Nartaki (Dancer) is a

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 ...

film directed by

Debaki Bose Debaki Bose (1898–1971), also known as Debaki Kumar Bose, was an Indian director, writer, and actor who is recognized for his contribution in Hindi as well as Bengali cinema. He was born on 25 November 1898 in Akalposh, (now East Burdwan), Bu ...

for

New Theatres Ltd New Theatres is an Indian film studio. It was formed in Calcutta by producer B. N. Sircar (Birendranath Sircar, the recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award of 1970). It was formed on 10 February 1931. Motto of this company was– ''Jivatang Jyotire ...

, Calcutta. 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 in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, it had story and screenplay written by Bose, with cinematography by Yusuf Mulji. Music was composed by

Pankaj Mullick Pankaj Kumar Mullick (10 May 1905 – 19 February 1978) was an Indian music composer, playback singer and actor, who was a pioneer of film music in Bengali cinema and Hindi cinema at the advent of playback singing, as well as an early exponent ...

. The cast had actress

Leela Desai Leela Desai, aka Lila Desai, was an Indian actress in the 1930s and 1940s. She was the daughter of Umedram Lalbhai Desai and his second wife Satyabala Devi, a musician of the early 1900s. Desai was born in Newark, New Jersey when her parents ...

playing the title role of Nartaki. Najam also called Najam-Ul-Hasain or Najmul Hussain had left

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 Ra ...

following his affair and elopement with Devika Rani, had now joined New Theatres Ltd, where he was cast in films like ''Anath Ashram'' (1937), '' Dushman'' (1939), ''Kapal Kundala'' (1939), and ''Nartaki''. The rest of the main cast included Jagdish Sethi, Wasti and Pankaj Mullick in the Hindi version. The story was a sixteenth century period costume drama about a courtesan who with the help of the king tries to avenge her insult against the priest of a temple monastery.

Plot

Roopkumari (Leela Desai) a famous court dancer is forbidden entry into a temple monastery run by a strict disciplinarian Priest, Gyananandji (Wasti), who demands celibacy from his monks. To avenge her insult she gets the help of the king but fails in her mission to enter the temple. She then tries to seduce the priest’s son, Satyasundar, who is set to take the main priest’s place as the chief priest. Roopkumari and Satyasundar fall in love and the priest turns his son out of the monastery. Roopkumari takes him to her house and nurses the now ill Satyasundar back to health. In the process she too undergoes a spiritual transformation, looking for a divine love. Satyasundar finally leaves Roopkumari and returns to the monastery.

Cast

Hindi

Cast: *

as the dancer Roopkumari * Najam as Satyasundar * Jagdish Sethi as Seth Hiralal * Wasti as Gyananandji *

as Kaviraj * R. P. Kapoor as Swamiji * Nand Kishore as Bhootnath * Rajani Rani as Ganga * Kalabati as Jumna * Bikram Kapoor * Panna Kapoor * Mohammed Siddique

Bengali

Cast: *

as Roopkumari the dancer * Bhanu Bannerjee as Satyasundar *

Chhabi Biswas Chhabi Biswas (''Chabi Biśbās'') (13 July 1900 – 11 June 1962) was an Indian actor, primarily known for his performances in Tapan Sinha's '' Kabuliwala'' and Satyajit Ray's films '' Jalshaghar'' (''The Music Room'', 1958), '' Devi'' ( ...

as Swamiji * Sailen Chowdhury as Seth Hiralal * Utpal Sen as Sage Gyananando *

as Kabi * Indu Mukherjee as Bhoothnath * Naresh Bose as Kishore * Jyoti as jamuna

Review and reception

The film was released on 24 December 1940 at Minerva Cinema, Bombay. In the Bombay Calling column 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 ...

, January 1940, mention was made of a Gujarati journal being mishandled during the shooting of the film at the studios.

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 ...

, editor of Filmindia commented on taking bodyguard of girls with him to protect him from Debaki Bose, who had newly arrived in Bombay from Calcutta. The review of ''Nartaki'' by Baburao Patel titled, "Debaki Bose Runs Amok", described the story as "too poor in development and almost beggarly in intellectual conception". The cast was criticised for their disappointing performances except for Wasti, who played the master monk. Yusuf Mulji's camera-work was commended as was the music score by Pankaj Mullick. The film went on to become a commercial success and was recommended as one of the top films of 1940. It is cited as the first "major cinematic-essay" on a dancer's life.

Soundtrack

With music composed by Pankaj Mullick who also appeared as Kaviraj in the film, it had lyrics by Arzu Lucknawi. One of the classic notable song was "Yeh Kaun Aaj Aaya Savere Savere" sung by Mullick. The other popular song, which helped him achieve "mass-appeal" was "Madabhari Rut Jawan Hai". The songs were sung by Leela Desai, Pankaj Mullick, and Radha Rani.

Songlist

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, id= 0032836 , title=Nartaki (1940) Bengali
www.pankajmullick.com - Comprehensive Resource Website, offering preview of all his songs, including those from Bengali & Hindi version of Nartaki.
1940 films 1940s Hindi-language films Indian black-and-white films Films scored by Pankaj Mullick