''Geeta '' is a

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

directed by Parshwanath Yeshwant Altekar and starring Chandra Mohan,

Durga Khote Durga Khote (14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was an Indian actress, beginning as one of the foremost leading ladies of her times, she remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starring in around ...

and

Anant Marathe Anant Purushottam Marathe ( mr, अनंत पुरुषोत्तम मराठे; 1929–2003) was an Indian actor, famous for playing supporting role in 1944 Marathi movie '' Ramshastri'', on the life of Ram Shastri and the role o ...

. It was released in

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

. The film produced under the Circo Productions banner was a bilingual made in

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 ...

and

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

. The story was written by Minoo Katrak who in later films was to become a renowned sound recordist. The cinematographer was Gordhanbhai Patel and the film's music was composed by Datta Koregaonkar. It's dialogues and song lyrics were by S. K. Kallah with screenplay by Altekar. The rest of the cast included

Trilok Kapoor Trilok Kapoor (11 February 1912 23 September 1988) was an Indian actor and a member of the Kapoor family who worked in Bollywood films. He was the younger brother of actor Prithviraj Kapoor. Early and personal life Trilok was born as the seco ...

, Ashalata, Vatsala Kumtekar and Baby Suman. The film starred Durga Khote and Chandra Mohan in the same film for the second time. They had earlier acted in ''

Amar Jyoti ''Amar Jyoti'' (Eternal Flame) is a List of Bollywood films of 1936, 1936 Hindi social, action adventure, drama film directed by V. Shantaram. Produced by Prabhat Film Company and cited as a "noteworthy" film along with Shantaram's earlier ''Am ...

'' (1936) but not opposite each other. Chandra Mohan was cast in a double role in this film, playing the role of father and older son. The story involves a restless man, whose hardships and needs make him leave his virtuous wife. Taking his young son Mohan along, he turns to a life of crime, inducing Mohan to become an outlaw with him.

Plot

Shankar ( Chandra Mohan) lives an unhappy existence with his pious wife Durga (

), and son Mohan. Durga is a staunch believer of and clings rigidly to the teachings of

Bhagavad Geeta The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c ...

. Shankar is irritated with his wife's devotional attendance on holy scripture, especially as the family is poor and things are not working out for him. One day, he takes his young son Mohan and leaves Durga behind. An expectant Durga, does not give up her beliefs and brings up the second child with good attributes and education. Shnkar now starts following a life of crime, in which Mohan joins him. Several years pass with Shankar and Mohan, now grown (Chandra Mohan again) continuing with their looting and killing. Shankar is caught in one of the killing sprees with the plotting of an opposite gang member and hanged. Mohan vows to take revenge on the gang for his father's death. He is soon caught and brought to court where his own younger brother Kumar (

) is the prosecutor. The mother meets her older son, and Mohan is finally repentant and looking for atonement.

Cast

* Chandra Mohan as Shankar/Mohan *

as Durga *

as Shankar's son * Vatsala Kumtekar as Sundari, Mohan's prostitute girlfriend * Ashalata as Lata, Sundari's sister wo is a devotee of Mohan's mother's teachings *

as Kumar * S. Nazir * Baby Suman * S. Prahlad * Keki Bawa

Review

According to

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. B ...

in his review of the film in the November 1940 issue of ''

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 ...

'', he found the production to be of a poor standard, the direction weak, the songs "hopeless", and that bad editing tended to drag the picture. He praised the acting of Durga Khote "sparkling" and he found Chandra Mohan to be "Irresistible, inimitable and incomparable" and "he thunders through the picture like a giant,.... The man acts in his words. His very voice thrills with its well measured modulations tuned to the subtleties of the different situations". Anant Marathe as the young boy "must be mentioned with these big names. He is the only one who keeps good company with a confidence that suggests experience and courage."

Soundtrack

The music composition was by Datta Koregaonkar with lyrics by S. K. Kallah. List:

Songlist

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id =0154526 , title =Geeta 1940 films 1940s Hindi-language films Indian black-and-white films