''Sheesh Mahal'' (Palace of Mirrors) is a

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

social

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' 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 ...

film produced and directed by

Sohrab Modi Sohrab Merwanji Modi (2 November 1897 – 28 January 1984) was an Indian stage and film actor, director and producer. His films include ''Khoon Ka Khoon'' (1935), a version of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'', '' Sikandar'', ''Pukar'', ''Prithvi Va ...

for Minerva Movietone. The story writer was the late Khan-Bahadur

Hakim Ahmad Shuja Hakim Ahmad Shuja MBE (; sometimes written as 'Hakeem Ahmed Shujah' and 'Hakim Ahmad Shuja Pasha') (4 November 1893 – 4 January 1969), was a famous Urdu and Persian poet, playwright, writer, film writer and lyricist, scholar and mysti ...

, an

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Vasant Desai Vasant Desai (1912–1975) was an Indian film music composer, most remembered for his score in V. Shantaram films like '' Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje'' (1955), '' Do Aankhen Barah Haath'' (1957), Vijay Bhatt's '' Goonj Uthi Shehnai'' (1959), ''Samp ...

and the lyricists were Aajiz, Shams Lucknowi and Nazim Panipati. The film starred

Naseem Banu Naseem Banu (4 July 1916 – 18 June 2002) was an Indian actress. She was referred to as Naseem and known as "Beauty Queen" and the "first female superstar" of Indian Cinema. Starting her acting career in the mid-1930s she continued to act t ...

Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...

, Pran, Nigar Sultana, Pushpa Hans, Jawahar Kaul and

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 ...

. Naseem plays the daughter of a feudal aristocrat who sticks to his old ways in spite of being reduced to penury. In contrast to her role in '' Pukar'' (1939), she "dressed simply, with little make-up", with her acting leaving an emotional impact on the audiences. And Bakwas is the builder of Sheesh Mahal

Plot

An old feudal aristocrat, Thakur Jaspal Singh (

) lives with his two daughters, Ranja (

) and Nalini (Pushpa Hans), and son Balram in a grand mansion called Sheesh Mahal. He maintains his long family ancestry and honour, citing the valour of olden days. His way of life far exceeds the money he has. His children try to warn him regarding his excessive spending, but his feudal mind-set refuses to let others see that they are in dire straits. They finally have to sell their mansion to a former worker, Durgaprasad (

), who is now rich. They settle in a small hovel-like place. The brother finds work in the factory, but meets with an accident where his leg is amputated. Desperate Ranjana finds work as a maid to Roopa ( Nigar Sultana), Durgaprasad’s daughter. Jaspal Singh refuses Durgadas when he comes to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage to his son Vikram (Jawahar Kaul) claiming that Durgadas may have bought the Sheesh Mahal, but he's still a labourer compared to the aristocratic family. Balram argues with his father about keeping up false pretences. Sundarmukh ( Pran), who was to marry Ranjana, but has broken the engagement because they are poor, comes and tells Jaspal that his daughter, in the guise of working at Durgadas' house is having an affair with his son. Jaspal is furious and rushes to kill Ranjana to avenge the Rajput honour. At the Sheesh Mahal, Durgadas stops him with a lecture on different warriors and honour. Jaspal falters and falls down the steps. Before he dies, he blesses the union between Ranjana and Vikram.

Cast

as Thakur Jaspal Singh *

as Ranjana *

as Durgadas * Nigar Sultana as Roopa Devi * Pran as Sundarmukh * Jawahar Kaul as Vikram * Amarnath as Balram *

as Vikram’s mother * Ghulam Mohiuddin * Sadat Ali

Crew

* Producer: Sohrab Modi * Music director: Vasant Desai * Lyricist: Aajiz, Shams Lucknowi, Nazim Panipati (as well as an adaptation of Hakim Ahmad Shuja's poem) * Cinematographer: M. Malhotra * Dances: Prem Dhawan * Editing: D. D. Shirdhankar and P. Bhalchander * Processed: Bombay Film Laboratory * Make-up Artist: M. N. Borkar * Recording Director: M. Edulji * Art Director: Rusi K. Banker

Review

Though the film is still praised for its lavish sets show-casing the mansion almost on par with

Mughal-E-Azam ''Mughal-e-Azam'' () is a 1960 Indian epic historical drama film produced and directed by K. Asif. Starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, and Durga Khote, it follows the love affair between Mughal Prince Salim (who went ...

as cited by Amrit Gangar, the film came in for extremely harsh criticism from

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 ...

'', who had an old feud going with Modi. Patel in the October 1950 issue of ''Filmindia'' claimed "... Sheesh Mahal fails miserably to appeal". However, ''Motions Picture Magazine'' in its February 1951 issue commended Modi for assuring the public that he still retained the "mastery of his craft". In overall terms, the film, despite some shortcomings, has a strong storyline and is well-directed by Modi, with exceptional roles by Naseem and Mubarak.

Soundtrack

Vasant Desai Vasant Desai (1912–1975) was an Indian film music composer, most remembered for his score in V. Shantaram films like '' Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje'' (1955), '' Do Aankhen Barah Haath'' (1957), Vijay Bhatt's '' Goonj Uthi Shehnai'' (1959), ''Samp ...

composed all the songs. The singers were Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt, Pushpa Hans and Mohammed Rafi. Pushpa Hans was a known singer and actress of those days. ''Chaman'' and ''Sheesh Mahal'' were her notable films.

Songlist

References

External links

*
Songs
at Muvyz, Inc. {{Sohrab Modi 1950 films 1950s Hindi-language films Films scored by Vasant Desai 1950 drama films Indian drama films Films directed by Sohrab Modi Hindi-language drama films Indian black-and-white films