January 16 occupies a significant spot in the annals of Indian cinema as it was on this day that the film, which put Indian movies on the world map, was released. The trailblazer was Chetan Anand's experiment with social realism in cinema- Neecha Nagar and the year was 1946. Winning the Grand Prix at Cannes, this was the first Indian movie to gain international recognition. And today as we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the film, the occasion bears special relevance to the art lovers in Uttarakhand as the stars and crew of Neecha Nagar have a close connection with the State.
Neecha Nagar was Chetan Anand's first film. The Dehradun chapter of Hindi Sahitya Sansthaan is holding a function on Saturday to pay a tribute to these masters of cinema. To begin with, the film's acclaimed director spent important years of his life in Uttarakhand. Chetan Anand had came to live in the holy town of Haridwar as a young child of five, where he studies Hindu scriptures at Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya. Decades later, after finishing his education, Anand returned as a History teacher at The Doon School. From 1940-44, during these creative years here in Dehradun, he began to give shape to his dream of filmmaking.
“In addition to teaching, he supervised theatre at the Doon School's distinguished 'Rose Bowl'. This was a source of great satisfaction for him as he had begun to work on his great love for cinema. Also, he had a German friend at The Doon School who had gifted to him two books - 'Film Form' and 'Film Scene' that he valued greatly. He started writing a movie script on emperor Ashoka during his stay at the school and in 1944, he went to Mumbai to live his dream," shared researcher Manoj Panjani while discussing the film with The Pioneer.
But there were more great talents in that film whose lives were connected with Uttarakhand. Uma Chatterjee, who did a key role in Neecha Nagar, was the daughter of Professor Chatterjee of Government College, lahore. She also spent some wonderful years in the idyllic environs of Doon valley with Chetan who she had married by then. Together, they nurtured their great love for the performing arts while at the Doon School. Along came friends with artistic roots in Uday Shankar's famed academy at Almora- these were Zohra Sehgal, her husband Kameshwar Sehgal, Mohan Sehgal and Uday Shankar's younger brother- Ravi Shankar. 41, Pali Hill in Mumbai was the house where many of these artists stayed together during the project. Zohra Sehgal did the choreography for Neecha Nagar and her husband was the art director for the worthy film. Interestingly, Zohra grew up in Chakrata in Uttarakhand and her link with the hills goes beyond. Zohra started her career as a dancer in Uday Shankar's troupe. Behind this an engaging story of how as a young girl she had become fascinated with dance after watching Uday Shankar's Shiv- Parvati when she lived in Europe. It was also here in Almora that her husband Kameshwar Sehgal, then a young scientist and artist from Indore eight years younger than Zohra and she met and fell in love. Ravi Shankar was a member of elder brother Uday Shankar's troupe till the age of 18 when he left the ensemble to learn Sitar. This film was Ravi Shankar's debut as a film composer Neecha Nagar was ahead of its times and one that proved lucky for its cast and crew as many a star started their careers with this distinctive film.