Nazrul Islam and film ‘Ehsas’

Director: Nazrul Islam

Script: Ibraheem Jalees

Prodycer: Ilyas Rashidi

Composer: Robin Ghosh

Camera: Masoodur Rehman

Cast: Shabnam, Nadeem, Sofia Bano, Talish, Qavi, Lehri

Islamabad :Lok Virsa Film Club Mandwa brings film ‘Ehsas’ today (Saturday) in Media Centre, at 6 p.m.

Director Nazrul Islam was a known name in Dhaka in late-sixties. He was an artist in his own rights. He had worked on stage. His forte in films was editing. Apart from working for Bengali films, his directorial contributions for Urdu films in Dhaka included ‘Kajal’ (1965) and ‘Pyasa’ (1969). He later shifted to Lahore. His notable films here included ‘Sharafat’, ‘Haqeeqat’, ‘Ainia’, ‘Zindigi’, ‘Nahi Abhi Nahi’, ‘Bandish’, ‘Palkon Ki Chaon Mei’ and ‘Love Story’.

‘Less was More’ meant everything to Nazrul Islam and he directed only a handful of films during his stay of twenty-five years here but won the critics and box office. He was an expensive director who demanded the very best in casting, music, production design editing, camerawork and sets. Ordinary producers of modest means could not afford this. Once in Swat on location for ‘Palkon Ki Chaon Mei’, he returned empty handed (witout lensing) because he did not like the shades of autumn on trees. Similarly, he insisted for whole red chillies for a film which Deeba throws into the flames for her son Faisal. The production controller had to go all the way from studios on Multan Road to Akbari Mandi to get those hot red chillies. The film shooing remained suspended. Such were his demands from the producer and such was the labour of love which you could experience visually on screen in his films.

Nazrul Islam passed away in 1994 after release of his last film ‘Khawahish’ which dealt with the agony and devastation of a rape victim. And even though he did not write screenplay for any of his films, his subjects dealt with important human issues: self-esteem (Aina), teenage awakening (Nahi Abhi Nahi), polygamy (Bandish) and child death (Zindigi).

And now ‘Ehsas’-- Nazrul islam directed ‘Ehsas’ in 1972. It came out in a season when Hassan Tariq's ‘Umrao Jan Ada’, M. Sadiq's ‘Bharo Phool Barsao’ and Raza Mir's ‘Nag Mani’ were hitting box office jackpots. However, ‘Ehsas’ played well and received good reviews. The film is spread over two generations. Talish is seen as ‘nawab’ who holds outdated and obsolete traditions close to his heart. His son, Qavi, is of different breed. In the next generation, we see Shabnam and Nadeem. The film won Nigar award for best director (Nazral Islam) script/dialogue (Ibraheem Jalees) and Nadeem (Actor).

Musical score by Robin Ghosh was highlight of the film with Runa Laila's piano number ‘Humey kho ker bohat pachtao gey’, lyrics by Saroor Barabankavi, still remaining a popular hit.

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