15 August 2014 :: Patriotic song”Vande Mataram Sujlam Suflam Malayaj”, from Anand Math [ bollywood film ] is now 62 years Old.
Anand Math is a 1952 Hindi patriotic-historical film directed by Hemen Gupta, based on Anandamath, the famous Bengali novel written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1882. The novel and film are set in the events of the Sannyasi Rebellion, which took place in the late 18th century in Bengal.
The film starred Prithviraj Kapoor, Bharat Bhushan, Geeta Bali, Pradeep Kumar and Ajit in the lead. Pradeep Kumar was making his debut in Hindi Cinema, as was the film’s music director Hemant Kumar. Hemant had already been working in Bengali Cinema for a while, but then shifted to Mumbai to start a career in Hindi Cinema. With this film, Hemant Kumar took a staff position as a composer with S. Mukherjee’s Filmistan Studios.
Music score of the film was given by Hemant Kumar, it being his first film score in Hindi Cinema. Notable songs included Vande Mataram, based on the song written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya himself. This song played an important role throughout the Indian Independence Movement and was eventually declared the “National Song” (much more powerful than national anthem) at the time of independence in 1947. Kumar’s tune for Vande Mataram is still considered an important version of this popular and widely interpreted song.
Directed by Hemen Gupta
Produced by Filmistan
Written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
Starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Geeta Bali, Pradeep Kumar, Bharat Bhushan
Music by Hemant Kumar, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Jayadeva (lyrics)
Release date(s) 1952