''Sikandar'' or ''Sikander'' is a

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar E ...

epic

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

film 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 ...

and starring Prithviraj Kapoor as

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

Development

The battle sequences featuring thousands of extras along with horses, elephants and chariots were filmed in Kolhapur.

Plot

The story is set in 326 B.C. The film begins after Alexander the Great (''Sikander'' in Hindustani) conquers

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and the

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

valley and approaches the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

border at

Jhelum Jhelum (Punjabi and ur, ) is a city on the east bank of the Jhelum River, which is located in the district of Jhelum in the north of Punjab province, Pakistan. It is the 44th largest city of Pakistan by population. Jhelum is known for p ...

. He respects Aristotle and loves Persian Rukhsana (known in the west as

Roxana Roxana (c. 340 BC – 310 BC, grc, Ῥωξάνη; Old Iranian: ''*Raṷxšnā-'' "shining, radiant, brilliant"; sometimes Roxanne, Roxanna, Rukhsana, Roxandra and Roxane) was a Sogdian or a Bactrian princess whom Alexander the Great married ...

plays the Indian king Puru (

Porus Porus or Poros ( grc, Πῶρος ; 326–321 BC) was an ancient Indian king whose territory spanned the region between the Jhelum River (Hydaspes) and Chenab River (Acesines), in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. He is only ment ...

to the Greeks). Puru requests neighbouring kingdoms to unite against a common foreign enemy. The story goes that when Sikander defeated Porus and imprisoned him, he asked Porus how would he like to be treated. Porus replied: "the same way a king is treated by another king". Sikander was impressed by his answer and set him free.

Cast

as Porus * Prithviraj as Alexander * Vanmala as Rukhsana *

Meena Shorey Meena Shorey (13 November 1921 – 3 September 1989) was a Pakistani film actress who worked first in Indian cinema and later Pakistani cinema. She appeared in Hindi/Urdu and Punjabi language, Punjabi films. Credited in films by her mononym ...

as Parthana * Sheela as Sukhman * Sadiq Ali as Samar * Shakir as Aristotle *

K. N. Singh Krishan Niranjan Singh (1 September 1908 – 31 January 2000), known as K. N. Singh in Indian cinema, was a prominent villain and character actor. He appeared in over 200 Hindi films over a long career stretching from 1936 to the late 1980s. ...

as Raja Ambhi * LalaYakub as Salencons * Gagendra Singh as Enmanese * Jillo bai as Sarita Rani * Zahur Raja as Amar * Abu bakar * Ghulam Hussein * Noor Jehan * Prakash * G. S. Shorry * Athavale

Release

The release of the film coincided with

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the quest for

Swaraj Swarāj ( sa, स्वराज, translit=Svarāja '' sva-'' "self", '' raj'' "rule") can mean generally self-governance or "self-rule". It was first used by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to attain self rule from the Mughal Empire and the Adil ...

Quit India The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule ...

at its peak. In

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, the political atmosphere was tense, following

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

's call to

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". H ...

. Sikander further aroused patriotic feelings and nationalistic sentiment. Thus, though ''Sikander'' was approved by the

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

censor board, it was later banned from some of the theatres serving

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which cou ...

cantonments A cantonment (, , or ) is a military quarters. In Bangladesh, India and other parts of South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the colonial-era). In United States military parlance, a cantonment is, essent ...

. However, its appeal to nationalism was so great and direct, it remained popular for years. It was revived in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

in 1961 during the Indian march into Goa. After the movie was a huge box office success, it was dubbed and released in Persian. The music of ''Sikandar'' was composed by Meer Sahib. A prominent song was "Zindagi Hai Pyar Se, Pyar Se Bitaye Ja".

Remake

It was remade in 1965 as

Sikandar E Azam Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

in color, by Kedar Kapoor, starring Prithviraj Kapoor,

Dara Singh Dara Singh Randhawa (born Deedar Singh Randhawa; 19 November 1928 – 12 July 2012) was an Indian professional wrestler, actor, director and politician. He started acting in 1952 and was the first sportsman to be nominated to the Rajya S ...

Mumtaz Mumtaz ( ar, ممتاز) is a name commonly used in various countries in the Muslim world, mainly Afghanistan, Brunei, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Turkey. It can also be used as a female name. ''Mumtazah'' is a related female versio ...

, Madhumati,

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, ...

, Prem Nath,

Prem Chopra Prem Chopra (born 23 September 1935) is an Indian actor in Hindi and Punjabi films. He has acted in 380 films over a span of over 60 years. He has a soft-spoken diction despite being a villain in most films. His 19 films, with him as antagonist ...

Jeevan Jeevan is an Indian sub-continent first name meaning 'life' or 'bringer of life', that may be used by males or females. The name originates from the Sanskrit language but is more often used as a Nepalese language name, a Sikh or a Hindu name. Alte ...

References

External links

* 1940s Hindi-language films 1940s Urdu-language films 1941 films Films about Alexander the Great Indian black-and-white films Films directed by Sohrab Modi Classical war films Indian war films 1941 war films Indian historical films 1940s historical films Urdu-language Indian films {{1940s-Hindi-film-stub