‘Kartar Singh’ to be screened at Lok Virsa

Islamabad
Producer, Director, Script & Lyrics: Saifuddin Saif
Music: Saleem-Iqbal
Cast: Musarrat Nazir, Bahar, Sudhir, Allaudin, Zarif, Ajmal and Laila
The Mandawa Film Club of Lok Virsa is screening the 1959 Punjabi classic 'Kartar Singh' on Saturday (August 15) at 6 p.m.
Only a few films can be commended for credibility in Pakistan. One can recall titles like 'Khak aur Khoon', 'Jannat ki Talaash' and 'Jinnah'. 'Kartar Singh' gets a respectable space in this category.
'Kartar Singh' not only revolves around the partition but it also fully incorporates in the script the price we paid with sense of loss and human tragedies. It never was all honey and roses.
Saifuddin Saif, known more for his poetic work, took up the production of a challenging subject, and what's more, wrote the script and directed it. This was the year when AJ Kardar's 'Jago Huwa Savera', Khalil Qaider's 'Nagin', Humayun Mirza's suspense thriller 'Raaz', Hassan Tariq and Riaz Shahid's 'Neend' and Masood Pervaiz's 'Jhoomar' also came out.
'Kartar Singh' was one of the first Pakistani films which took up the 1947 events with a sense of realism and without theatrics.
The rural ambiance and atmosphere of Punjab presented in the film was close to harsh realities of its time. The film showed both Muslim and Hindu characters. There are wedding ceremonies and holy celebrations. No other filmmaker could have been so fair and impartial to show how the events should have been portrayed from those years. And when time came for the creation of Pakistan, friends turned into enemies. People who were living in the same community began hating and even killing each other.
'Kartar Singh' today is not just remembered for it dramatic subject but also for its musical score. Composers Saleem and Iqbal, working as a two-member team, were highly selective in choosing their assignments. They composed only for a few films ('Sheikh Chilli', 'Darwaza', 'Baji', and 'Pakeeza'). Here they came up with all-time memorable melodies like 'Desaa'n da rajs' (A wedding song which is still heard with love at weddings). Another memorable melody by Zubaida Khanum 'Gori gori chandani' still sounds fresh.
The cast including reputable names like Sudhir, Musarrat Nazir, Zarif, Ajmal and Bahar, all played well, but Allaudin as 'Kartar Singh' gave one of the best performances of his career.
The author can be reached at aijazzgul@gmail.com