''Anjaan'' (The Unknown) is a

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

Indian

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

-language film directed by

Amiya Chakrabarty Amiya Chakravarty (30 November 1912 – 6 March 1957) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, who was leading film director in Hindi cinema of the 1940s and 1950s. He is noted for films like '' Daag'' (1952), '' Patita'' (1953), ...

and produced by

Bombay Talkies Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded in 1934. During its period of operation, Bombay Talkies produced 40 movies in Malad, a suburb of the Indian city of Bombay. The studio was established in 1934 by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani. After Ra ...

. It was Chakrabarty's first film direction. The film's story and screenplay were by Amiya Chakrabarty, with dialogues by J. S. Casshyap. The cinematography was by the debutant R. D. Mathur. Its music direction was by Pannalal Ghosh, with lyrics by

Kavi Pradeep Kavi Pradeep (born Ramchandra Narayanji Dwivedi; 6 February 1915 – 11 December 1998), was an Indian poet and songwriter who is best known for his patriotic song "''Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo"'' written as a tribute to the soldiers who had died d ...

and P. L. Santoshi. The film starred

Devika Rani Devika Rani Choudhuri (30 March 1908 – 9 March 1994), usually known as Devika Rani, was an Indian actress who was active in Hindi films during the 1930s and 1940s. Widely acknowledged as the first lady of Indian cinema, Devika Rani ha ...

, who had recently returned to films after a two-year absence, following the death of her husband

Himanshu Rai Himanshu Rai (1892 – 16 May 1940), one of the pioneers of Indian cinema, is best known as the founder of the studio in 1934, along with Devika Rani. He was associated with a number of movies, including ''Goddess'' (1922), ''The Light of Asia ...

in 1940. The cast included

Ashok Kumar Kumudlal Ganguly (13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), better known by his stage name Ashok Kumar and also by Dadamoni, was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema and who was a member of the cinematic Ganguly family. He ...

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, V. H. Desai, Gulab, Suresh and

Om Prakash Om Prakash (born Om Prakash Chibber 19 December 1919 – 21 February 1998) was an Indian film actor. He was born in Jammu as Om Prakash Chibber and went on to become a well-known character actor of Bollywood. His most well-known movies are Nam ...

. Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar formed a popular pair and acted together in eight films from 1936 to 1941. Devika enjoyed a higher status, was termed as a "bigger star" and was accorded top billing. Their films included ''Jeevan Naiya'' (1936), ''Achhut Kanya'' (1936), ''Janmabhoomi'' (1936), ''Izzat'' (1937), ''Savitri'' (1937), ''Nirmala'' (1938), ''Vachan'' (1938) and ''Anjaan'' (1941). ''Anjaan'' revolved around Devika Rani playing a governess to Ranima's children. She gets entangled in a love triangle involving a doctor played by Ashok Kumar, and the estate manager.

Plot

Indira (Devika Rani) is a poor governess employed by the widow, Ranima (Gulab), of a Zamindar for her two children. The estate manager Ramnath (Girish) falls in love with her and turns to villainous acts in order to win her over. Devika falls in love with the doctor, Ajit, played by Ashok Kumar, who looks after Ranima and is guardian to the two children. Following a scheming plot when Ranima dies, Ramnath implicates Ajit, for which he is apprehended. A court scene follows where Ajit is successful in acquitting himself. Indira and Ajit get together in the end, while the villain is convicted.

Cast

as Indira *

as Ajit * V. H. Desai *

* Girish as Ramnath * Suresh (Master Suresh) * P. F. Pithawala * Gulab * Fatty Prasad * Yusuf Sulehman * Syed Mukhtar

Review

The film came in for praise from the editor of the cine-magazine, ''

Filmindia ''filmindia'' is an Indian monthly magazine covering Indian cinema and published in English language. Started by Baburao Patel in 1935, ''filmindia'' was the first English film periodical to be published from Bombay. The magazine was reportedl ...

'',

Baburao Patel Baburao Patel (1904–1982) was an Indian publisher and writer, associated with films and politics. Career He was the editor and publisher of India's first film trade magazine, ''Filmindia'', the first edition of which was published in 1935. ...

. Titling the review as "Devika Returns With Charming Vengeance" he called it "a personal triumph for Devika Rani without whom even a foot of the picture becomes boring". The cinematographer R. D. Mathur was said to have in his "very first chance" "proved himself to be the best camera artist in the studio".

Soundtrack

With music directed by the "famous classical flautist" Pannalal Ghosh, the film had lyrics by

and P. L. Santosh. The singers were Devika Rani,

Songlist

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anjaan 1941 films 1940s Hindi-language films Indian black-and-white films Films scored by Pannalal Ghosh Films directed by Amiya Chakravarty