Usha Dutt and Shombhu Mitra in Dharti Ke Lal

''Dharti Ke Lal'' ( ''Children of the Earth'') is a 1946 Hindustani film, the first directorial venture of the noted film director

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (7 June 1914 – 1 June 1987) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, novelist, and journalist in Urdu, Hindi and English. He won four National Film Awards in India. Internationally, his films won the Palme d'Or (Golden ...

(K. A. Abbas). It was jointly written by

and

Bijon Bhattacharya Bijon Bhattacharya ( bn, বিজন ভট্টাচার্য; 17 July 1906 – 19 January 1978) was an Indian theatre and film actor from West Bengal. He was an eminent playwright and dramatist. Bhattacharya was born in 1906 at Farid ...

, based on plays by Bhattacharya and the story ''Annadata'' by

Krishan Chander Krishan Chander (23 November 1914 – 8 March 1977) was an Indian Urdu and Hindi writer of short stories and novels. Some of his works have also been translated in English. He was a prolific writer, penning over 20 novels, 30 collections o ...

. The film had music by

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...

, with lyrics by

Ali Sardar Jafri Ali Sardar Jafri (29 November 1913 – 1 August 2000) was an Indian writer of Urdu language. He was also a poet, critic and film lyricist. Biography Early life and education Ali Sardar Jafri was born in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh, where he sp ...

, Nemichand Jain, Vamiq, and

Prem Dhawan Prem Dhawan (1923–2001) was an Indian lyricist, music composer, choreographer and actor of Bollywood known for his patriotic songs, especially for the lyrics and compositions for the 1965 Manoj Kumar starrer, ''Shaheed''. He was a winner ...

. The film was based on the

Bengal famine of 1943 The Bengal famine of 1943 was a famine in the Bengal province of British India (present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal and eastern India) during World War II. An estimated 0.8 to 3.8 million Bengalis perished, out of a population of 60.3 millio ...

, which killed millions of

Bengali people Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of S ...

, and was one of the first films in

Indian cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

's social-realist movement. In 1949, ''Dharti Ke Lal'' also became the first Indian film to receive widespread distribution in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

(USSR), which led to the country becoming a major overseas market for

Indian films The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

Overview

''Dharti Ke Lal'' was critically acclaimed for its scathing view of the notorious

, in which millions of

died. It is considered an important political film as it gives a realistic portrayal of the changing social and economic climate during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The film uses the plight of a single family caught in this famine, and tells the story of human devastation, and the loss of humanity during the struggle to survive. During the Bengal famine of 1943, members of the IPTA travelled all over India, performing plays and collecting funds for the survivors of the famine, which has destroyed a whole generation of farmer families in Bengal. Thus Abbas was deeply influenced by the work of IPTA, and hence based his script upon two of IPTA's plays, ''

Nabanna ''Nobanno'' ( bn, নবান্ন, Nobānno; lit: New Feast) is a Bengali harvest celebration usually celebrated with food and dance and music in Bangladesh and in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley. It is a ...

'' (Harvest) and ''Jabanbandi'' by

, and the story ''Annadata'' by

. Even the cast of the film was mainly actors from IPTA. The film marked another chapter in the influential new wave in Indian cinema, which focussed on socially relevant themes as in ''

Neecha Nagar ''Neecha Nagar'' () is a 1946 Indian Hindi-language film, directed by Chetan Anand, written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Hayatullah Ansari, and produced by Rashid Anwar and A.Halim. It was a pioneering effort in social realism in Indian cinema a ...

'' (1946), made by Chetan Anand, also scripted by Abbas, and which continued with Bimal Roy's ''

Do Bigha Zamin ''Do Bigha Zamin'' () is a 1953 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Bimal Roy. Based on Rabindranath Tagore's Bengali poem " Dui Bigha Jomi", the film stars Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy in lead roles. Known for its socialist theme, it is c ...

'' (1953). It was the first and perhaps the only film produced by IPTA (Indian People's Theater Association) and remains one of the important Hindi films of that decade. The film marked the screen debut of

Zohra Sehgal Zohra Mumtaz Sehgal (born Sahibzadi Zohra Mumtazullah Khan Begum; 27 April 1912 – 10 July 2014) was an Indian actress, dancer, and choreographer. Having begun her career as a member of a contemporary dance troupe, she transitioned into acting ...

and also gave actor

Balraj Sahni Brigadier Balraj (born Balasegaram Kandiah) was a senior commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Early life Balraj was the fifth and youngest child of Kandiah and Kannagias. He received his primary education in Kokkuthoduwaai ...

his first important on screen role. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called it "...a gritty realistic drama." It proved to be tremendously influential not only to future filmmakers who admired its neorealist-like qualities—but also to intellectuals of India's left-wing.Dharti ke Lal Overview
''

Cast

Tripti Mitra Tripti Mitra (''née'' Bahaduri; 25 October 1925 – 24 May 1989) was a popular Indian actress of Bengali theatre and films, and wife of Sombhu Mitra, noted theatre director, with whom she co-founded pioneering theatre group ''Bohurupee'' in 19 ...

Sombhu Mitra Sombhu Mitra (22 August 1915 – 19 May 1997) was an Indian film and stage actor, director, playwright, reciter and an Indian theatre personality, known especially for his involvement in Bengali theatre, where he is considered a pioneer. H ...

Rashid Ahmed Rear-Admiral Rashid Ahmed (Urdu:رشيد احمد; b. 1918–2005), , was a two-star rank, two-star rank Two-star admiral, admiral in the Pakistan Navy, who is known for serving as Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Navy, Chief of Staff under Command ...

* Damayanti Sahni (Balraj Sahni's actual wife) *

Rashid Khan Rashid Khan Arman ( ps, ; born 20 September 1998) is an Afghan international cricketer and a former captain of the national team. In franchise leagues, he plays for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Adelaide Strikers in Austra ...

* K. N. Singh *

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 ...

* Snehaprabha

Notes

References

* ''Dictionary of Films'' (Berkeley: U. of CA Press, 1977), p. 84. * Vasudev and Lenglet, eds., ''Indian Cinema Super-bazaar'' (New Delhi: Vikas, 1978). * Shyamala A. Narayan, ''The Journal of Commonwealth Literature'', 1 1976; vol. 11: pp. 82 – 94. * Amir Ullah Khan and Bibek Debroy, ''Indian Economic Transition through Bollywood Eyes''.

External links

*
Review
in ''

'' (archived 30 April 2010)
Abbas
at ejumpcut
Songs of Dharti Ke Lal
(archived 5 February 2012) {{K. A. Abbas 1946 films 1940s Hindi-language films Films based on short fiction Films scored by Ravi Shankar Indian films based on plays Films about famine Films directed by K. A. Abbas Films set in 1943 Films set in India Films with screenplays by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas 1940s Urdu-language films Urdu-language Indian films Indian World War II films Indian black-and-white films Indian drama films 1946 drama films 1946 directorial debut films