''Char Dil Char Rahen'' (English title: ''Four Hearts, Four Roads'') is a

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Hindi film 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" (fo ...

directed by

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (7 June 1914 – 1 June 1987) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, novelist, and journalist in Urdu, Hindi and English. He won four National Film Awards in India. Internationally, his films won the Palme d'Or (Golden ...

, and starring two big stars of the era, real-life brothers

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 ...

and

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (pronunciation: �aːd͡ʒ kəpuːɾ born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of th ...

. The movie is based on a novel of the same name.

Plot

Three young man Govinda (

), Dilwar (

Ajit Khan Hamid Ali Khan (27 January 1922 – 22 October 1998), better known by his stage name Ajit, was an Indian actor active in Hindi films. He acted in over two hundred movies over almost four decades. Ajit is also credited for starring as a lead ...

) and Jhonny (

) waiting at the crossroads for their lovers. Govinda was prevented from marrying Chavi (

Meena Kumari Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano; 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress and poet, who worked in Hindi films. Popularly known as ''The Tragedy Queen'', she was active between 1939 and 1972. Kumari is widely considered one of ...

) as she is untouchable and driven out from village. Govinda then waits for her at the crossroads. Dilwar rescues Pyari (

Nimmi Nawab Bano (18 February 1933 – 25 March 2020), better known by her stage name Nimmi, was an Indian screen actress who achieved stardom in the 1950s and early 1960s in Hindi films. She was one of the leading actresses of the "golden era" of Hin ...

) from Nawab (

Anwar Hussain (actor) Anwar Hussain (11 November 1925 – 1 January 1988) was an Indian actor and producer. He was a popular character actor from the 1940s to 1982 and acted in over 200 Bollywood films. Some of his best known roles are from '' Ab Dilli Dur Nahin'', ...

) but she refuses to escape without her mother. She then sets up a shop and waits near crossroad for Dilawar. Jhonny in love with Stella (

Kumkum (actress) Kumkum, born Zaibunnisa (08 June 1934 – 28 July 2020), was an Indian actress. She acted in approximately 115 films during her career. She is best known for her roles in ''Mr. X in Bombay'' (1964), ''Mother India'' (1957), ''Son of India'' (1 ...

) is framed by his boss Fereira ( David Abraham) and jailed he later joins group of crossroads and starts a garage. Nirmal Kumar (

Paidi Jairaj Paidi or Páidí may refer to the following: People * Paidi () is an Indian surname. People with the surnames or family names of Paidi or Pydi are found in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. People with Paidi surname are Kalinga's ...

) the union leader then asks the trio to blast a hill at crossroad to build a road.

Cast

as Govinda * Ajit as Dilawar *

as Johny Braganza *

as Chavli *

Kumkum Kumkuma is a powder used for social and religious markings in India. It is made from turmeric or any other local materials. The turmeric is dried and powdered with a bit of slaked lime, which turns the rich yellow powder into a red color. In Indi ...

as Stella D'Souza *

as Pyari * Anwar Hussain as Nawab Saab * David Abraham as Ferreira *

Nana Palsikar Nana Palshikar ( mr, नाना पळशीकर) (1907 – 1 June 1984) was an Indian actor who appeared in over 80 Hindi films. He made his film debut in 1935 with ''Dhuwandhar'', and went on to play character roles in both Hindi mainstream ...

as Pujariji *

Achala Sachdev Achala Sachdev (3 May 1920 – 30 April 2012) was an Indian actress who appeared in classic films of Hindi language film industry. She was from Peshawar and started her career as a child actor. She later became known for mother and grandmother ...

P. Jairaj Paidi Jairaj (born 28 September 1909 – 11 August 2000) was an Indian actor, director and producer known for his works majorly in Hindi; few Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu language films, and Telugu theatre.Luminaries of 20th Century, Potti Sreeram ...

as Nirmal Kumar * Rashid Khan *

Kumari Naaz Salma Baig (20 August 1944 - 19 October 1995) popularly known as Kumari Naaz or Baby Naaz was an Indian actress in Hindi language films. Career She started her career as a child actor in films. Her best remembered role as a child artiste was i ...

(as Baby Naaz)

Soundtrack

Box office

It was released simultaneously with other big films, Devendra Goel's ''

Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan ''Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan'' () is a 1959 Indian Hindi-language film directed and produced by Devendra Goel. The film stars Rajendra Kumar as the protagonist Dr Anand and Meena Kumari, Honey Irani and Madan Puri in pivotal roles. The film wa ...

'' and

V Shantaram Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre (18 November 1901 – 30 October 1990), referred to as V. Shantaram or Shantaram Bapu, was an Indian filmmaker, film producer, and actor known for his work in Hindi and Marathi films. He is most known for films such ...

's ''

Navrang Navrang is a 1959 Indian Hindi-language film co-written and directed by V. Shantaram. The film is noted for its dance sequences with lead actress Sandhya and music by C. Ramchandra, while playback singer Mahendra Kapoor made his singing debut wi ...

'', while ''Navrang'' was a hit, ''Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan'' broke even and ''Char Dil Char Rahen'' failed at the Indian box office in 1959. However, it later went on to become an overseas blockbuster at the Soviet box office, where it drew 39.8 million viewers in 1962. In the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, the film grossed 9.95 million Rbls (

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

11.06 million, 5.27

crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

), equivalent to US$ million (591 crore) in 2016. Its overseas Soviet gross exceeded the domestic Indian gross of all films released in 1959.

Controversy

Shammi Kapoor received a legal notice from director Abbas when he refused to act for one of the songs in the film, and many other controversies with the stars of that era caused director Abbas to vow to stop making movies with mainstream movie stars.

Notes

References

External links

* {{K. A. Abbas 1959 films 1950s Hindi-language films Films based on Indian novels Indian black-and-white films Films directed by K. A. Abbas Films scored by Anil Biswas Films with screenplays by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas