Director: Chetan Anand; Writer: Chetan Anand; Producer: Chetan Anand; Cinematographer: Sadanand Sengupta; Editor: M.D. Jadhav Rao; Cast: Balraj Sahni, Dharmendra, Vijay Anand, Indrani Mukherjee, Jayant, Levy Aaron, Chand Usmani, Achala Sachdev, Nasreen, Ruby Mayer, Shaukat Azmi, Gulab, Sudhir Jagdev, Wasi Khan, Sanjay Khan, Ranvir Raj, Funny Tincher, Mac Mohan, George Mehta, Hakim, J.B. Thapa, Doubal Raj, Ranvir, D.L. Rai, Jaisingh Lama, Rakesh Sharma, Prem Sagar, Bhupendra Singh, Bhagwant Singh, Ravi Khanna, Raj Bakshi, V. Gopal, Gopal Raj Bhutani, Ratan Gaurang, Harbans Dost, Raj Deep, Ujagar Singh, Ajay, Priya Rajvansh, Sulochana (Ruby Myers)
Duration: 02:50:44; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 97.714; Saturation: 0.000; Lightness: 0.288; Volume: 0.204; Cuts per Minute: 10.256; Words per Minute: 34.030
Summary: A propaganda film dedicated to Nehru and trading on the resurgence of nationalist sentiment in the wake of the India-China war of 1962 which provides the film’s setting. The war had led to a sobering awareness of India’s military capability and contributed to major schisms about Nehruite notions of non- alignment while accelerating the split in the CPI between Moscow- and Beijing-aligned groups. Made by former Marxists Anand, Sahni et al., the film’s main plot concerns a small platoon of Indian soldiers presumed dead but rescued by Kashmiri gypsies and by Capt. Bahadur Singh (Dharmendra) and his tribal girlfriend (Rajvansh) who die holding the Chinese at bay while their comrades retreat to safety. Rhetorical highlights including the platoon commander (Sahni) excoriating Mao’s Little Red Book which a soldier spears with a bayonet; the commanding officer (Jayant) denouncing the Chinese to documentary footage of Zhou En-Lai landing in Delhi and being given a guard of honour; Kaifi Azmi’s song Kar chale hum fida jaan-o-tan saathiyon (sung by Mohammed Rafi) cut to more documentary shots of Nehru addressing the troops and of the Republic Day parade. Shot on location on the Ladakh border, the film had one other song hit, the soldiers’ qawali Ho ke majboor mujhe usne bulaya hoga (sung by Mohammed Rafi, Bhupendra, Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey and a chorus).
'Can l ask you a question?' asks Major Ranjit Singh played (with some symbolic importance) by Balraj Sahni. 'Have you ever heard of India attacking another nation? Was there a tyrant ever born in our country? Has our country ever tried to conquer another nation? Then, why would we break our age old tradition,...to seize someone's barren land? We are sending our troops on peacekeeping missions to Korea and the Congo. But what do their leaders advocate, who are chanting brotherhood, across the border?'
Then Singh takes a copy presumably of Mao's Red Book. 'This is a book written by their leader. And it says that those who don't agree with us are not our friends'. 'We don't consider anyone our foe, they don't consider anyone their friend. We were recommending them to the world. While they were quietly building army posts on our land. The Chinese army wants to gain control over Asia. And wants to ruin the world's peace. They are pawns who are moving ahead. They move forth with precision; to check-mate us'.
Back to the 1962 war, which was what brought Chinese immigration to a halt. Back to the 1962 war, which was what brought Chinese immigration to a halt.
Nehruvian nationalism
Actors playing 'Chinese' characters have been in existence since the 1930s. They have defined different eras: from the pre-War friendship to the betrayal of the Bandung spirit, post-1962 enmity, and a post-globalization search for new film markets. The war movie
Haqeeqat, in 1963, was perhaps the quintessential instance of Hindi movie extras 'playing Chinese'. It used several of the standard characteristics of gesture, dress and speech (a generic dialect attributed to 'foreigners' spoken in staccato voice).
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