''Sunghursh'' is a 1968 Indian Hindi film directed and produced by
Harnam Singh Rawail
Harnam Singh Rawail (21 August 1921 – 17 September 2004), often credited as H. S. Rawail, was an Indian filmmaker. He debuted as a director with the 1940 Bollywood film '' Dorangia Daku'' and is best known for romantic films like ''Mere ...
. It is based on a short story ''Layli Asmaner Ayna'' in
Bengali language
Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken o ...
by
Jnanpith Award
The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian w ...
-winning writer
Mahasweta Devi
Mahasweta Devi (14 January 1926 – 28 July 2016) ''
, which presents a fictionalised account of vendetta within a
thuggee
Thuggee (, ) are actions and crimes carried out by Thugs, historically, organised gangs of professional robbers and murderers in India. The English word ''thug'' traces its roots to the Hindi ठग (), which means 'swindler' or 'deceiver'. Rela ...
cult in the holy Indian town of
Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic t ...
. It stars
Dilip Kumar
Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from ...
,
Vyjayanthimala
Vyjayanthimala (born 13 August 1936) is a former Indian actress, dancer and parliamentarian. She is the recipient of several accolades, including two BFJA Awards and five Filmfare Awards. She made her screen debut at the age of thirteen wit ...
Sanjeev Kumar
Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian actor. He is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. He acted in genres ranging from romantic dramas to thrille ...
,
Jayant
Jayanta ( sa, जयन्त, "victory"), is a character who appears in Hindu literature. He is the son of Indra, the king of the devas (gods), and his wife, Shachi (Indrani). He has a sister called Jayanti.
He appears in various Hindu scri ...
,
Deven Verma
Deven Verma (23 October 1937 – 2 December 2014) was an Indian film and television actor, particularly known for his comic roles, with Bollywood directors like Basu Chatterji, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Gulzar. He also produced and directed fi ...
,
Durga Khote
Durga Khote (14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was an Indian actress, beginning as one of the foremost leading ladies of her times, she remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starring in around ...
and
Iftekhar
Sayedna Iftekhar Ahmed Sharif (22 February 1924 – 4 March 1995), often mononymously credited as Iftekhar, was an Indian actor who mainly worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for his role as a police officer.
Career
Iftekhar was born in ...
. The film was the last one to see actors
Dilip Kumar
Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from ...
and
Vyjayanthimala
Vyjayanthimala (born 13 August 1936) is a former Indian actress, dancer and parliamentarian. She is the recipient of several accolades, including two BFJA Awards and five Filmfare Awards. She made her screen debut at the age of thirteen wit ...
working together. They had worked in several films which performed well commercially; however, unlike their previous collaborations ''Sunghursh'' under-performed commercially and was declared "Below Average" at box-office.
The music is by
Naushad
Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian music director for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the ...
and lyrics for the songs are by Shakeel Badayuni. Naushad and Badayuni had worked together on many films previously and were "the most sought after" composer-lyricist duo of the time in Bollywood. ''Sunghursh'' was popularly mistaken to be a debut film of
Sanjeev Kumar
Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian actor. He is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. He acted in genres ranging from romantic dramas to thrille ...
.
The director Harnam Singh Rawail's son Rahul Rawail, who is also a director, paid a tribute to this film by titling one of his as ''
Jeevan Ek Sanghursh
''Jeevan Ek Sanghursh'' () is a 1990 Bollywood film directed by Rahul Rawail, produced by D. Rama Naidu. It stars Raakhee, Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit in the leading roles. The film was successful and was the tenth highest grossing Bollywo ...
'' (1990) starring
Anil Kapoor
Anil Kapoor (born 24 December 1956) is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, besides television and international films and television. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a producer, Kapo ...
and
Madhuri Dixit
Madhuri Dixit Nene (née Dixit; born 15 May 1967) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi films. A leading actress of Indian cinema, she has appeared in over 70 films. Noted by critics for her beauty, dancing skills, and characters ...
.
Plot
Bhavani Prasad (
Jayant
Jayanta ( sa, जयन्त, "victory"), is a character who appears in Hindu literature. He is the son of Indra, the king of the devas (gods), and his wife, Shachi (Indrani). He has a sister called Jayanti.
He appears in various Hindu scri ...
) is a powerful Shakta priest at Kashi. Prasad, a devotee of the black goddess
Kali
Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tra ...
and a
thuggee
Thuggee (, ) are actions and crimes carried out by Thugs, historically, organised gangs of professional robbers and murderers in India. The English word ''thug'' traces its roots to the Hindi ठग (), which means 'swindler' or 'deceiver'. Rela ...
, religiously follows a practice to murder wealthy travelers who stay in his pilgrim guesthouse and offers them as a sacrifice to Kali. Prasad's son Shankar (Iftekhar) does not agree to such practices, opposes his father and decides to leave the village with his wife and their three children: Kundan (
Dilip Kumar
Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from ...
), Yashoda and Gopal. Prasad forcibly takes Kundan with him to follow in his footsteps and forbids him from seeing the rest of the family.
Young Kundan is now being raised by his grandfather Prasad, who desires to have Kundan as his successor, head of a temple and pilgrim guesthouse on the banks of the Ganges river. Prasad mysteriously kills his son and puts the blame on his enemy and nephew, Naubatlal (D. K. Sapru). Prasad had earlier killed Naubatlal's father. When Naubatlal learns the truth, he decides to take revenge, but Prasad kills Naubatlal before he could do anything. Naubatlal's family decides to leave the village and settle down Calcutta where his two young sons, Dwarka (Sanjeev Kumar) and Ganeshi Prasad ( Balraj Sahni), work as merchants. They learn about their father's death from their mother (Mumtaz Begum) and swear to avenge their father's death by killing Prasad and his grandson Kundan (Dilip Kumar).
Kundan continues to serve Prasad in the Banaras temple, but does not follow the practice of killing people. When he is invited to his younger sister, Yashodha's marriage (Anju Mahendru), Kundan gets a chance to visit his mother and grandmother and his siblings after many years. One day, Kundan meets Laila-E-Aasmaan (
Vyjayanthimala
Vyjayanthimala (born 13 August 1936) is a former Indian actress, dancer and parliamentarian. She is the recipient of several accolades, including two BFJA Awards and five Filmfare Awards. She made her screen debut at the age of thirteen wit ...
), a courtesan, in the temple who has come from Calcutta after her madam's death. Kundan falls in love with Laila only to realise that she was his childhood friend, Munni. Kundan proposes to Laila, but Prasad does not agree to the marriage, knowing that Laila was hired by Dwarka and Ganesh Prasad to seduce Kundan and bring him to them.
Kundan decides to end the feud with Dwarka, but Dwarka does not co-operate. Dwarka attacks Kundan, but gets killed by him. As repentance for his grandfather's sins, Kundan decides to serve Ganeshi and takes another identity, that of Bajrangi to make peace with him, only to realise that Ganeshi Prasad is in love with Laila and wants to marry her as his second wife.
Cast
*
Dilip Kumar
Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from ...
as Kundan Prasad / Bajrangi
*
Vyjayanthimala
Vyjayanthimala (born 13 August 1936) is a former Indian actress, dancer and parliamentarian. She is the recipient of several accolades, including two BFJA Awards and five Filmfare Awards. She made her screen debut at the age of thirteen wit ...
as Munni / Laila-E-Aasmaan
* Balraj Sahni as Ganeshi Prasad
*
Sanjeev Kumar
Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian actor. He is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. He acted in genres ranging from romantic dramas to thrille ...
as Dwarka Prasad
*
Jayant
Jayanta ( sa, जयन्त, "victory"), is a character who appears in Hindu literature. He is the son of Indra, the king of the devas (gods), and his wife, Shachi (Indrani). He has a sister called Jayanti.
He appears in various Hindu scri ...
as Bhavani Prasad
*
Durga Khote
Durga Khote (14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was an Indian actress, beginning as one of the foremost leading ladies of her times, she remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starring in around ...
as Bhavani Prasad's Wife
*
Anju Mahendru
Anju Mahendru is an Indian actress. She is best known as Reeva in ''Kahiin to Hoga'', Kamini Gupta in '' Kasautii Zindagii Kay'' and Beeji in ''Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai''.
Personal life
Mahendru was briefly engaged to cricket player Gar ...
as Yashoda Prasad
* Sunder as Kundan's Uncle
* Ulhas as Bhim
*
Deven Verma
Deven Verma (23 October 1937 – 2 December 2014) was an Indian film and television actor, particularly known for his comic roles, with Bollywood directors like Basu Chatterji, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Gulzar. He also produced and directed fi ...
as Nisar
*
Padma Khanna
Padma Khanna is an Indian actress, dancer and director. She appeared mainly in Hindi and Bhojpuri films in the 1970s and 1980s. She is most remembered for her role in the film '' Saudagar'' with Amitabh Bachchan and also as Queen Kaikeyi in Ram ...
as Mama's Wife
*
Sulochana Latkar
Sulochana Latkar (born 30 July 1928) known by her screen name Sulochana, is a well-known actress of Marathi and Hindi cinema and has acted in 50 films in Marathi and around 250 films in Hindi. She is most known for her performances in Marathi ...
as Shankar's Wife
*
Iftekhar
Sayedna Iftekhar Ahmed Sharif (22 February 1924 – 4 March 1995), often mononymously credited as Iftekhar, was an Indian actor who mainly worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for his role as a police officer.
Career
Iftekhar was born in ...
as Shankar Prasad
*
Urmila Bhatt
Urmila Bhatt (1 November 1933 – 22 February 1997) was an actress of Hindi cinema. She started acting in Drama Theatre. She joined Sangeet Kala Academy in Rajkot as a folk dancer and singer. It was during that time that her famous Gujarati dra ...
as Kunti Prasad
*
Padma Rani
Padmarani, also spelled as Padma Rani, was an Indian actress who performed in Gujarati plays, Gujarati films, and Hindi films.
Early life
Padmarani was born to a Maharashtrian family in Pune, Maharashtra on 25 January 1937. She was brought ...
as Dwarka's wife
* D. K. Sapru as Naubatlal Prasad
*
Ram Mohan
Ram Mohan (26 August 1931 – 11 October 2019) was an Indian animator, title designer and design educator, who was also known as father of Indian Animation and was a veteran in the Indian animation industry, who started his career at the Cartoo ...
Jagdish Raj
Jagdish Raj Khurana (1928 – 28 July 2013) was a Bollywood actor who holds a Guinness World Record for being the most type-cast actor. He played the role of a police inspector in 144 films.
Early life and career
He was born in 1928 in the tow ...
as Raja Sahib
* Mumtaz Begum as Naubatlal's Wife
*
Mehmood Junior
Naeem Sayyed (born 15 November 1956) popularly known as Mehmood Junior is an Indian actor, singer and Marathi film director. The name Junior Mehmood was given to him by Mehmood Ali.
Career
Mehmood Junior has acted in 265 movies in 7 different ...
as Dwarka's Son
*
Dilip Dhawan
Dilip Dhawan (1955 – 15 February 2000) was an Indian film and television actor.
He started his career as a child in '' Sangharsh'' (1968), featuring Dilip Kumar, Dhawan acted in over 50 films.
Career
He acted as the hero in the movie ''Arvin ...
as Young Kundan
Production
Director Rawail had considered Sadhana to play the lead actress of the film. He had waited for months to sign her in his ''
Mere Mehboob
''Mere Mehboob'' ("My Lover") is a 1963 Indian film directed by Harnam Singh Rawail and starring Ashok Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Sadhana, Nimmi, Pran, Johnny Walker and Ameeta. The film became a blockbuster and took the number one position a ...
'' (1963). But now the actress had developed
thyroid
The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of tissue called the thyroid isthmus. The thy ...
problems and took a break from acting for treatment in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Eventually, Rawail signed Vyjayanthimala for the role. Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala who had worked together for ''
Naya Daur ''Naya Daur'' may refer to:
* ''Naya Daur'' (1957 film)
* ''Naya Daur'' (1978 film)
* ''Naya Daur'' (magazine), a literary magazine published by Lucknow
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Prade ...
'' (1957) were then said to have a romantic affair. The actors parted after Vyjayanthimala worked with
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 ...
in the 1964 Hindi film '' Sangam''. Thus, most of the scenes between the two actors for ''Sungharsh'' were shot separately.
When the film was near completion, it was rumoured that with the increasing conflicts between the two leading actors, Vyjayanthimala would be replaced by another actress,
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 ...
. Rehman had already replaced Vyjayanthimala in another Hindi film starring Kumar, ''
Ram Aur Shyam
''Ram Aur Shyam'' (English: ''Ram And Shyam'') is a 1967 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film directed by Tapi Chanakya. The film is a remake of Chanakya's 1964 Telugu film ''Ramudu Bheemudu''. It stars Dilip Kumar in a double role as twin b ...
'', (1967) which was being shot simultaneously with ''Sunghursh''. Vyjayanthimala readily declined the claim of her leaving the film when it was about to finish its shooting. ''Sungharsh'' was the last film where Kumar and Vyjayanthimala worked together. By then, both the actors had done the maximum number of films together and each was a commercial success.
Sanjeev Kumar
Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian actor. He is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. He acted in genres ranging from romantic dramas to thrille ...
, who had previously acted in theatre and other smaller film productions, was noticed through his performance of negative role through ''Sungharsh'' and he then shot to fame. He was commended for his role while a newcomer as compared with established actors like Dilip Kumar and Balraj Sahni. The film was popularly mistaken to be his debut.
As ''Sungharsh'' was set in
Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic t ...
during the 19th century, Rawail took special care about the costumes and sets to create the look for the period. The actor-director
Rajesh Roshan
Rajesh Roshan Lal Nagrath (born 24 May 1955) is an Indian Hindi cinema music director and composer. He is the son of music director Roshan and singer Ira Roshan.
Personal life
Rajesh Roshan has a Punjabi Hindu father and Bengali Brahmin m ...
had worked as an assistant director on the film.
Soundtrack
The music for all the songs was composed by
Naushad
Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian music director for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the ...
and the lyrics were written by Shakeel Badayuni. Naushad and Badayuni had worked together on many films previously and were "the most sought after" composer-lyricist duo of the time in Bollywood. Their collaborations of ''
Baiju Bawra
Baiju Bawra (Lit. "Baiju the Insane", born as Baijnath Mishra) was a dhrupad musician from medieval India. Nearly all the information on Baiju Bawra comes from legends, and lacks historical authenticity. According to the most popular legends, he ...
'' (1952), ''
Mother India
''Mother India'' is a 1957 Indian epic drama film, directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. A remake of Khan's earlier film '' Aurat'' (1940), it is the story of a poverty-stricken village wom ...
'' (1957), ''
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 ...
'' (1960) and more are quite popular. They had worked with Rawail and had given the musical hit ''
Mere Mehboob
''Mere Mehboob'' ("My Lover") is a 1963 Indian film directed by Harnam Singh Rawail and starring Ashok Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Sadhana, Nimmi, Pran, Johnny Walker and Ameeta. The film became a blockbuster and took the number one position a ...
'' in 1963. The film's soundtrack has seven songs sung by Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar with one song sung by Asha Bhosle. All are solo songs where Naushad used the music from the regions of
Awadh
Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...
and eastern
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
. But critics have considered these compositions "below par" as compared with Naushad's other work.
Similar to his earlier work where Naushad had simplified
Hindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, si ...
to produce
filmi
Filmi ("of films") music soundtracks are music produced for India's mainstream motion picture industry and written and performed for Indian cinema. In cinema, music directors make up the main body of composers; the songs are performed by playba ...
songs, the solo "Mere Paas Aao Nazar To Milao" rendered by
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 ...
was based on
Bhairavi
Bhairavi ( sa, भैरवी) is a Hindu goddess, described as one of the Mahāvidyas, the ten avatars of the mother goddess. She is the consort of Bhairava.
Etymology
The name ''Bhairavi'' means "terror" or "awe-inspiring". She is th ...
Raga. The song "Mere Pairon Mein Ghunghroo" by Rafi was included in "''101 Mohammad Rafi Hits'' by
Shemaroo Entertainment
Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd. is an Indian content creator, aggregator and distributor, specifically in the media and entertainment industry. It was founded by Buddhichand Maroo in 1962 as a book circulating library under the name Shemaroo and s ...
on his 31st death anniversary. The singer died on 31 July 1980. The song was also used by former Chief Ministers of Bihar
Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Railway Minister of India (2004-2009), and a former Member of Parlia ...
16th Filmfare Awards
The 16th Filmfare Awards were held in 1969.
''Brahmachari'' led the ceremony with 9 nominations, followed by ''Neel Kamal'' with 8 nominations and '' Ankhen'' with 7 nominations.
''Brahmachari'' won 6 awards, including Best Film and Best A ...
, Dilip Kumar was nominated for the Best Actor for ''Sunghursh'' as well as for '' Aadmi''. However, the award was presented to
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 for ...