Film ‘Baji’ to be screened on 29th

Islamabad :

Director: S. Suleman

Script: Anwar Batalvi

Music: Saleem Iqbal

Lyrics: Ahmad Rahi

Cast: Nayyar Sultana, Darpan, Zeba, Talish, Yasmin.

As 2018 closes, Mandwa Film Club of Lok Virsa brings the last screening of the year with one of the most memorable films ‘Baji’ on Saturday (December 29) at 3 p.m.

‘Baji’ would remain one of the most distinguished and respectable films in Pakistani film history. Released in May 1963, it won several awards:

Best Film (Azizullah Hassan, Best Script (Anwat Batalvi), Best Editing (Hameed Chaudhry) and, Best Sound (Taj Malik).

Nayyar Sultana plays the main character of ‘Baji’ and probably this was the best and most powerful character she earned in her long career. Here we see her as a young widow, living all alone in a large mansion. And then enters Darpan as a fresh breeze in her sad life but this is not going to last for long.

‘Baji’ apart from its strong script and rich production effects, is also remembered for its memorable musical score. Noorjehan not only lead in music but also briefly appeared for few seconds on screen. This was her only screen appearance after she bid farewell to acting after Ghalib. Naseem Begum and Farida Khanum also added to the rich music. ‘Dil key afsaney’, ‘Chanda tori chandani mey’ and ‘Ab yahaan koi nahi’ still remain some of the most memorable songs.

There were other good films that year (‘Ishq Per Zor Nahi’, ‘Daman’, ‘Shikwa’, ‘Seema’ and ‘Eik Tera Sahara’) but ‘Baji’ had a class of its own. With an offbeat theme, it did not do well at the box office but that does not reduce its importance or significance. However, it did bring the harsh and ruthless fact on surface that offbeat subjects away from the commercial ingredients have little or no place in our cinema.

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