‘Andaleeb’ screened at Lok Virsa

Islamabad
Producer: Rashid Mukhtar
Director: Fareed Ahmad
Music: Nisar Bazmi
Dialogues: A S Afaqi
Playback: Noorjehan, Ahmad Rushdi, Runa Laila
Cast: Waheed Murad, Shabnam, Aliya, Mustafa Qureshi, Agha Talish

Lok Virsa Film Club ‘Mandwa’ screened the 1969 film ‘Andaleeb’ on Saturday.
'Andaleeb' came in 1969. It was a period relatively new for colour films. Even though colour had arrived on the screen with ‘Sangam’ (from Dhaka) plus the fact that ‘Naila’ and ‘Tumhe Ho Mahboob Merey’ from Lahore had been released, colour on screen was still a variety and difficult to handle by cameramen, makeup artistes and laboratory technicians.
1969 had earlier seen art and experimental film ‘Neela Parbat’ by Ahmad Bashir which turned out to be a box office wreck. Waheed Murad's own production ‘Ishara’ with Waheed and Deeba had not done well either.
Thomas Hardy's ‘Tess’ had come as ‘Pakeeza’. Shamim Ara's first home production ‘Saiqa’, directed by Laeeq Akhtar, had done extremely well. Eveready Pictures' epic ‘Taj Mahal’, directed by S T Zaidi with Zeba and Mohammad Ali had played moderately well. Producer-director Rangila's ‘Diya Aur Toofan’ had played to capacity crowds.
These were the times and films in 1969 when ‘Andaleeb’ premiered on August 29. Producer Rashid Mukhtar of Nigar Pictures was a highly learned and sophisticated person. He had signed one of the young and creative filmmakers Fareed Ahmad (‘Jan Pehchan’) for direction. Shabnam and Waheed Murad were selected for the leads, supported by Aliya, Agha Talish and Mustafa Qureshi. Nisar Bazmi, who had earlier migrated from Mumbai a few years back, was considered one of the top and outrageously expensive composers, composing the score.
Ordinary and regular producers just could not afford his heavy orchestra. This was the background of how ‘Andaleeb’ went into production. Laboratory Chief Pyare Khan taking special training in colour processing and printing in Belgium, had been earlier associated with the colour work of ‘Naila’ and ‘Tumhe Ho Mehbbob Merey’ was up with yet another challenging assignment.
‘Andaleeb’ would be remembered for its good direction, acting, and production values. And even though the film was purely commercial musical romance (bits of tragedy were per-requisite for box office), Nisar Bazmi"s musical score was a highlight of the film. ‘Mere dil ki Mehfil’ (Noorjehan-Ahmad Rushdi), ‘Terey wadoon ney sanam’ (Runa Laila) and ‘Pyar ker key hum’ became popular. However, Noorjehan and Ahmad Rushi's two separate solo numbers ‘Kuch log ruth ker bhi’ became top songs of the year. ‘Andaleeb’ won as many as four ‘Nigar’ awards for Waheed Murad (best Actor), Sound (A.Z Baig), Dialogue (A.S.Afaqi) and Special Award (Shabnam). Those were the early years of Shabnam from Dhaka in Pakistan. Considering her weak Urdu delivery and accent, her dialogues were dubbed by Kaukab Afzal. ‘Andaleeb’ turned Shabnam and Waheed Murad not only into leading stars in the coming years but also the top romantic and popular pair.
The author can be reached at aijazzgul@gmail.com