''Upkar'' () is a 1967 Indian Hindi film directed by
Manoj Kumar
Harikrishan Goswami (born 24 July 1937), better known by his screen name Manoj Kumar, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for acting and making films with patriotic theme ...
. The film held the top spot at the box office in 1967. It was Manoj Kumar's directorial debut film. Then India's prime minister
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...
suggested Kumar to make a film based on our farmers and soldiers. It was the highest grossing movie of the year. It is considered as a classic film.
The film is based on the backdrop of war of 1965, it praised the village life, farmer's and soldier's contribution for the nation. It was praised for story, photography, songs, lyrics, acting.
The movie also stars
Asha Parekh
Asha Parekh (born 2 October 1942) is a retired Indian actress, film director, and producer who appeared in many commercially successful films throughout her career. She was the highest paid actress of her time and was one of the most successful ...
Kamini Kaushal
Kamini Kaushal (born as Uma Kashyap, 24 February 1927) is an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films and television. She is noted for her roles in films such as ''Neecha Nagar'' (1946), which won the 1946 Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at Cannes Fil ...
and Pran in his first positive character role. Madan Puri played the main villain with ease, full ability, and command. The film won several major awards.
Plot
Manoj Kumar plays a village man 'Bharat', who sacrifices everything to get his brother educated. His brother, Puran, goes to study in city and gets attracted to the high society life style. He comes back to the village but is a selfish man wanting his share of the property. Bharat is unwilling to divide the property and transfers the full property land to Puran's son in order to prevent Puran from selling the land.
But, when the war of 1965 between India and Pakistan breaks out, Bharat goes to the war front; while his selfish brother, with the help of his greedy uncle Charandas and some partners, tries to gain profit by hoarding and black marketing grains in the market. But later Puran discovers Charandas' plan to separate Puran from Bharat and ridden with guilt and shame, surrenders to the police.
Bharat fights bravely in the war but is captured by enemy. He later manages to escape but is badly injured and loses both his hands. In the end, Bharat returns as a war hero, his brother apologises and unites & both brothers again start to live in the village, working hard in the fields as farmers.
Cast
*
Manoj Kumar
Harikrishan Goswami (born 24 July 1937), better known by his screen name Manoj Kumar, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for acting and making films with patriotic theme ...
- Bharat
°
Mahesh Kothare
Mahesh Amber Kothare (Marathi pronunciation: əɦeːʃ koʈʰaːɾe born 28 September 1953) is an Indian film actor, director and producer of Marathi and Hindi films. He started his acting career as child artist. Kothare acted in well-known ...
- Younger Bharat
*
Asha Parekh
Asha Parekh (born 2 October 1942) is a retired Indian actress, film director, and producer who appeared in many commercially successful films throughout her career. She was the highest paid actress of her time and was one of the most successful ...
- Dr. Kavita
*
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 ...
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
- Major ''saab''
*
Kamini Kaushal
Kamini Kaushal (born as Uma Kashyap, 24 February 1927) is an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films and television. She is noted for her roles in films such as ''Neecha Nagar'' (1946), which won the 1946 Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at Cannes Fil ...
Manmohan Manmohan means 'Winner of the heart'. It is another name of Krishna, the Hindu deity, one of the "avatars" (or "incarnation") of Lord Vishnu. Manmohan may also refer to:
*Man Mohan Adhikari (1920–1999), former Prime Minister of Nepal
*Manmohan (a ...
- Kavita's Brother
*
Aruna Irani
Aruna Irani (born 3 May 1946) is an Indian actress, who has acted in over 500 films throughout Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati cinema, playing mostly supporting and character roles. She has won two Filmfare Awards for Best Supporting Ac ...
Gulshan Bawra
Gulshan Kumar Mehta, popularly known by his pen name Gulshan Bawra (literally: "Gulshan The Mad") (12 April 1937 – 7 August 2009), was an Indian songwriter and actor in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning 42 years, he has to his credit about 2 ...
- Som
*
Mohan Choti
Mohan Choti (1935 – 1 February 1992) was an Indian actor who worked as a comedian in Hindi films. The name Mohan Choti came from a fictional character of the same name from the 1957 film '' Musafir'', in which he plays a tea shop delivery boy ...
- Mangal
*
Laxmi Chhaya
Laxmi Chhaya (7 January 1948 – 9 May 2004) was an Indian actress, dancer and teacher, who was known for her distinctive character roles and appearances in Hindi films.
Following a series of roles as a child actor, Chhaya earned recognition ...
- Guest dancer in "Gulabi Raat Gulabi"
Background
Prime Minister
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...
praised his earlier film ''
Shaheed
''Shaheed'' ( , , ; pa, ਸ਼ਹੀਦ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); ...
'' and enthused Manoj Kumar to make a film on the
Jai Jawan Jai Kisan
'
Jai Jawan Jai Kisan (" en, Hail the Soldier, Hail the Farmer") was a slogan of Lal Bahadur Shastri,the second Prime Minister of India spoken in 1965 at a public gathering Uruwa, Prayagraj.
Soon after Shastri took over the prime ministership o ...
slogan. The slogan shaped into Manoj Kumar's official debut as a director for ''Upkar'', where he believably played both a ''jawan'' () and a ''kisan''. A huge hit, Upkar made Manoj an authority on screen patriotism.
According to movie expert Rajesh Subramanian, Rajesh Khanna was originally signed for the film, but before the shooting kicked off he won the ''All India Talent Contest'' organised by ''United Producers'' and '' Filmfare'' and thus had to withdraw. Prem Chopra replaced him.
Most parts of the movie were shot in Atali village near Ballabgarh (Haryana) and Ghevra Village near Bawana, Delhi. The Shiv Temple shown in the film is located in Ghevra, including the songs "''Kasme Vaade''" and "
Mere Desh Ki Dharti
"Mere Desh Ki Dharti" () is an Indian Hindi song from the Bollywood film ''Upkar'' (1967). The lyrics of the song were written by Gulshan Kumar Mehta, and the music was composed by Kalyanji–Anandji. Mahendra Kapoor was the playback singer. Th ...
", then Manoj Kumar purchased a Bagh (property) in that area named Vishal Bagh on Main Bawana Road at Narela, Delhi NCT.
Production
* Origin - India's second prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri suggested Manoj Kumar to make a movie based on his slogan ''Jai Jawan Jai Kisan.'' After India defeated Pakistan in 1965 war. Shastri wanted to raise moral of the country.
* Principal photography-
The
principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
happened at ''Nangal Thakran'' village of Delhi state. It is present on North East side of
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...
. The film unit took bullock carts, ploughs from the villagers for filming, house of the village are used for Bharat (Manoj Kumar) house. The cast and production used to arrive at morning for filming and used to return to Delhi at night. They lived in the village during filming of night sequences. The field of one of the resident of village is used as of Bharat, where "''Mere Desh Ki Dharti'' " song was filmed. Some portions are filmed in Rajkamal Kala-mandir studio, Kamal studio, Gurudatt studio and Mehaboob studio.
Soundtrack
The film's music was given by
Kalyanji Anandji
Kalyanji Virji Shah (30 June 1928 – 24 August 2000) was the ''Kalyanji'' of the Kalyanji-Anandji duo. He and his brother Anandji Virji Shah have been famous Indian film musicians, and won the 1975 Filmfare Award for Best Music Director, f ...
. Lyrics for ''Upkar'' were penned by
Qamar Jalalabadi
Om Prakash Bhandari (9 March 1917 – 9 January 2003), better known as Qamar Jalalabadi, was an Indian poet and lyricist of songs for Hindi movies. He composed the title track of the popular television serial Vikram Aur Betaal.
Early life
He ...
,
Indeevar
Shyamalal Babu Rai, known professionally as Indeevar, (also credited as Indiwar and Indeewar) (1 January 1924 – 27 February 1997) was one of the leading Hindi film lyricists in the 1960s.
Early life
He was born in Barua Sagar of Jhansi di ...
,
Gulshan Bawra
Gulshan Kumar Mehta, popularly known by his pen name Gulshan Bawra (literally: "Gulshan The Mad") (12 April 1937 – 7 August 2009), was an Indian songwriter and actor in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning 42 years, he has to his credit about 2 ...
The songs of Upkar became hit. Still the song "''Mere Desh Ki Dharti''" () is played during Republic day and Independence day of India.
Many years later,
Manoj Kumar
Harikrishan Goswami (born 24 July 1937), better known by his screen name Manoj Kumar, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for acting and making films with patriotic theme ...
said that one of the most beautiful screen images that stuck in his mind was a "half-lit
Asha Parekh
Asha Parekh (born 2 October 1942) is a retired Indian actress, film director, and producer who appeared in many commercially successful films throughout her career. She was the highest paid actress of her time and was one of the most successful ...
" in this film.
Awards and nominations
;
15th Filmfare Awards
The 15th Filmfare Awards were held in 1968, celebrating the best in Hindi cinema in 1967.
'' Upkar'' led the ceremony with 10 nominations, followed by ''Milan'' with 9 nominations.
''Upkar'' won 7 awards, including Best Film, Best Director ...
:
Won
*
Best Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
– V. I. P. Films
*
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to:
Film awards
* AACTA Award for Best Direction
* Academy Award for Best Director
* BA ...
–
Manoj Kumar
Harikrishan Goswami (born 24 July 1937), better known by his screen name Manoj Kumar, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for acting and making films with patriotic theme ...
Gulshan Bawra
Gulshan Kumar Mehta, popularly known by his pen name Gulshan Bawra (literally: "Gulshan The Mad") (12 April 1937 – 7 August 2009), was an Indian songwriter and actor in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning 42 years, he has to his credit about 2 ...
Kalyanji–Anandji
Kalyanji–Anandji are an Indian composer duo: Kalyanji Virji Shah (30 June 1928 – 24 August 2000) and his brother Anandji Virji Shah (born 2 March 1933). The duo are known for their work on Hindi film soundtracks, with many evergreen songs ...
National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film
The National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film was one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It was one of several a ...
--
Manoj Kumar
Harikrishan Goswami (born 24 July 1937), better known by his screen name Manoj Kumar, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for acting and making films with patriotic theme ...
*
National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer
The following is a list of winners of the National Film Award (Silver Lotus Award) for Best Male Playback singer. The award was first granted to Mahendra Kapoor in the year 1967. The singers whose performances have won awards have worked in nine ...
BFJA Award Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards commonly referred as BFJA Awards, is given by The Bengal Film Journalists' Association. The BFJA is the oldest association of film critics in India, founded in 1937 to serve the developing film journalism ...
for Best Dialogue (Hindi)--
Manoj Kumar
Harikrishan Goswami (born 24 July 1937), better known by his screen name Manoj Kumar, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for acting and making films with patriotic theme ...