''Prince'' is a 1969 Hindi movie produced by F. C. Mehra and directed by

Lekh Tandon Lekh Tandon (13 February 1929 – 15 October 2017) was an Indian filmmaker and actor. He had directed numerous Bollywood movies and Indian TV Serials. He gained national fame due to success of his directorial ventures Professor (1962 film), Prin ...

. The film stars

Shammi Kapoor Shammi Kapoor (born Shamsher Raj Kapoor; (pronounced �ʌmːi kʌpuːɾ 21 October 1931 – 14 August 2011) was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards, winning in the categories of Best Actor f ...

with

Vyjayanthimala Vyjayanthimala (born 13 August 1936) is a former Indian actress, dancer and parliamentarian. She is the recipient of several accolades, including two BFJA Awards and five Filmfare Awards. She made her screen debut at the age of thirteen with ...

in the lead while

Rajendranath Rajendra Nath Malhotra (8 June 1931 − 13 February 2008) was an Indian actor and comedian in Hindi and Punjabi films. Early life and family Rajendra Nath was born on 8 June 1931 in Tikamgarh, which is now in Madhya Pradesh. His family was f ...

, Ajit,

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

Leela Chitnis Leela Chitnis (''née'' Nagarkar; 9 September 1909 – 14 July 2003) was an Indian actress in the Indian film industry, active from 1930s to 1980s. In her early years she starred as a romantic lead, but she is best remembered for her later role ...

and Asit Sen form an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

. The film's music was composed by

Shankar Jaikishan Shankar may refer to: People *Shankar (name), including a list of people with the name * Sankar (writer) (Mani Shankar Mukherjee), Bengali writer *L. Shankar, Indian violinist *S. Shankar, Indian film director commonly credited as Shankar *Sankar ...

with lyrics by

Hasrat Jaipuri Hasrat Jaipuri, born Iqbal Hussain (15 April 1922 – 17 September 1999) was an Indian poet, who wrote in the Hindi and Urdu languages. He was also a renowned film lyricist in Hindi films, where he won the Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricis ...

and Faruk Qaiser. ''Prince'' is a drama set in the times of resurgent India when the nation threw off the British yoke, but some states still languished under the Princely yoke. It is the story of a Prince who brought about his own downfall so that he may rise as a human being. Vayjayanthimala got married in 1968 and then completed this film in 1969. The rights to this film are owned by

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. Referred to in the media as the " Baadshah of Bollywood", "King of Bollywood" ...

Red Chillies Entertainment Red Chillies Entertainment is an Indian visual effects, production and distribution company established by actor Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan in 2002. It was transformed from the defunct Dreamz Unlimited. Based in Mumbai, the studio's ...

Plot

Rajkumar Shamsher Singh is the only son of the local Maharaja, and has been brought up as a brat, and now he is an irresponsible, alcoholic, and womanizing adult, who wants everyone to bow down before him and his princely rank. One priest refuses to do so, and Shamsher pummels him mercilessly, though in vain. Frustrated, he asks the priest what he should do with his mundane life, and the priest tells him that he should repent, sacrifice all his palatial pleasures, and live the life of a simple and ordinary man, and hence learn the true meaning of life, for at least six months. Shamsher agrees to do so, and arranges an accident with his car, which plummets down a mountain, explodes and is blown to smithereens. Everyone in the palace believes that Shamsher is dead. He goes to a nearby village, and a blind woman there mistakes him for her long-lost son and starts calling him Sajjan Singh. Shamsher decides to play along as Sajjan. Two corrupt palace officials spot Sajjan, and notice his similarity to Shamsher, and conspire with him to pose as Shamsher for a hefty sum of money, to which Sajjan agrees. When he accompanies the officials back to the palace, he is shocked to find that his father has remarried a much younger woman, Ratna, and shortly after marrying her, has died, leaving the palace and its management to her and her greedy brother. Shamsher decides to reveal his true identity, but the officials threaten to expose him to his new-found blind mother, and Shamsher knows that he is trapped in the body of Sajjan Singh, forced to pose as none other than himself.

Cast

Shammi Kapoor plays the character of Prince Shamsher Singh. Shamsher is also the real name of Shammi Kapoor. *

as Prince Shamsher Singh *

as Princess Amrita *

Rajendra Nath Rajendra Nath Malhotra (8 June 1931 − 13 February 2008) was an Indian actor and comedian in Hindi and Punjabi films. Early life and family Rajendra Nath was born on 8 June 1931 in Tikamgarh, which is now in Madhya Pradesh. His family was f ...

as Vilayatiram * Ajit as Ratna's brother *

as Sophia *

as Mrs. Shanti Singh * Parveen Choudhary as Ratna *

Sudhir Sudhir is an Indian given name, Indian masculine given name. The Sanskrit word ' means "very wise", "resolute". Notable people with the name include: *Sudhir (Pakistani actor) (1922–1997), Pakistani actor *Sudhir (Hindi actor) (1944–2014), ...

as Sajjan Singh * Sunder as Zoravar *

Rashid Khan Rashid Khan Arman ( ps, ; born 20 September 1998) is an Afghan international cricketer and a former captain of the national team. In franchise leagues, he plays for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Adelaide Strikers in Austra ...

Zorawar Singh *

Sapru (actor) Daya Kishan Sapru (16 March 1916 – 20 October 1979), was an Indian actor famed for a variety of character roles in Hindi cinema, particularly villains, judges and aristocrats in crime thrillers and dramas. His most notable performances were in ...

as The King of Jamnapur *

Ulhas The Ulhas River is a river in Maharashtra, India. It is in the Thane, Raigad, and Pune districts of that state. It flows north and west from it source to where it splits into Vasai Creek and Thane Creek, near Thane. The Ulhas divides Salsette ...

as The King of Ramnagar *

Leela Mishra Leela Mishra (1 January 1908 – 17 January 1988) was an Indian actress. She worked as a character actor in over 200 Hindi films for five decades, and is best remembered for playing stock characters such as aunts (''Chachi'' or ''Mausi''). She ...

as Kamla * David Abraham as Diwan *

Randhir (actor) Randhir was an Indian character actor in Hindi and Punjabi films who was active from the 1940s to the 1980s. He appeared in over 172 films. Originally, he played side heroes or the friend of the hero. On a few occasions, he even played the her ...

as Michael *

Pinchoo Kapoor Pinchoo Kapoor (1927 – April 28, 1989) was an Indian actor born in Rawalpindi, Punjab Province (British India), Punjab, British India in 1927. He acted in many Hindi films during the 1970s and 1980s. His film career lasted from 1969 to 1989. ...

as Colonel * Bramh Bharadwaj as Commissioner * Shyam Kumar as Ratan assistant of King of Jamnapur * Rajan Kapoor as Dacoit * Asit sen as Dacoit's man * Maqsood as a guest in Shamsher's birthday party

Production Team

F. C. Mehra and Lekh Tandon had previously worked with Vyjayanthimala in the historical film ''

Amrapali Āmrapālī, also known as "Ambapālika", "Ambapali", or "Amra" was a celebrated ''nagarvadhu'' (royal courtesan) of the republic of Vaishali (located in present-day Bihar) in ancient India around 500 BC. Following the Buddha's teachings, she b ...

'' (1966). The team of producer F. C. Mehra, director Lekh Tandon, actor Shammi Kapoor and musicians Shankar-Jaikishan had earlier worked together on the hit film ''

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

'' (1962). F.C. had also worked with Shammi earlier in ''Mujrim'' (1958), ''

Ujala Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) was a project to distribute efficient LED lighting, launched by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 5 Jan 2015. The project is spearheaded by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited. In non-sub ...

'' (1959) and ''

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

'' (1960).

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was composed by the

duo, while the lyrics were penned by

and Faruk Qaiser. The album had

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and ...

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 ...

and

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the ...

who lent their voice to

and

respectively.

Box office

At the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed around 4,00,00,000 with a net of 2,00,00,000, thus becoming the fourth highest grossing film of 1969 with a verdict of Super Hit at Box Office India.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0064842, Prince
Prince profile
at ''Upperstall.com'' 1969 films 1960s Hindi-language films Films directed by Lekh Tandon Films scored by Shankar–Jaikishan