Kahi Debe Sandesh

Kahi Debe Sandesh (transl. Convey The Message) is a 1965 Indian Chhattisgarhi-language film written, directed and produced by Manu Nayak. [1] [2] It was released in 1965 and became the first Chollywood [3] or Chhattisgarhi film even before the formation of the Chhattisgarh state from Madhya Pradesh. Kahin Debe Sandesh is contemporary on social issues such as untouchability and caste discrimination.

Kahi Debe Sandesh
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Manu Nayak
Produced by	Manu Nayak
Written by	Manu Nayak
Starring	Kan Mohan Uma Rajoo Surekha Parkar Kapil Kumar Ramakant Bakshi
Music by	Malay Chakraborty
Edited by	Madhu Adhsule
Release date	16th April 1965
Country	India
Language	Chhattisgarhi

Manu realised the rising popularity of films made in regional languages after the success of Bhojpuri films. It was then he decided to make a film in Chhattisgarhi dialect which was to be based on a social issue of the intercaste affair between a scheduled caste boy and a brahmin girl, which was a taboo at that period of time in major part of India. [4] The film was initially criticised by some conservatives and politicians, leading to agitations at theatres and protest for banning the movie. However, progressive congress politicians Mini Mata and Bhushan Keyur spoke in favour and ultimately the then I&B minister, Indira Gandhi saw the movie and acclaimed it to be the film that promotes national integration.

The film was premiered on 16th April 1965 in Durg and Bhatapara but due to controversy, it was released later in Raipur only in the month of September. It ran till 8 weeks in Rajkamal (now Raj) talkies of Raipur. [5] [6]

Plot

The story of the film is set in a village of Chhattisgarh (then Madhya Pradesh) which has prevalent caste discrimination. It starts with the landlord talking to the Purohit (Priest), and later with his wife Dulari regarding how he wants to take Charandas (who belongs to the [Satanami] community) to court for land acquisition. Fulwati (Charandas' wife) asks him to settle the matter instead of fighting over it. The Purohit on the other hand, tries to instigate differences between Satanami community among upper caste people through his preachings. But the kids in the village seems to question caste discrimination and discuss it in their school. After some years, Nayandas (son of Charandas) goes to Agriculture University for higher education & becomes good friends with Ravikant Tiwari.

Nayandas comes back to the village after completing his education, helping the community in farming practices re-unites with Rupa and Geeta (younger sisters of the landlord), his childhood friends. Nayandas and Rupa's childhood affection turns to love but they realize they belong to different communities. As their love for each other grows, Kamal Narayan Pandey, who envied their relationship, started to spread rumours the sisters that they were getting too old for marriage. Rumours spread like wildfire which made Rupa too sad to even step out of the house. The landlord is struggling to find perfect grooms for both of his sisters and the Purohit is delaying it even further because he is taking bribes from Kamal so that he can get married to Rupa. While Nayandas tries to make a co-operative society of all farmers in the village, his friend Ravikant Tiwari gets posted in the same village as a Doctor. On the other hand, Kamal tries to force Rupa to marry him and as she declines, Kamal again spreads rumours about the affair between Rupa and Nayandas, which is shameful for the society of the village. Nayandas marries Rupa at a temple in presence of Geeta and Dr Ravikant. They talk to their families and convince them on their ideas of relationship/marriage.

Cast

• Kan Mohan as Nayandas
• Uma Rajoo as Rupa
• Surekha Parkar as Geeta

Production

90 percent of the film was shot in Palari (now Balodabazar district), about 70 km from the capital, Raipur. The film was made in just 27 days in a budget of Rs 1.25 lakh only.

The record-breaking success of the first Bhojpuri film Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo[7] in 1962 inspired Manu Nayak to make a film in Chhattisgarhi dialect. He announced that he will be making a film. This news was published in all the popular film newspapers. Many days were spent in chaos. The question was about finance. Finally, Those brokers who financed Anupam had seen the honesty of Manu, giving them Rs 5000 each without interest. He also told about his idea of making film to Mahesh Kaul who liked it but asked him to scrap the idea and not to resign Anupam Chitra studio and he turned down the proposal.

Manu on-boarded ‘Malay Chakraborty’ for music and ‘Hanumant Naidu’ for son-writing. He recorded the first song ‘Jhamkant Nadiya Bahini Lage’ [8] with Mohammad Rafi. After recording the second song ‘Tor Pairing ke Jhanar Jhanar’, Manu went to Raipur to meet his friends. He was searching for a distribution manager and offered 60k in return for distribution rights in Chhattisgarh to a firm. Went back to Mumbai, selected actors for the film and finalised the locations. Equipments and cast of 12 arrived Raipur via train.

“I had seen it happening even in my own house. Whenever my friends from lower castes used to come to my home, my mother used to not say anything but soon after they had left she used to clean the entrance of the house. This and few other instances deeply affected me and I realized that until caste discrimination is addressed properly to the masses, society would not progress.” Said Manu Nayak in an interview.

[9]

Manna Dey, Suman Kalyanpur, Meenu Purushottam and Mahendra Kapoor also sang songs in this film in a very small amount following Mohammad Rafi. Congress MLA from Palari, late Shri Brijlal Verma also helped Manu to arrange the shooting locations in the village itself. The first shot was taken at Vivekananda Ashram in Raipur. The film was extremely difficult to complete in limited expenditure. Lack of reels constrained the team to do lesser re-takes and due to which some of the songs has to be recorded in Mumbai using sets. Meanwhile, the song ‘Jhamkat Nadiya’ became a hit on radio and the film was released on 14 April 1965 in Durg's Prabhat Talkies. In Durg, the film ran without any controversy, then it was released in Bhatapara and after the settlement of all the disputes, when the film became tax free, it was screened in Rajkamal (today's Raj Talkies) of Raipur. [10]

Legacy

It is today regarded as a classic and trend-setter, which paved the way for Chhattisgarhi film industry and set an example for message-driven regional films.[11]

References

1. "पहली छत्तीसगढ़ी फिल्म के डायरेक्टर मनु नायक को इस कलाकार ने किया था चैलेंज". Patrika News.
2. Thawait, Shubham (24 January 2018). "इन्होंने तब छत्तीसगढ़ी फ़िल्म बन दी जब छत्तीसगढ़ ही नही बना था, कथा मनु नायक की।".
3. BhopalOctober 11, Rahul Noronha; October 11, 2017UPDATED:; Ist, 2017 17:33. "Chhattisgarh ignoring Chollywood cinema in fear of creating South India-like actor-turned-netas?". India Today.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
4. "Little cinema begins to dream big - Times of India". The Times of India.
5. "in Show Times | eTimes". m.timesofindia.com.
6. "When Indira saved first Chhattisgarhi film from ban | India News - Times of India". The Times of India.
7. "पहली छत्तीसगढ़ी फिल्म के साथ ऐसा विवाद हुआ कि इंदिरा गांधी को खुद ये फ़िल्म देखनी पड़ी".
8. "Jhamkat Nadiya Bahini Lage : Mohd. Rafi, Manu Nayak : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive" – via archive.org.
9. "Kahi Deve Sandesh CG Movie - कही देबे सन्देश - Raipur Dunia". raipurdunia.com.
10. "Bilaspur News - chhattisgarh news the first chhattisgarhi cinema of hamar raj kahi debe sandes | हमर राज के पहिली छत्तीसगढ़ी सिनेमा- कहि देबे संदेस - Dainik Bhaskar".
11. लिए, आलोक प्रकाश पुतुल रायपुर से बीबीसी हिन्दी डॉटकॉम के. "छत्तीसगढ़ी फ़िल्मेंः अब भी पहचान का संकट". BBC News हिंदी.

External links

• Website of C.G. Films
• Website of Community Platform by Alphapreneur
• Book Link by Aayush Chandrawanshi