originates from the plural word "Nadama""نَدامَى" which means, drink to forg ...

and

Shabnam Jharna Basak (born 17 August 1946), known by her stage name Shabnam, is a Bangladeshi–Pakistani stage and film actress. Actor Waheed Murad introduced her to the Pakistani film industry by offering her a lead role in his film ''Samundar'' in 1 ...

. Singers are

Mehdi Hassan Mehdi Hassan Khan ( ur, مہدی حسن خاں , translit=) 18 July 1927 – 13 June 2012) was a Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer for Lollywood. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of gh ...

Mehnaz Mehnaz Begum (1958 – 19 January 2013) was a Pakistani TV, radio, and film singer. She was well known as a film playback singer in the 1970s and 1980s. She was the recipient of Nigar Awards.Nayyara Noor Nayyara Noor (; 3 November 1950 – 20 August 2022) was a Pakistani playback singer, considered one of Pakistan's most popular singers. She was known for performing in live ghazal singing concerts in Pakistani TV shows and in concert halls arou ...

and Alamgir. The film was a major box-office success and was the longest-running Pakistani film at the cinemas. The movie is based on the 1973 Hindi movie '' Aa Gale Lag Jaa'' and went on to be remade in Hindi in 1985 as ''

Pyar Jhukta Nahin ''Pyar Jhukta Nahin'' () is a 1985 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Vijay Sadanah, starring Mithun Chakraborty, Padmini Kolhapure, Danny Denzongpa, Asrani, and Bindu (actress), Bindu. Laxmikant–Pyarelal were nominated for Filmfare Award ...

''.

Plot

''Aina'' is a love story of two hearts and two souls but from two different social classes, one being a daughter of a business tycoon i.e. Rita (Shabnam) and one being a realistic, self-confident and a little bit arrogant poor young man, Iqbal (Nadeem). Rita is a leisure girl whereas Nadeem works as a hotel receptionist and they both fall in love. The entire movie is about how a rich girl and poor man fell in love and the struggles that comes after their marriage.

Cast

as Rita * Nadeem Baig as Iqbal *

Bahar Begum Bahar Begum (born Kishwar Begum; ) is an actress best known for many Pakistani movies since 1956. She was first introduced to the Pakistani film industry by the renowned film director Anwar Kamal Pasha in film Chann Mahi (1956). Anwar Kamal P ...

as Rita's mother * Shahzeb as Rita & Iqbal's son * Rehan as Seth Sahab (Rita's father) *

Qavi Khan Muhammad Qavi Khan ( ur, ) is a Pakistani film and television actor. He has also worked in Radio Pakistan and on stage. Though now largely working in television, he has acted in over 200 films. The Government of Pakistan honoured Khan with the ...

* Zarqa * Khalid Saleem Motta

Soundtrack

The film was a musical success as well and has trademark song visualizations from director

. The music was composed by

Robin Ghosh Robin Ghosh ( bn, রবিন ঘোষ, ur, ; 13 September 1939 – 13 February 2016) was a Pakistani-Bangladeshi playback singer and film music composer, best known for singing and composing music for Lollywood films from 1961 to 1986. Pla ...

, and the playback singers were

Nayyara Noor Nayyara Noor (; 3 November 1950 – 20 August 2022) was a Pakistani playback singer, considered one of Pakistan's most popular singers. She was known for performing in live ghazal singing concerts in Pakistani TV shows and in concert halls arou ...

and

Akhlaq Ahmed Akhlaq Ahmed ( ur, ; 10 January 1946 – 4 August 1999) was a Pakistani people, Pakistani film playback singer and still considered one of the leading voices of the film industry. Early life and career He was born in Delhi in 1946 and st ...

. The theme song is "" sung in a happy mood, sad mood and another song version sung by the child star at the climax of the movie. *Kabhi Mai Sochta Houn…by

*Wada Karo Saajna…by

and

*Ruthey Ho Tum Tumko Kaisay Manaun Piya…by

*Mujhe Dil Se Na Bhulana (sad version)…by

*Mujhe Dil Se Na Bhulana (child version)…by

Release and reception

''Aina'' was released on 18 March 1977 in Pakistani cinemas. In Karachi, it was released on two main cinemas Bambino and Scala. ''Aina'' is Pakistan's only Urdu film to have a crown jubilee (a mega-hit film) with a total running period of 401 weeks on all cinemas and 48 weeks on the main cinema in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. The film had broken all the previous box office records and no Pakistani film has touched that record again till date.

Mushtaq Gazdar Mushtaq Gazdar ( ur, مشتاق گزدر) (1940 – 15 November 2000) was a Pakistani cinematographer, who scripted, directed and produced around 190 short feature films, documentary films and newsreels on subjects including poverty-stricken ...

, a well-known film critic, in his book 'Pakistan Cinema 1947 - 1997', Oxford University Press, 1997 said:

"In ''Aina'', Nazrul infused a romantic note through the songs using the elements of nature as tools to enhance their impact. His use of open spaces to create the mood of the scenes in contrast with the normal lip-sync presentation of songs greatly appealed to the audience."

This movie was so popular that it was shown in

Cinemas A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

for almost 8 consecutive years (401 consecutive weeks). The film ran to packed crowds in theaters across

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

as well. In the 1990s it was telecast in

Bangladesh Television Bangladesh Television ( bn, বাংলাদেশ টেলিভিশন), commonly known by its acronym BTV ( bn, বিটিভি), is the state-owned television network of Bangladesh. The network was originally established as the East ...

Awards

One of its songs "" sung by

won

Nigar Award The Nigar Awards ( ur, , translit=Inʿām Negār, lit=Picture Awards) were presented in an annual award show to recognize outstanding achievement in Pakistani cinema. The honors are awarded by Nigar Magazine founded in 1948. The Nigar Awards a ...

for the best song of the year 1977. In total the film won 12 awards:

Remakes and possible sequel

The 1998 Pakistani film ''Nikah'', directed by Sangeeta, was loosely based on ''Aina''. Another remake was made in 2013 with the same name, which starred Faisal Qureshi,

Saba Qamar Saba Qamar Zaman (born 5 April 1984), known professionally as Saba Qamar, is a Pakistani actress who works predominantly in Urdu films and television. She has won several accolades including Lux Style Awards and Hum Awards. Qamar is one of Pak ...

, directed by

Sarmad Sultan Khoosat Sarmad Sultan Khoosat (born May 7, 1979) is a Pakistani actor, film/TV director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing the super-hit TV dramas ''Humsafar'' and ''Shehr-e-Zaat''. He is considered to be one of the best South Asian fi ...

and produced by A & B Entertainment. In April 2017, director

Syed Noor Syed Noor (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ur, ) (born Syed Ghulam Mohyuddin Noor) is a Pakistani film director based in Lahore. In 1970 Syed Noor joined the Pakistani film industry as an assistant to director S. Suleman. Noor assisted S. Suleman ...

announced a sequel to the film, tentatively known as ''Aina 2''. Noor told ''

The Express Tribune ''The Express Tribune'' is a daily English-language newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the flagship publication of the '' Daily Express'' media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper in a partnership with the ''Interna ...

'', "Of course, ''Aina 2'' will further the story told in ''Aina'' with the original star cast members as well as some new faces. Also, we’re planning on filming it in Canada this time."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aina (1977 film) 1977 films Pakistani musical films 1970s Urdu-language films Nigar Award winners Urdu films remade in other languages Films scored by Robin Ghosh 1977 romantic drama films Pakistani romantic drama films 1970s pregnancy films Pakistani pregnancy films Urdu-language Pakistani films