Kalpana (1948 film)

Kalpana
Poster
Directed byUday Shankar
Screenplay byAmritlal Nagar
Story byUday Shankar
StarringUday Shankar
Amala Shankar
Lakshmi Kanta
CinematographyK. Ramnoth
Edited byN. K. Gopal
Music byVishnudas Shirali
Production
companies
Distributed byUday Shankar Production
Release date
  • 1 January 1948 (1948-01-01)
Running time
160 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Kalpana (1948) by Uday Shankar

Kalpana (transl. Imagination) is a 1948 Indian Hindi-language dance film written and directed by dancer Uday Shankar. It is his only film. The story revolves around a young dancer's dream of setting up a dance academy, a reflection of Shankar's own academy, which he founded at Almora.[1] It starred Uday Shankar and his wife Amala Shankar as leads.

Kalpana was the first film to present an Indian classical dancer in the leading role, and was entirely shot as a dance ballet and a fantasy.[2][3]

It was shown at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI-Goa) (2008), as a part of the section "Treasures from NFAI" (National Film Archive of India), with other "rare gems" from the archives.[4]

Cast

Songs

The music was composed by Vishnudas Shirali, and the lyrics were penned by Sumitranandan Pant. The Bhil folk songs were written by Devilal Samar.[5]

Song Title Singer(s) Lyricist Length
"Bharat Jai Jan Bharat" Everyone Devilal Samar 03:48
"Behti Ja Behti Ja Sarite" Devilal Samar 03:21
"Kya Kahoon" Devilal Samar 02:15
"Bhil Folk Song" Devilal Samar, Sumitranandan Pant
"Deep Jalao" Devilal Samar 03:19
"Hindustan Ka Bal Hai Hal" Devilal Samar 02:55
"Sadiyo Ki Behoshi" Devilal Samar 02:57

Notable dancers

Comments

A still featuring Uday and Amala Shankar

Well known Tamil actress and dancer, Lakshmikantham, credited in the film as "Lakshmi Kanta" plays Kamini. 16-year-old actress Padmini and along with her sister Lalitha.[6][7] Tamil dancer and actress Yoga of the Yoga-Mangalam sisters makes an appearance as a dancer credited as "Yogam". Small role actress P. K. Saraswathi credited as "Saraswathi" also appears as a dancer. Gopal Rao, who played a small role in Thyaga Bhoomi (1939 film), also plays a small role. Finally, Usha Kiran made her debut into films in this movie, credited as "Usha".

Satyajit Ray was said to have watched this film 16 times.[8]

Restoration

In 2009, the film process of digital restoration was taken up by NFAI in collaboration with France-based Thomson Foundation.[9] In 2010, it was being restored by the World Cinema Foundation (director Martin Scorsese is a founding member).[10][11] The restored film was released in home video format by the Criterion Collection.[12]

References

  1. ^ Synopsis, British Film Institute.
  2. ^ "Films featuring dance". Screen. 8 April 2005.[dead link‍]
  3. ^ "East/west musicals: Play That Back". Outlook. 26 June 2006.
  4. ^ "NFAI brings its treasures to IFFI-Goa". Ministry of Information and Broadcasting PIB. 25 November 2008.
  5. ^ "Kalpana : Lyrics and video of Songs from the Movie Kalpana (1948 film)". HindiGeetMala. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Beauty, charm, charisma". The Hindu. 29 September 2006. Archived from the original on 28 February 2008.
  7. ^ Subhash K Jha (24 September 2004). "What happened to the classical heritage in our films?". Sify. Archived from the original on 12 October 2004.
  8. ^ Heredia, Shai. "Kalpana: Dreaming the Impossible Dream". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  9. ^ "French embassy donates 230 films to NFAI". The Times of India. 3 May 2009. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011.
  10. ^ "Uday Shankar dance ballet, Kalpana to be on celluloid". Indiatimes Movies. 3 February 2010. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  11. ^ Subhash K Jha (4 February 2010). "Martin Scorsese to reviving Kalpana". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011.
  12. ^ "Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project No. 4". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 20 March 2023.