Kolkata, Jan 12: Film buffs in the city today got a rare opportunity to watch the Indian premiere of the 1959 historic Pakistani movie ‘Jago Hua Savera', which has dialogues and songs by legendary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
Based on ‘Padma Nadir Majhi' (The Boatman on the River Padma), a story by Bengali novelist Manik Bandopadhyay, the film depicts a poignant tale of an impoverished fisherman who struggles to built a boat in Bangladesh.
Credited as the first Pakistani film which had won international acclaim, the masterpiece by director A J Kardar had won eleven international awards, including one at the Moscow Film Festival.
The film was screened at the ICCR auditorium as part of a tribute to Faiz on his birth centenary at the ongoing Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival.
Faiz's daughter Salima Hashmi, who was present on the occasion, told PTI that this was the first screening of the film in India.
“Personally, it was a very emotional moment because of the connections between Lahore and Kolkata and between Faiz, films and Kolkata. He (Faiz) spoke with great admiration for Satyajit Ray and his meeting with him,” she said.
The film's young star cast had a rare combination of actors from India and the then West and East Pakistan.
The female lead was played by Bengali actress Tripti Mitra.
The first realistic and experimental film of Pakistan, ‘Jago Hua Savera' strikes poetic chords complemented by scenes showcasing the plight and misery of the lives of the fisherman of those times.
Keeping the mood simple but serious and straightforward, the film reflects socialist ideology through the struggle of the fisherman and his family.
At a time when film production in the then East Pakistan was unthinkable, it was shot within 48 days at a tiny fishing village on the banks of river Meghna, a few kms away from Dhaka.
For Pakistan's most famous poet and communist intellectual Faiz, it was his first brush with the medium of cinema as he contributed to dialogues and lyrics.
All members of the cast had faced the camera for the first time. The film was the director's first assignment too.
