Vachan (1938 film)

Vachan (Hindi: वचन, The Promise) is a 1938 costume drama Hindi film directed by Franz Osten.[1] The regular Bombay Talkies writer, Niranjan Pal, walked out of the Bombay Talkies production team after an altercation with Himanshu Rai in 1936. Saradindu Bandyopadhyay, a famous writer known also for creating Byomkesh Bakshi, replaced Pal in the story department, writing for films like Nirmala and Vachan in 1938 and Durga in 1939.[2] The screenplay was by Agha Jani Kashmiri, with dialogues and lyrics by J. S. Kashyap. The music was composed by Saraswati Devi aided by J. S. Kashyap.[3] The film starred Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar, a popular pair from Bombay Talkies who worked in seven films together. Devika Rani remained the bigger star with Kumar's name being "over-shadowed" in the credit rolls, as well as the publicity of the film.[4]

Vachan
Directed byFranz Osten
Written bySharadindu Bandyopadhyay
Produced byBombay Talkies
Starring
Cinematography
  • Joseph Wirsching
  • Pareenja
Music bySaraswati Devi
Production
company
Bombay Talkies
Distributed byRamniklal Mohanlal and Co., Bombay
Release date
1938
Running time
144 minutes
CountryBritish India
LanguageHindi

Rajendranath, a popular comedian of Indian cinema, began his acting career in Vachan.[5] The rest of the cast included Meera, Mumtaz Ali, Agha Jani, M. Nazir, Kashmiri, Maya Devi and Kamta Prasad.[6]

Devika Rani played the role of a princess in this costume drama film.

Cast

Reception
Meera and Devika Rani in Vachan, from Filmindia, 1938

The film was released on 19 August 1938 at Roxy Talkies, Bombay. According to Baburao Patel of Filmindia magazine, the screenplay was too simple, like a "nursery" story, and "ended before the interval". The photography by Wirsching and Pareenja was stated to be consistently good, even "excellent" at places. The actress Meera was singled out for her acting, claiming it to be a "better performance" than Devika's. Osten's technical direction was cited as clever, but Patel stated that Osten was unable to capture the "Indian" spirit of the play.[3] The film was referred to as a success in the Studio Close-Ups section of the same issue of Filmindia.

Soundtrack

Music composed by Saraswati Devi with lyrics by J. S. Kashyap. The singers were Ashok Kumar, Devika Rani, Vimla, Meera and Lalita.[7]

Songlist
#TitleSinger
1 "Phoolo Tum Aaj Khushi Se Phoolo" Ashok Kumar
2 "Naval Naveli Naari Hum Kunwari Baari" Devika Rani, Meera, Vimla, Lalita
3 "Ham Pinjare Ki Maina" Meera
4 "Aa Re Panchhi Pyare" Devika Rani
5 "Baisakh, Fagun Wa Chaith" Ashok Kumar
6 "Ban Ki Yeh Chidiya Chidiya Bani Ab Pinjre Ki Maina" Devika Rani, Meera
7 "Hriday Hai Kahin Aur Jaan Hai Kahin" Ashok Kumar
8 "Janoon Tere Sajan Ki Ghatiyan" Devika Rani, Meera
9 "Namo Namo Hai Veer" Devika Rani

References
  1. "Vachan (1938)". gomolo.com. Gomolo.com. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  2. Roychoudhury, Amborish. "Birth of an Industry". thebigindianpicture.com. The Big Indian Picture. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  3. Patel, Baburao (October 1938). "Review-Vachan". Filmindia. 4 (6): 53. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  4. Bhaichand Patel (2012). Bollywood's Top 20: Superstars of Indian Cinema. Penguin Books India. pp. 32–. ISBN 978-0-670-08572-9. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  5. "Yesteryears' comic actor Rajendra Nath dead". ibnlive.in.com. IBN Live. Archived from the original on 20 April 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  6. "Vachan". citwf.com. Alan Goble. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  7. "Vachan(1938)". muvyz.com. Muvyz, Ltd. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
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