Neecha Nagar

Neecha Nagar
Directed by	Chetan Anand
Produced by	India Pictures
Written by	Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Hayatullah Ansari
Starring	Kamini Kaushal Uma Anand
Music by	Ravi Shankar
Cinematography	Bidyapati Ghosh
Release date(s)	1946
Running time	122 min.
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Neecha Nagar (Hindi: नीचा नगर; English: Lowly City) is a 1946 Hindi film directed by Chetan Anand. Written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, this film was a pioneering effort in social realism in Indian cinema, and paved the way for many such 'Parallel Cinema' films by other directors and many of them written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. It starred Chetan Anand's wife, Uma Anand, Rafiq Ahmed, Kamini Kaushal, and Zohra Sehgal.

It became the very first Indian film to gain international recognition, after it shared the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film (Best Film) award at the first Cannes Film Festival in 1946.^[1]

Overview

It was based on a Hindi story, Neecha Nagar, written by Hayatulla Ansari, which in turn was inspired by Russian writer Maxim Gorky’s ‘Lower Depths'. It took an expressionist look at the gulf between the rich and poor in the society.^[2][3]

The film is the debut film of actress Kamini Kaushal and for Ravi Shankar as a music director.

Cast

• Kamini Kaushal,
• Uma Anand
• Rafiq Ahmed
• Zohra Sehgal.

Awards

1946 Cannes Film Festival

• Grand Prix du Festival International du Film

References

1. ^ Grand Prix du Festival International du Film (1939-54)
2. ^ History will never forget Chetan Anand 13 June 2007.
3. ^ Maker of innovative, meaningful movies The Hindu, 15 June 2007.

• Neecha Nagar at NY Times
• Remembering Chetan Anand and Neecha Nagar, Hindustan Times, 29 September 2007

External links

• Neecha Nagar at the Internet Movie Database