Howrah Bridge (Shakti Samanta) 1958

Howrah Bridge (1958)

Director: Shakti Samanta; Writer: Ranjan Bose; Producer: Shakti Samanta; Cinematographer: Chandu; Editor: Dharamvir; Cast: Ashok Kumar, Madhubala (Begum Mumtaz Jehan), Dhumal, K.N. Singh, Om Prakash, Helen, Kammo, Madan Puri, Sundar, Krishnakant, Kundan, Bhagwan Sinha, Sailen Bose

Duration: 02:23:34; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 60.000; Saturation: 0.026; Lightness: 0.132; Volume: 0.383; Cuts per Minute: 8.233; Words per Minute: 44.911

This crime movie was one of the first to assimilate the Hong Kong cinema’s influence, a trend continued by Samanta’s China Town (1962). Rakesh (Kumar), the son of a Rangoon merchant, comes to Calcutta in search of his brother’s killer. With the help of Joe, a restaurant manager, and Edna (Madhubala), a cabaret dancer, he routs the villains Pyarelal (K.N. Singh) and Chiang (Puri). The film ends with a chase sequence over the famous Howrah Bridge in Calcutta and includes Geeta Dutt’s famous cabaret number Mera naam Chin Chin Choo ... Hello mister, how do you do? performed in the film by Helen.

Minimal Bollywood Art for Howrah Bridge

censor certificate

Howrah Bridge. Set in the seaport of Calcutta, in its seedy liquor dens and dance floors featuring diverse kinds of foreigners. 'Calcutta, being a major port, had started playing host to many Chinese sailors either on their way to or returning from another country' writes writes Ramakrishna Chatterjee ('The Chinese Community in Calcutta Their Early Settlement and Migration'). 'They would stop in Calcutta and wait for the ships to carry them to their destination. Journeys by sea being slow and the ships infrequent, at times many months had to be spent ashore. While they waited for their ships, they had to work for their living, and therefore, they must have started offering their services to the people there. Tidings of economic success in India, coupled with increasingly difficult circumstances in China, contributed to a steady stream of Chinese immigrants to Calcutta during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. This was the peak period of the growth of the Chinese population in Calcutta. Thereafter, the number began to decline. The Sino-Indian rift after 1959, and particularly the 1962 war, could be called a landmark in the reverse trend of declining growth rate. The border dispute changed the official Indian attitude towards its residents of Chinese descent. Here Chang is a smuggler who is trying to acquire a valuable jade dragon that was 'the pride of Chinese Kings' beforre it went to 'King Shung of Burma and finally to my ancestors'.

Singer: Asha Bhosle
Singer: Mohammad Rafi
Song: Dekhke teri nazar

देख के तेरी नज़र बेक़रार हो गये

Chin Chin Choo to Chang

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Singer: Geeta Dutt
Song: Mera naam Chin Chin Choo

मेरा नाम चिन-चिन-चू

AAIYE MEHERBAN
The lead actress almost never played the club singer. That was reserved for the moll, the vamp or at best the parallel heroine, more often than not with a Christian name. The lead star was the pure Indian woman, with Indian values and, despite her independent-mindedness, ready for domestication. She may wear western clothes, but soon after the relationship was confirmed, she switched to Indian clothes. There were some exemptions, such as Howrah Bridge, where the lead actress was a club singer—but then she was an Anglo Indian, and clearly identified as such. Her name is Edna. She speaks broken Hindi. Shakti Samanta’s story was set in Calcutta, home of Anglo Indians, many of whom were in the entertainment business. On the other hand, this reflected the cosmopolitanism of the whole scene. Ashok Kumar, for example, is not an Anglo Indian.
Club Song of the 1950s
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Song: Aiye meherbaan, baithiye
आइये मेहरबाँ, बैठिये जाने-जाँ

Under the Bridge

Singer: Asha Bhosle
Singer: Mohammad Rafi
Song: Mohabbat ka haath

मुहब्बत का हाथ जवानी का पल्ला
सुभान अल्लाह बाबू सुभान अल्लाह

Singer: Mohammad Rafi
Singer: Shamshad Begum
Song: Eit kii dukki paan kaa ikka

ईट की दुक्की पान का इक्का

Howrah Bridge, Madan Puri plays the evil, smirking, limping Chang with bravura precision. The film is set in the seaport of Calcutta, in its seedy liquor dens and dance floors featuring diverse kinds of foreigners. Here Chang is a smuggler who is trying to acquire a valuable jade dragon that was 'the pride of Chinese Kings' beforre it went to 'King Shung of Burma and finally to my ancestors'. 'Calcutta, being a major port, had started playing host to many Chinese sailors either on their way to or returning from another country' writes writes Ramakrishna Chatterjee ('The Chinese Community in Calcutta Their Early Settlement and Migration'). 'They would stop in Calcutta and wait for the ships to carry them to their destination. Journeys by sea being slow and the ships infrequent, at times many months had to be spent ashore. While they waited for their ships, they had to work for their living, and therefore, they must have started offering their services to the people there. Tidings of economic success in India, coupled with increasingly difficult circumstances in China, contributed to a steady stream of Chinese immigrants to Calcutta during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. This was the peak period of the growth of the Chinese population in Calcutta. Thereafter, the number began to decline. The Sino-Indian rift after 1959, and particularly the 1962 war, could be called a landmark in the reverse trend of declining growth rate. The border dispute changed the official Indian attitude towards its residents of Chinese descent.

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howrah ghat

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