Basant (film)

Basant (transl. Spring) is a 1942 pre-partition Indian romantic musical film directed by Amiya Chakrabarty, produced by Bombay Talkies and starring Mumtaz Shanti and Madhubala along with Ulhas. It revolves around Uma (Shanti), who is left to dance on stage for money when her husband (Ulhas) abandons her.

Basant
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAmiya Chakrabarty
Screenplay byAmiya Chakrabarty
Story byAmiya Chakrabarty
Produced byBombay Talkies
StarringMumtaz Shanti
Madhubala
Ulhas
Kanu Roy
CinematographyR.D. Mathur
Edited byR.G. Gope
Music byPannalal Ghosh
Release date
  • 29 July 1942 (1942-07-29)
[1]
Running time
146 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindustani
Box officeest. ₹0.8 crore (est. ₹235 crore as of 2016)

Basant marked the Hindi film debut of Shanti, who was already a celebrated star in Punjabi film industry.[2] However, the film is largely remembered as the first screen appearance of Madhubala, who played an uncredited role of daughter to Shanti and later became a leading star in the 1950s and early 1960s.[3]

The film was theatrically released on 29 July 1942 and was praised by critics for the performances of actors, music and direction. It was major box office success and the highest-grossing film of 1942.[4] The film had a 76-week run in the theatres.[5] As of 2021, Basant remains one of the fifty highest-grossing Indian films in the history (when adjusted for inflation).[6]

Plot

Uma and her brother Babul are two downtrodden servants who dream of becoming singing-and-dancing stars on the stage. They attract the attention of the impresario Janaki Prasad, which leads to Uma marrying his spoilt and envious younger brother, Nirmal. A self-absorbed Nirmal sets out to make his own fortune and soon after their wedding, abandons Uma and their infant daughter, which is named Manju. When Nirmal returns to find his wife is working on the stage, he abducts Manju and disappears again. After a further 10 years of unhappy stage stardom of Uma, the family is reunited and the happy ending sees her return to being a housewife in accordance with her husband's wishes.

Cast
Mumtaz Shanti, Baby Mumtaz and Ulhas in Basant

Soundtrack

The music of the film was composed by Pannalal Ghosh with lyrics penned by P. L. Santoshi.

Track#SongSinger(s)
1"Hua Kya Qusoor Jo Hamse Door"Amirbai Karnataki
2"Kanta Lago Re Sajanwa Mose"Parul Ghosh, H. Khan Mastana
3"Tumko Mubarak Ho"Suresh, Parul Ghosh
4"Ummeed Unse Kya Thi"Parul Ghosh

Box office
Publicity poster of Basant

At the end of its threatical run, Basant did a gross collection of ₹80 lakhs, with a nett of ₹40 lakhs. It became the highest-grossing film of 1942, and also the highest-grossing film of all time.[4] Basant's record was broken the next year by Kismet, which stars Ashok Kumar and Mumtaz Shanti in the lead roles.[7]

Madhubala

Madhubala, then Mumtaz, was spotted by Himanshu Rai when she was searching for work in film industry, along with her father Ataullah Khan. Rai soon cast her in Basant at a fee of ₹500 per month. Though she was uncredited in the film but Mumtaz became the financial backbone of her family after the film' release. She found work in other films as a child artist where she was credited as Baby Mumtaz. In 1947, five years after Rai's demise, his ex-wife and actress Devika Rani rechristened Mumtaz as Madhubala, literally meaning "honey belle", and also groomed her as a new leading lady.[5]

References
  1. Patel, Baburao (1 September 1942). "Devika Rani makes 'Basant' a Sparkling Entertainment". Filmindia. New York The Museum of Modern Art Library. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  2. says, Pritha Chakrabarti. "Mumtaz Shanti – Interview – Cineplot.com". Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  3. Bali, Karan (14 February 2000). "Madhubala". Upperstall.com. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  4. "Boxofficeindia.com". 14 October 2013. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  5. Noorani, Asif (10 February 2019). "Flashback: Fifty Years Without Madhubala". Dawn. Archived from the original on 11 February 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  6. "Biggest BLOCKBUSTERS ever". 22 April 2006. Archived from the original on 22 April 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  7. "Boxofficeindia.com". 16 October 2013. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
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