‘Ansoo’ brings audience to tears

Lok Virsa film Club Mandwa screened Director S.A.Bokhari's 1971 film ‘Ansoo’ for screening on Saturday.

The film is loaded with superstars from 1971. Nadeem, Deeba, Allaudin and then upcoming Shahid are the leading names in the credits. However, it was Firdaus (in her first young-to-old role) which distinguished her from the rest. During mid and late-sixties, Firdaus was almost always bankable in leading roles for Punjabi films. Of course there were Urdu titles here and there (‘Insianiat’, ‘Khandan’, ‘Maikhana’). With good height and physique, she reigned supreme for kicks and jumps in the mustard fields of rural Punjab which at times were compromised with ‘Malik Ka Bagh’ on the outskirts of Lahore. Director Masood Pervaiz and producer-Ijaz Durrani's ‘Heer Ranjha’ in 1970 had further cemented status and reputation of Firdaus for Punjabi films. It is a fact that religious tourists from India on pilgrimage in early-seventies would ask if they could meet ‘Heer’ (Firdaus) on screen in ‘Heer Ranjha’.

By 1971, with Naghma and Rani circling around, Firdaus decided to give a shot again to Urdu films. This time in a challenging young-to-old character for ‘Ansoo’. It is difficult for a lady who has reigned on screen for half-a decade to put leading role on the back seat and go for a character role but Firdaus exactly did that. Based on screenwriter Riaz Arshad's own novel, ‘Ansoo’ brings us to Firdaus in railway compartment where she is travelling alone. The villain Masood Akhtar enters uses force on her and gets off at the next station. This trauma would live with her for the rest of her life. The sub-plot includes many incidents including bits from Mahboob Khan's Mother India. Here Firdaus saves the chastity of Deeba and kills her debauch son Shahid at point blank. Incidentally, there was no Mother around earlier on the train to save the heroine from that gruesome act. A dramatic court trial follows with a more dramatic end.

‘Ansoo’ released in July 1971, did well and the box office. Composer Nazir Ali's ‘Terey bina youoon gharian beteen’ (rendered separable by Masood Rana and Noorjehan) won award for Best Singer. In these forty-seven years, with no film archives to take care of the forgotten film prints with chemical dyes, the colours have certainly faded but the spirit of actors and crew members from 1971 remain intact.

Director: S.A.Bokhari

Script: Riaz Arshad

Music: Nazir Ali

Cast: Firdaus, Nadeem, Shahid, Deeba, Allaudin