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Jugnu (1947 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Jugnu' is a 1947 Indian musical romantic comedy film directed and produced by Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. The film stars Dilip Kumar, Noor Jehan, Ghulam Mohammad, Jillo, Latika, Shashikala and now famous playback singer Mohammed Rafi in a cameo appearance.Firoze Rangoonwalla, 'Indian Filmography,' publisher: J. Udeshi, Bombay, August 1970, pp. 224.
The film was made in pre-independence British India, with a censored version subsequently released after the partition of India. Despite drawing significant controversy upon release, it became the highest-grossing Indian film of 1947. This film was the first major hit for Dilip Kumar, who went on to become one of the Indian film industry's legends.Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen, 'Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema,' British Film Institute, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2002, pp. 132.
Cast
;Male
* Dilip Kumar[https://www.citwf.com/film177306.htm Film Jugnu (1947 film) on Complete Index To World Film (CITWF) website] Retrieved 9 July 2020 as Suraj
* Zia
* Laddan
* Sanger
* Agha
* Nazir Kashmiri
* Munawwar Agha Najni
* Ghulam Mohamad as Sooraj's father
;Female
* Noorjahan as Jugnu
* Latika as Jugnu's friend
* Parveen
* Shashikala as Suraj's sister
* Farha
* Indoo
* Hoorbanoo
* Jilloobai as Suraj's mother
Music
Box office
'Jugnu' (1947 film) grossed 50 lakh (US$5 million) in India, making it the highest-grossing Indian film of 1947. When adjusted for inflation, its gross in 2016 value is equivalent to 363 crore (US$ million).{{efn|name=Gross|50 lakh (US$5 million) in 1947 (equivalent to US$ million or 363 crore[https://www.ofx.com/en-gb/forex-news/historical-exchange-rates/yearly-average-rates/ 67.175856 INR per USD in 2016] in 2016)}} This is the highest for any Indian film at the time, until it was surpassed by 'Andaz', which also stars Kumar in lead role along with Nargis and Raj Kapoor.
Reception and controversy
The film drew significant controversy upon release, for two major reasons. The first reason was its depiction of romance, flirting and dancing on a college campus setting, which led to negative reviews from Indian film critics and 28 minutes of content being censored by the Indian government. The second reason was the film's director Rizvi and lead actress Noor Jehan becoming Pakistanis after the partition of India. In 1948, the biggest Indian film magazine at the time, 'Filmindia', was very critical of the film. The magazine's editor, film critic Baburao Patel, wrote a negative review, calling 'Jugnu' a "dirty, disgusting, vulgar picture!" Patel stated, it "tells us that college life in India is nothing more than a long sex hunt in which boys chase girls, explore their hand bags, rob their tiffin boxes and sing suggestive love ditties while making vulgar gestures; while girls sigh about heavily, seduce boys to tea, pimp for their friends, puncture their cycle tyres and sing songs of frustrated love," and added, "no decent exhibitor with any pride for his profession or any self-respect should exhibit it in his theatre." He also criticized the director Rizvi for becoming a Pakistani national, falsely accusing him of having connections with Hyderabad State separatist Kasim Razvi. Another 1948 'Filmindia' editorial attacked Muslim filmmakers such as Rizvi for working in both India and Pakistan, stating "censors must watch carefully such anti-social and anti-religious activities of these fanatic producers who live with us to stab us from day to day," while referencing 'Jugnu' as an example. Despite controversy from Indian elites, 'Jugnu' became a blockbuster among Indian mass audiences.
Notes
References
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