Page 50 - Seniors Today - January Issue
P. 50

Once Upon a Time | Films




























         New year,



         young blood




         Deepa Gahlot takes a closer look at a little-known film based on a rather

         familiar theme

         Nai Umar Ki Nai Fasal (1966)                       found in later films like Yeh Woh Manzil To
         A new year begins with hope, and this one          Nahin, Holi and even Rang De Basanti. Shot
         needs even more to wash off the darkness of        at the majestic Aligarh Muslim University
         the year gone by. So, here’s looking at a little-  campus, the film has a group of boisterous
         known film, Nai Umar Ki Nai Fasal (1966),          boys with Rajeev as their head, squabbling
         that talks of a new generation and the path        with a bunch of girls with Shail (Tanuja) as
         it has to forge for itself to move ahead in this   their leader. They participate in a college
         world.                                             debate about the participation of students
          Produced and directed by R Chandra,               in politics—he is for it, she is against. He
         funded by the government-backed Film
         Finance Corporation which a few years
         later morphed into the National Film
         Development Corporation, it introduced
         his son Rajeev opposite Tanuja. If the
         actor bears a strong resemblance to Bharat
         Bhushan, it’s because the star was his uncle.


         Student politics
         The film was a well-meaning if amateurish
         look at student politics, echoes of which were     A well-meaning look at student politics


    50
   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55