Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje

Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (transl. The anklets go jhanak jhanak) is a 1955 Indian Hindi-language dance film directed by V. Shantaram. It stars Shantaram's wife Sandhya and dancer Gopi Krishna in lead roles. One of the earlier Technicolor films made in India, the film won the All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film, the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, and the Filmfare Best Movie Award.[2] The film was declared a "Super Hit" at Box office India.[1]

Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje
Theatrical poster
Directed byV. Shantaram
Story byDewan Sharar
Produced byRajkamal Kalamandir
StarringGopi Krishna
Sandhya
Keshavrao Date
Bhagwan Dada
CinematographyG. Balakrishna
Edited byChintamani Borkar
Music byVasant Desai
Distributed byRajkamal Kalamandir
Release date
  • 1955 (1955)
Running time
143 min
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Box office 2.45 Crore[1]

Plot

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Classical dance guru Mangal stumbles on a dance performance in a lavish haveli by Neela. He orders his talented son Girdhar to demonstrate to the audience the true method of classical dance. Entranced by Girdhar's skill, Neela begs Mangal to admit her as a pupil. He finally agrees on two conditions: she must devote her life to art and she must partner Girdhar in the Tandav portion of an upcoming dance competition. As the two practice together, she begins to fall in love with Girdhar. Manilal, a wealthy and jealous man who hopes to have Neela for himself, warns Mangal that the two are falling in love, but he ignores him. When Mangal goes away for some time to buy new costumes for the pair, they confess their love to each other and neglect their dancing in favour of idyllic walks and boat rides. Mangal returns and discovers that the two are in love. Enraged that Girdhar's dancing has suffered and believing that he will now never win the title of Bharat Natarajan, he disowns his son and resolves to leave him.

Dismayed that she has endangered Girdhar's career, Neela pretends that she has cheated on him with Manilal and he returns to his father and his art. The devastated Neela tries to drown herself in the river, but is rescued by a kindly sadhu. She decides to follow the example of the minstrel Meerabai and devotes her life to Krishna, but is alarmed when Girdhar appears, declaring that he cannot forget her. She pretends not to know him and he is enraged; his father takes him away. She becomes ill and the sadhu and her servant Bindiya take her to the temple where the dance competition is being held. Hoping to sabotage his chances, Manilal has bribed Girdhar's new partner to drop out of the competition. Neela takes her place in the Tandav dance and Mangal realizes that she spurned Girdhar to help him win the competition. He then convinces his son to give her a second chance. With the help of Neela, Girdhar wins the competition and Mangal gives the couple his blessing to marry.

Cast

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Music

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Vasant Desai composed the music and Hasrat Jaipuri wrote the lyrics for the film. The song "Jo Tum Todo Piya", inspired by Meerabai was later also used for the 1981 film Silsila. Shivkumar Sharma, the Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan recipient musician has played Santoor in this film. Santoor was used for the first time in Indian Cinema.

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje"Ustad Amir Khan 
2."Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje"Lata Mangeshkar, Hemant Kumar 
3."Jo Tum Todo Piya"Lata Mangeshkar 
4."Saiyyan Jao"Lata Mangeshkar 
5."Suno Suno Suno Ji"Lata Mangeshkar 
6."Kaisi Yeh Mohabbat"Lata Mangeshkar 
7."Murli Manohar"Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey 
8."Mere Ae Dil Bata"Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey 
9."Nain So Nain Naahi Milao"Lata Mangeshkar, Hemant Kumar 
10."Raag Malika"Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey 
11."Chhiyoram Chhiyo"Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle 
12."Udhdat Rang Thang Le Gat"Asha Bhosle 
13."Rut Basant"Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey 

The voice of Asha Bhosle was used in a few lines, which was not available on records, but only on the film soundtrack.

Awards

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3rd National Film Awards (1955)[3]
4th Filmfare Awards (1956)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Box Office 1955". Boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  2. ^ Raheja, Dinesh. "Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje: Dance and Drama". Rediff. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  3. ^ "3rd National Film Awards" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
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