''Izzat'' () is a 1937 Hindi film social drama, directed by Franz Osten. The film was produced by

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 ...

for

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 R ...

. The credit roll of ''Izzat'' attributes the story to Dr. G. Nundy, adapted for screen by J. Nundy. The screenplay was by

Niranjan Pal Niranjan Pal (17 August 1889 – 9 November 1959) was an Indian playwright, screenwriter, and director in the Indian film industry in the silent and early talkie days. He was a close associate of Himanshu Rai and Franz Osten, with whom he was a fo ...

, who handled the story section of Bombay Talkies. J. S. Casshyap wrote the songs and dialogues and was assisted in dialogue direction by S. I. Hassan. The music was composed by Saraswati Devi, with actor

Mumtaz Ali Mumtaz Ali (15 March 1905 – 6 May 1974) was an Indian dancer and character actor in Hindi cinema from the 1940s to 1970s. He was the father of Indian actor Mehmood. He also had his own dance troupe "Mumtaz Ali Nites" which performed all ...

doubling as the choreographer. The film starred

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 ...

with

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 ...

in the lead, while the rest of the cast included Mumtaz Ali, Madhurika, Kamtaprasad, Chandraprabha, and P. F. Pithawala. The film involves two "warring clans", the

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as ...

s and the

Bhil Bhil or Bheel is an ethnic group in western India. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. As of 2013, Bhils were the largest tribal group in India. Bhils are listed as tribal people of t ...

tribe, along with a young couple in love, much in "a Romeo and Juliet" style story setting.

Plot

The Marathas and the Bhils have been living in peace and mutual respect for a period of twenty-five years, due to the efforts of the two chiefs, the Maratha Patil and the Bhil chief Maruti. The Maratha Patil's son died at a young age and his nephew, Balaji, is being considered by the Patil to replace him. However, Balaji is against any sort of cordial relationship with the Bhils, and opposes any favourable treatment given to them. This upsets the Patil, who falls ill. He realises the consequence of Balaji succeeding him and regrets his decision made earlier to that effect. He wants to send a message to the Diwan (Chief Minister) that Balaji should not become the Patil following his death. The letter is intercepted by Balaji. The old chief dies, making Balaji the new Patil. The story then focuses on the animosity that develops between the two clans. Balaji usurps the Bhils land and makes them work for him. Maruti, the chief of the Bhils and Kanhayia's (

) father asks the Bhils to leave. The clash between the two clans turns Kanhaiya into a bandit, who is then hunted by the Marathas. When Balaji tries to molest Radha (

), Kanhaiya's beloved, Kanhaiya kills him and lets himself be captured by the Maratha police as he does not want any further atrocities against his tribe. He is sentenced to be hanged. Radha comes to meet him in the jail but dies. Kanhaiya goes to his hanging being hailed as a martyr.

Cast

as Radha *

as Karangopal * Kamta Prasad * Chandraprabha * P. F. Pithawala *

* Sunita Devi * N. M. Joshi * Ahteramuddin * Vimala * Madhurika * H. S. Naik * Manohar * M. Nazir * Fatehsingh * Y. G. Takle

Soundtrack

Saraswati Devi was the music director, with lyrics by J. S. Casshyap. The singers were Devika Rani, Ashok Kumar, Mumtaz Ali and Sunita Devi.

Song List

References

External links

*
Full movie on YouTube
{{Franz Osten 1937 films 1930s Hindi-language films Indian black-and-white films Films directed by Franz Osten Articles containing video clips Indian drama films 1937 drama films Hindi-language drama films