''Prem Pujari'' is a 1970 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 ...

-language romantic

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film produced, directed and written by

Dev Anand Dharamdev Pishorimal Anand (26 September 1923 – 3 December 2011), better known as Dev Anand, was an Indian actor, writer, director and producer known for his work in Hindi cinema, through a career that spanned over six decades. He was ...

for Navketan Films, his directorial debut. The movie stars Dev Anand,

Waheeda Rehman Waheeda Rehman (born 3 February 1938) is an Indian actress and dancer. Regarded as one of Hindi cinema's finest actresses, Rehman's accolades include a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards. Rehman was honoured with the Padma Shri by G ...

Shatrughan Sinha Shatrughan Prasad Sinha (born 9 December 1945) is an Indian actor and politician. He is a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Asansol constituency as a member of All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). Earlier he was elected as Member of Parliam ...

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 ...

Madan Puri Madan Puri (30 September 1915 – 13 January 1985) was an Indian actor of Hindi and Punjabi films. His brothers were actors Chaman Puri and Amrish Puri. As a character actor mainly in negative roles (villain), he acted in about 430 films in a ...

and a then-unknown

Amrish Puri Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Indian cinema and Theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himself as one of the most popular actor ...

. It has several popular songs composed and directed by

S. D. Burman Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975) was an Indian music director and singer. A member of the Tripura royal family, he started his career with Bengali films in 1937. He later began composing for Hindi movies and became one ...

. The songs were written by

Gopaldas Neeraj Gopaldas Neeraj (popularly known as Neeraj; 4 January 1925 – 19 July 2018) was an Indian poet and author of Hindi literature. He was also a poet of Hindi Kavi sammelan (Poets Meet). He was born in the village of Puravali, near Mahewa in Eta ...

. The film was a commercial failure. However, the music album is regarded as a masterpiece among classical Hindi film music aficionados, particularly the songs "Shokhiyon Mein Ghola Jaye" sung by

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly (); 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music. He ...

and

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her con ...

, "Phoolon Ke Rang Se" sung by

and "Rangeela Re Tere Rang Mein" sung by

Plot

Lieutenant Ramdev Bakshi (Dev Anand) is the son of widowed army officer Durgadas Bakshi. Ram is an innocent man who has a deep interest in wildlife. Ram is in the army as per his father's choice. He loves Suman (Waheeda Rahman), a beautiful, cheerful lady living in Ram's village in Khemkaran. Ram and Suman spend their time together romancing. One day, a letter comes from the Indian army stating that Ram should return back to the Indo-Chinese border since his holidays are over. Ram engages in a debate with his father where he wishes to leave the army. But however, he ultimately bids farewell to his village and Suman. On reaching the border, he refuses to take part in the war since he believes in non-violence or ahimsa. Frustrated, the army sentences him to 2 years in cellular jail for not abiding to the orders of his seniors. Fortunately, Ram runs away from the police and is roaming in the mountains of north-east. Later, he turns himself in and seeks forgiveness for his refusal to listen to orders by spying for India. He is sent to Beijing from where he passes on many important Chinese secrets to India, helping them win the war. Later, Pandit Nehru awards him with the country's highest military honor. After the war, he marries Suman and the two live happily together.

Cast

as Lt. Ramdev Bakshi / Peter Andrews / Yoo Thok *

as Suman Mehra *

as Pakistani Army Officer * Zaheeda as Rani Chang / Mrs. Andrews / Mrs. Seema Yoo Thok *

as Bilkis Mohammed (Billy) *

Anup Kumar (actor) Anup Kumar (অনুপ কুমার) (17 June 1930 – 3 September 1998) was an Indian actor who is known for his work in Bengali cinema. Early life Anup Kumar was born on 17 June 1930 in Calcutta, British India. His real name was Sat ...

as Kulbhushan *

Nasir Hussain Mohammad Nasir Hussain Khan (16 November 1926 — 13 March 2002), better known as Nasir Hussain, was an Indian film producer, director, and screenwriter. With a career spanning decades, Hussain has been credited as a major trendsetter in the ...

as Retd. Subedar Major Durgaprasad Bakshi *

as Chang * Manmohan as Chinese Army Officer * Sajjan as Suman's maternal uncle *

as Henchman in church of Spain. * Sachin as Sunder * Siddhu as Chamanlal

Location

The film was shot in Switzerland and has Grimsel Hotel in one of the song sequences. Here, Shatrughan Sinha was picked to play his part from the gathered public. Part of ''Prem Pujari'' was also shot at Astagaon near Shirdi in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.

Music

The music was composed by

, with lyrics by

Neeraj Neeraj or Niraj ( Devanagari: नीरज ) is a Hindu masculine given name. The Sanskrit word ' is a compound of ' 'water' and ' 'born' and has the primary meaning of 'lotus'. The same Sanskrit word can also be a compound of ' 'without' (which ...

. Several of the songs from the film became popular, "Phoolon Ke Rang Se" sung by Kishore Kumar (music of which was reused by Burman from his earlier very popular Bengali song ''Borne Gondhe Chonde Geetitey''), "Rangila Re Tere Rang Mein" which was a blend of folk and modern and sung by Lata Mangeshkar, "Shokhiyon Mein Ghola Jaaye" by Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar, "Taaqat Watan Ki Hum Se Hai" (patriotic song), and the number in Burman's voice "Prem Ke Pujari Hum Hain". According to Anantharaman, Dev Anand stated that "Rangila Re" remained his all-time Navketan favourite song.

Reception

While ''Prem Pujari'' did not do well at the box office, Sachin dev Burman's soundtrack became a success and was termed as "superlative" and as a "brilliant score". The songs are known for the purity of their

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 ...

languages and are regarded as evergreen classics.S. D Burman The World of His Music

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0066241, title=Prem Pujari 1970 films Indian spy films 1970s Hindi-language films Films scored by S. D. Burman Films directed by Dev Anand Films shot in Bihar India–Pakistan relations in popular culture Films shot in Switzerland Military of Pakistan in films 1970 directorial debut films