''Naata'' () is a 1955 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 social film directed by

Deena Nath Madhok Dina Nath Madhok (22 October 1902 – 9 July 1982) was a prominent lyricist of Bollywood in the 1940s to 1960s. He started his career with the 1932 film ''Radhey Sham''. He wrote over 800 songs in his career spanning four decades and was regarded ...

and starring

Madhubala Madhubala (born Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi; 14 February 1933 – 23 February 1969) was an Indian actress and producer who worked in Hindi-language films. She ranked as one of the highest-paid entertainers in India in the post-independence era, ...

Abhi Bhattacharya Abhi Bhattacharya (20 November 1921 – 11 August 1993) was an Indian actor of Hindi and Bengali cinema, who is most remembered for his roles in films of the 1950s and the 1960s, such as ''Yatrik'' (1952), ''Jagriti'' (1954), '' Anuradha'' (1 ...

and Chanchal.' The film was produced under the banner of

's production company Madhubala Private Ltd., which she had set up in 1955. Upon its release, ''Naata'' received mixed reviews from critics and failed at the box office.

Plot

''Naata'' was the story of a traumatized girl who relates the romance between her sister and a new post-master.

Cast

as Tara *

as Bade Babu * Chanchal as Beena * Gope as Shravan Kumar *

Moolchand Moolchand was a prolific character actor in Hindi and Panjabi cinema, who was active from 1950 to his death in the late 1980s. He appeared in over 250 films. These films spanned the parallel cinema of Guru Dutt to the wrestler films of Dara Sing ...

as Harmonium Player in Qawwali * Kanhaiyalal as Lakhibaba *

Vijayalakshmi Vijaya lakshmi is a Hindu Indian feminine given name or surname, which means "goddess of victory". The name may refer to: People First name * Vijayalakshmi Atluri, Indian computer scientist *Vijayalakshmi (Kannada actress), Indian actress *Vijaya ...

as Seeta

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of ''Naata'' was composed by

S. Mohinder Bakshi Mohinder Singh Sarna (24 February 1925 – 6 September 2020), known professionally as S. Mohinder, was an Indian music composer. Early life He was born in Sillanwali Tehsil, Sargodha District in 1925. Mohinder’s father Bakhsi Sujan ...

, with lyrics being penned by Tanveer Naqvi. As reported by ''Cinestaan'', Madhubala wanted

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

to lend her voice to the songs of the film, but Mangeshkar was uninterested and refused. It was then Naqvi's wife who convinced Mangeshkar to sing for ''Naata''. The film's songs proved to be very popular among the audience.

Reception

Critical reception

Upon its initial release in 1955, ''Naata'' was not well-received by critics. A ''Thought'' review written by V. S. M. found the screenplay to be "poor" and the direction, "poorer". However, he praised the cinematography extensively and stated it to be of high standards. The performances of Madhubala and Chanchal were lauded, but Abhi Bhattacharya's expressions were called "wooden".

Box office

''Naata'' was released during the time Madhubala's films were not scoring well at the box-office. Her recent releases had been ''

Amar Amar may refer to: People Given name * Amar (British singer) (born 1982), British Indian singer born Amar Dhanjal * Amar (Lebanese singer) (born 1986), born Amar Mahmoud Al Tahech * Amar Bose (1929–2013), Founder of Bose Corporation * Amar Gup ...

'' (1954), ''

Bahut Din Huwe ''Bahut Din Huwe'' () is a 1954 Indian Hindi-language film directed by S. S. Vasan, produced by Gemini Studios and starring Madhubala. It is a remake of the Telugu film '' Bala Nagamma'' (1942). ''Bahut Din Huwe'' received lukewarm reviews fro ...

'' (1954), '' Naqab'' (1955) and '' Mr. & Mrs. '55'' (1955), of which only the latter was a commercial success. Apparently ''Naata'' too underperformed at the box-office. The colossal failure of the film largely affected Madhubala financially and she was compelled to mortgage a huge bungalow belonging to her to recover the loss.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0134837 Indian drama films 1950s Hindi-language films 1955 films 1955 drama films Indian black-and-white films