''Saqi'' () is a 1952 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 film directed by
H. S. Rawail
Harnam Singh Rawail (21 August 1921 – 17 September 2004), often credited as H. S. Rawail, was an Indian filmmaker. He debuted as a director with the 1940 Bollywood film ''Dorangia Daku'' and is best known for romantic films like ''Mere M ...
and starring
Premnath
Prem Nath Malhotra, better known as Prem Nath, was an Indian actor and director, who was best known for his works in Hindi films. Nath made his debut with the film ''Ajit'' (1948), and went on to appear in over 100 films throughout his career. ...
,
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, ...
in lead roles. The film's music was composed by
C. Ramchandra
Ramchandra Narhar Chitalkar (12 January 1918 – 5 January 1982), also known as C. Ramchandra or Chitalkar or Anna Sahib, was an Indian music director and playback singer.[Arabian Nights
''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...]
and was one of the most expensive Indian films at the time of its release.
Plot
The film told the story a common man named Ajeeb, who tries to woo the princess Rukhsana.
Cast
*
Premnath
Prem Nath Malhotra, better known as Prem Nath, was an Indian actor and director, who was best known for his works in Hindi films. Nath made his debut with the film ''Ajit'' (1948), and went on to appear in over 100 films throughout his career. ...
as Ajeeb
*
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, ...
as Rukhsana
*
Gope as Genie
*
Randhir as Sultan
*
Iftekhar
Sayedna Iftekhar Ahmed Sharif (22 February 1924 – 4 March 1995), often mononymously credited as Iftekhar, was an Indian actor who mainly worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for his role as a police officer.
Career
Iftekhar was born in ...
as Abdul
*
Cuckoo
Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...
as the item number "Door Door Se"
Production
''Saqi'' was the Indian version of
Arabian Nights
''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
. The film was announced in February 1951, along with ''
Badal
''Badal'' () is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language action drama film directed by Raj Kanwar. The film stars Bobby Deol and Rani Mukerji in lead roles with Amrish Puri. The movie is inspired by ''The Devil's Own'' (1997), starring Harrison Ford and ...
'', also starring Premnath & Madhubala. While ''Badal'' was completed and released in the same year, ''Saqi'' took about one and a half year to complete. ''Saqi'' was an expensive venture for the producers and it was made on a huge budget of 10
lakhs
A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...
.
Soundtrack
Reception
''Saqi'' had a mixed reception with critics—the soundtrack and lavish sets were noted, but acting and screenplay were poorly received. Nevertheless, the film became a commercial success.
References
Sources
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External links
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{{One Thousand and One Nights
1950s Hindi-language films
1952 films
Films directed by H. S. Rawail
Indian romantic fantasy films
Films based on One Thousand and One Nights