Khazanchi

1941 171 minutes Directed by Moti B. Gidwani

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About Khazanchi

Shadi Lal (M. Ismail), cashier at a Lahore bank, wants his son Kanwal (S. D. Narang) to marry Madhuri (Ramola Devi). The rich man Ajmal wants her too. Shadi Lal goes to Bombay on bank business. Tarawati robs him in a nightclub, and her accomplices kill her. He wakes beside the body, the money gone, and the papers say the cashier murdered the actress. Kanwal, now an advocate, defends him. A reporter who has the facts is kidnapped, escapes, and reaches the court in time. Shadi Lal is acquitted.

Cast & crew

More about Khazanchi

Moti B. Gidwani directed for Pancholi in Lahore. Ghulam Haider wrote the music. The film is in Hindustani and runs 171 minutes. Manorama plays Asha, Shadi Lal's daughter. Durga Mota plays Durga Das.

Themes

  • A cashier framed for murder
  • A son in the courtroom
  • A nightclub robbery that becomes a headline
  • Lahore bank
  • false murder charge
  • nightclub
  • advocate son
  • acquittal

Background

A 1941 Hindustani thriller from Lahore, released while that city's studios were still a center of Indian film production.

In film history

The top-grossing Indian film of 1941, later remade in Tamil, and a picture associated with the spread of the shalwar kameez.

Making

Pancholi's Lahore company built a murder mystery around a bank cashier and gave Ghulam Haider a set of songs that traveled farther than the plot.

Audiences

Trade accounts rank it as the highest-grossing Indian film of 1941.

Music

Ghulam Haider composed the songs. Shamshad Begum sang "Diwali Phir Aa Gayi Sajni," "Naino Ke Baan Ki Reet Anokhi," and "Peene Ke Din Aaye Piye Jaa." Haider also sang on "Naino Ke Baan."

Preservation

A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.

Notes

  • It was the highest-grossing Indian film of 1941, and the highest-grossing Indian film up to the time of its release.
  • Remade in Tamil as Moondru Pillaigal (1952).
  • Munawar Sultana's earliest screen appearance is in the song "Peene Ke Din Aaye Piye Jaa," sung by Shamshad Begum.
  • The film is credited with making the shalwar kameez popular among Indian women.
  • Other Haider songs include "Diwali Phir Aa Gayi Sajni" and "Naino Ke Baan Ki Reet Anokhi," both with Shamshad Begum.
  • Madan Puri plays a friend of Kanwal, and Jankidas plays Ram Das.

Scenes

  • Shadi Lal wakes in the nightclub next to Tarawati's body and finds the money gone.
  • The kidnapped reporter gets into court and the cashier is acquitted.

Influenced

  • Moondru Pillaigal (1952)

Also available

  • Wikimedia Commons