''Kokila'' () is a 1937

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 ...

social family drama film directed by

Sarvottam Badami Sarvottam Badami (1910–2005) was an Indian film director of Hindi, Tamil and Telugu films. He started his career as a sound recordist for the first talkie in India, '' Alam Ara'' (1931). In 1948 he helped set up the Films Division for news- ...

. The music was composed by Anil Biswas with lyrics written by Siddiqui and

Zia Sarhadi Zia Sarhadi ( ur, ضیا سرحدی; born Fazl-e-Qadir Sethi 1914 in Peshawar, North West Frontier Province – 27 January 1997 in Karachi, Sindh) was a Pakistani screenwriter and director of films in the Indian Film Industry, whose career ...

. The story was adapted from the well-known novel ''Kokila'', written by

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

writer Ramanlal Vasantlal Desai. The film starred Motilal,

Sabita Devi Sabita Devi (1914–1965) was a Hindi film actress in Indian cinema. She is stated to be one of the "prominent" leading ladies of the "pioneering era" of Indian cinema along with Mehtab, Bibbo, Durga Khote, Gohar, Devika Rani and Seeta Devi. ...

Shobhna Samarth Shobhana Samarth (17 November 1916 – 9 February 2000) was an Indian actress, director and producer who began her career in the early days of talkie movies in the Hindi film industry and continued in lead roles into the 1950s. She started i ...

, Maya Bannerjee,

Sitara Devi Sitara Devi (named Dhanlakshm; 8 November 1920 – 25 November 2014) was an Indian dancer of the classical Kathak style of dancing, a singer, and an actress. She was the recipient of several awards and accolades, and performed at several pres ...

, Pesi Patel, Siddiqui and Kayam Ali.

Cast

* Motilal *

* Sankata Prasad * Maya Bannerjee * Pesi Patel * Kayam Ali * Siddiqui

Review and Box Office

The film was not a success with

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. ...

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 ...

'' in his December 1937 editorial claiming it had "failed rather badly". However, it had a large audience attendance in the first week and that according to Patel was due to Sabita Devi. The screenplay was considered a poor adaptation of the story. Patel was critical of Motilal and Siddiqui's performances while praising Maya Bannerjee and Sankatha Prasad for their efforts.Patel, p. 5 Shobhna Samarth had made her entry in films through ''Nigah-e-Nafrat'' (1935), but came into prominence with her roles in films like '' Do Diwane'' (1936) and ''Kokila''.

Music

The music was composed by Anil Biswas with lyrics by Siddiqui and Zia Sarhadi The singers were Sabita Devi, Maya Bannerjee, Anil Biswas and Dattaram Kadam.Patel, p. 5

Song List

References

External links

* 1937 films 1930s Hindi-language films Indian drama films 1937 drama films Indian black-and-white films Films directed by Sarvottam Badami Hindi-language drama films {{1930s-Hindi-film-stub