It was a comment from India’s famous English film magazine ‘Film India’, which shook the film industry.
The review was written by Babu Rao Patel, editor of the journal, whose reviews and comments were valued in the film world and who was known to make and break any actor’s career with the power of his pen. are capable of
Babu Rao Patel criticized the film, in which Noor Jahan, the popular singer and actress of the time, was working for the first time with Emperor of Emotions Dilip Kumar. This creation of director and filmmaker Shaukat Hussain Rizvi was Noor Jahan’s last film in undivided India, titled ‘Jagnu’.
In various newspaper advertisements of the film, it was likened to a ‘youth song’. The reason for this was also that it was presenting the story of college youth, in which romance was resorted to, while outdated customs of the society were also made the subject matter. In the film, not only the character of Jaganu i.e. Noor Jahan and the romantic story of Sooraj (Dilip Kumar) but other characters were also seen flowing in the flow of love and love. In fact, it can be called a film that was a reflection of enlightenment.
Now this is what made Babu Rao Patel displeased. Pakistan had already been established while the film was released in theaters a few months before that. Business was doing well in North India, but when the film was released in Bombay on October 1, 1948, there was a stir.
Bombay was a state at that time. At such a stage Babu Rao Patel while analyzing his journal ‘Film India’ headlined it: ‘Jagnu. Dirty, vulgar and despicable film’. In this review, he stated that the reason for this is that the exhibition of ‘Jagnu’ in the new country of India will have bad effects on the morals of the youth. They will be careless and romantic, while in educational institutions, the attention of the youth will be more on love and affection.
According to Babu Rao Patel, ‘Jagnu’ indicates that college life in India is fulfilling sexual desires, with boys chasing girls, making obscene gestures, singing love songs and girls, She tries to win over boys. According to him, ‘Jagnu’ can create cracks in the morality of the society.
Babu Rao Patel in this analysis tries to give the impression that ‘Jagnu’ can bring discredit to educational institutions and this would not be true for a new country India.
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Babu Rao Patel’s film magazine claimed to have received letters of concern from conservative readers about Jagnu, with some wondering how the film had not been censored after all, with profanity and Romance is being taught and which is giving a wrong impression of college life.
It was even said that people objected to the lyrics of the film’s song ‘Loot Jawani Phir Nahi Aani’ sung by Shamshad Begum and the actress, who was mirrored in the song in a short dress.
Many thought that seeing ‘Jagnu’ would affect their parents whether their children are really studying in schools or not. According to the analysis, such a film will highlight the negative consciousness among the youth.
A few weeks after this review, ‘Jagnu’ was pulled from cinemas in Bombay. Interestingly, Babu Rao Patel was Noor Jahan’s neighbor in Bombay but nevertheless he formed a front against ‘Jagnu’.
Babu Rao Patil now took a new step. He sent a copy of his analysis to the then Home Minister of Bombay, Mr. G. Desai, and asked him to ban the ‘Jagnu’. On 26 October 1948, the Home Minister banned the exhibition of ‘Jugno’ under Section 21 of the General Clauses Act, 1897.
The problem was that the director and producer Shaukat Hussain Rizvi was not in India, so the distributors protested against the decision, saying that the film had already passed the censor board, so the ban was unjustified, but none of them Not heard. It is also speculated that Babu Rao Patel’s fight against ‘Jagnu’ was actually his anger as to why Noor Jahan and Shaukat Hussain Rizvi settled in Pakistan after the partition of India.
Like Bombay, now other states also started banning the exhibition of ‘Jagnu’. The Indian distributors once again approached the Censor Board, which cut several scenes and cut down roughly 28 minutes, once again getting a certificate from the Censor Board.
A few months later, the film was released back in cinemas. It achieved record success and turned out to be a super hit commercially. The songs of the film became popular and in such a situation, someone told Lala Ghulam Sarwar who was in Peshawar, far away from Bombay, that his son Yusuf Khan had now become a superstar.
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