Laila Majnu (1976 film)

Last updated

Laila Majnu
Laila Majnu 1976.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Harnam Singh Rawail
Written by Abrar Alvi
Anjana Rawail
Harnam Singh Rawail
Produced byRam B.C.
Seeroo Daryani
Starring Rishi Kapoor
Ranjeeta Kaur
Danny Dengzongpa
CinematographyG. Singh
Edited byShyam Rajput
Music by Madan Mohan
Jaidev
Distributed byDe Luxe Films
Release date
  • 11 November 1976 (1976-11-11)(India)
Running time
141 min.
Countries India
West Germany
Soviet Union
Language Hindustani

Laila Majnu is a 1976 Indian Hindustani-language romantic drama film directed by Harnam Singh Rawail and starring Rishi Kapoor, Ranjeeta and Danny Denzongpa in lead roles. The film's music is by Madan Mohan and Jaidev. Based on the legend of Layla and Majnun, it tells the story of two star-crossed lovers: Laila, a princess and Qais a.k.a. Majnu, a common man. [1]

Contents

Laila Majnu marked the debut of Ranjeeta. Upon its release in 1976, it garnered highly positive reviews from film critics, and became a box-office success. The humongous success of the film cemented Rishi Kapoor's status as a bankable star; for after his debut in Bobby (1973), he did not have any major success before Laila Majnu, with the exception of Kabhi Kabhie (1976). However, the success of that film was credited towards Shashi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan. Since its release in 1976, Laila Majnu is hailed as a cult classic.

Plot

Laila and her lover Majnu, better known as Qais, were born to rival clans, the Amaris and the Sharwaris. The two loved each other as children. Their love was such that if one was hurt, the other started bleeding. The film recounts, how as kids at the madarsa, the maulvi asks them to write the name of Allah on their slates. Qais, who is lost in thoughts of Laila, inscribes her name instead. In return, an incensed maulvi canes him on the hand. But it is Laila's hand which starts bleeding. Incidents such as this, spread like wild fire and Laila's father, scared for his daughter's reputation, decides to stop her from going to school. The two clan heads decide to separate their children as it is impossible for them to conceive of the Sharwaris and the Amaris ever being joined by love instead of blood. Laila and her Majnu grow up in different places.

Many years later, Qais and his friends visit Laila's town to buy camels and the stage is set for the two lovers to meet again. One day at the marketplace, they encounter each other and it is love at first sight for both of them. They start meeting each other secretly, all over again. But the villain makes his entry in the form of Laila's hot-tempered brother Tabrez (Ranjeet). He has already had a spat with Qais, with neither knowing the other's true identity. In the turn of events that follow, Qais's father dies at the hands of Tabrez. Qais in turn, avenges his father's murder by killing Tabrez. He is exiled from the town and wanders about in the dunes, like a madman, thirsting for just a look of his beloved. Meanwhile, Laila is married off to a prince, Bakhsh (Danny). Learning of her love for Qais, he promises to keep his distance until such time that he is not able to replace Majnu in Laila's heart. Like all others before him, he is unable to understand the almost divinely ordained love of Laila and Majnu. When he does, it is too late.

Cast

Soundtrack

The film’s music was composed by Madan Mohan and Jaidev with lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi. Madan Mohan died a year before the film was released during production, with Jaidev replacing him.

SongSinger (s)
"Husn Hazir Hai" Lata Mangeshkar
"Tere Dar Pa Aaya Hoon" Mohammed Rafi
"Hoke Mayoos Tere Dar Se"Mohammed Rafi, Aziz Nazan, Shankar Shambbhu, Ambar Kumar and Chorus
"Is Reshmi Paazzeb Ki Jhankar"Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
"Barbad-E-Mohabbat ki Dua"Mohammed Rafi
"Ab Agar Hum Se Khudai Bhi"Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
"Yeh Deewane Ki Zidd Hai Apne"Mohammed Rafi
"Likh Kar Tera Naam Zameen Par"Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
"Laila Majnu Do Badan Ek Jaan The" Ustad Rajkumar Rizvi, Anuradha Paudwal, Preeti Sagar
"Koi Patthar Se Na Maare Mere Deewane Ko" Lata Mangeshkar

The songs of the movie were hits. Especially "Is Reshmi Paazzeb Ki Jhankar", "Tere Dar Par Aaya Hoon", " Barbad-E-Mohabbat ki Dua" and "Husn Hazir Hai". "Husn Hazir Hai" also reached number one on the Binaca Geetmala annual list 1977, a rarity for a Madan Mohan composed song.

Release and reception

Box office

The film was a major success in the box office and critically acclaimed. But it was ignored by National film award & Filmfare award as it is not even nominated in any categories.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raj Kapoor</span> Indian film actor (1924–1988)

Raj Kapoor was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of the greatest and most influential actors and filmmakers in the history of Indian cinema, and has been referred to as The Greatest Showman of Indian Cinema and as the Charlie Chaplin of Indian Cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rishi Kapoor</span> Indian actor (1952–2020)

Rishi Kapoor was an Indian actor, film director, and producer who worked in Hindi films. Kapoor was the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Award and four Filmfare Awards, in a career that spanned 50 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madan Mohan (composer)</span> Indian composer and singer

Madan Mohan Kohli, better known as Madan Mohan, was an Indian music director of the 1950s, 1960s and the 1970s. He is considered one of the most melodious and skilled music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly remembered for the immortal ghazals he composed for Hindi films. Some of his best works are with singers Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi and Talat Mahmood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khursheed Bano</span> Pakistani singer and actress

Khursheed Bano, often credited as Khursheed or Khurshid, was a singer and actress, and a pioneer of the Indian cinema. Her career ran through the 1930s and 1940s, before she migrated to Pakistan in 1948. Making her debut with Laila Majnu (1931), she acted in over thirty films in India. She is best known for her film Tansen (1943) with actor-singer K. L. Saigal, which featured many of her memorable songs.

Anwar Hussain, known by the mononym Anwar, is an Indian playback singer.

<i>Chor Machaye Shor</i> 1974 Indian film

Chor Machaye Shor is a 1974 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Ashok Roy and produced by N. N. Sippy. The film stars Shashi Kapoor, Mumtaz, Danny Denzongpa, Madan Puri, Asrani and Asit Sen. The music is by Ravindra Jain. Asrani earned a Filmfare nomination for best performance in a comic role, the only nomination for the film. The film became a "superhit" and earned the second spot at the box office in 1974. It was filmed at the Pratapgad fort in Maharashtra.

Ranjeeta "Robby" Kaur is an Indian actress. She was trained at FTII. She has appeared in around 47 films. She has portrayed a variety of characters and her films include: Laila Majnu (1976), Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se (1978) and Pati Patni Aur Woh (1978). She was nominated for the Filmfare Awards three times, including two of the above films.

<i>Jeet Hamaari</i> 1983 Indian film

Jeet Hamaari is a 1983 Indian Hindi-language film directed by R. Thyagarajan and written by Ram Govind, starring Rajinikanth, Rakesh Roshan, Ranjeeta, Anita Raj in the lead roles. It was simultaneously shot in Tamil as Thai Veedu, with Rajinikanth, Anita Raj, Silk Smitha reprising their roles from the original Tamil version.

Jaidev was a music composer in Hindi films, most known for his work in films: Hum Dono (1961), Reshma Aur Shera (1971), Prem Parbat (1973), Gharaonda (1977) and Gaman (1978).

<i>Pukar</i> (2000 film) 2000 Indian film

Pukar is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film co-written and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi with cinematography by Ashok Mehta, Santosh Sivan, Baba Azmi and Chota K. Naidu. It stars Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Namrata Shirodkar, Danny Denzongpa, Shivaji Satam and Om Puri. The score and soundtrack were composed by A. R. Rahman.

<i>Aaja Nachle</i> 2007 film by Anil Mehta

Aaja Nachle is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language dance film produced by Aditya Chopra and directed by Anil Mehta. The film stars Madhuri Dixit in her first film in five years after Devdas (2002), alongside Konkona Sen Sharma, Jugal Hansraj, and Kunal Kapoor in pivotal roles.

<i>Laila Majnu</i> (1949 film) 1949 Indian film

Laila Majnu is a 1949 Telugu-language historical romance film, based on the Sufi legend of Laila-Majnu. It is produced and directed by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao under the Bharani Pictures banner. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Bhanumathi, with music composed by C. R. Subburaman. The film was simultaneously released in Tamil with same title. The film was successful at the box office.

<i>Layla and Majnun</i> Romantic narrative poem by Nizami Ganjavi

Layla and Majnun is an old story of Arab origin, about the 7th-century Arabic poet Qays ibn al-Mulawwah and his lover Layla bint Mahdi.

<i>Zamana</i> (1985 film) 1985 Indian film by Ramesh Talwar

Zamana (transl.Times) is a 1985 Indian Hindi-language film, directed by Ramesh Talwar, and starring Rajesh Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Poonam Dhillon, Ranjeeta, along with Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Om Puri, Girish Karnad, Avtar Gill, Mac Mohan, Satyendra Kapoor from the supporting cast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rahul Rawail</span> Film director

Rahul Rawail is an Indian film director and editor in Bollywood known for his films like Love Story (1981), Betaab (1983), Arjun (1985), Dacait (1987), Anjaam (1994), Arjun Pandit (1999) and the recent one Jo Bole So Nihaal (2005). He received nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Director for Betaab and Arjun. He is the son of renowned film director H. S. Rawail. Rawail has launched a few of the Bollywood actors through his films like Kumar Gaurav and Vijayeta Pandit in Love Story, Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh in Betaab, Kajol in Bekhudi (1992), and Aishwarya Rai in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (1997).

Harnam Singh Rawail, often credited as H. S. Rawail, was an Indian filmmaker. He debuted as a director with the 1940 Bollywood film Dorangia Daku and is best known for romantic films like Mere Mehboob (1963), Sunghursh (1968), Mehboob Ki Mehndi (1971) and Laila Majnu (1976). His son Rahul Rawail and grandson Rajat Rawail are film directors too; the former paid a tribute to his father's film Sunghursh by titling one of his films as Jeevan Ek Sanghursh (1990).

<i>Love and God</i> 1986 Indian film

Love and God is a 1986 Indian Hindi-language film which was the final film produced and directed by K. Asif. This film was his only directorial venture to be made completely in color. Through this film, the director wanted to convey the legendary love story of Laila Majnu, starring Nimmi as Laila and Sanjeev Kumar as Qais a.k.a. Majnu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naqsh Lyallpuri</span>

Jaswant Rai Sharma, popularly known by his pen name Naqsh Lyallpuri, was an Indian ghazal and Bollywood film lyricist. He is best known for the songs "Rasm-e-Ulfat Ko Nibhayen", “Ulfat Mein Zamaane Ki”, "Tumhe Ho Na Ho", Piya Tum Ho Sagar, "Yeh Mulaqaat Ek Bahana Hai ", "Pyar Ka Dard Hai", and "Chitthiye Ni Dard Firaaq Vaaliye".

<i>Bicep</i> (album) 2017 studio album by Bicep

Bicep is the self-titled debut album by electronic music duo Bicep, released on Ninja Tune on 1 September 2017.

<i>Laila Majnu</i> (2018 film) 2018 film

Laila Majnu is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film starring Avinash Tiwary and newcomer Tripti Dimri. It is directed by Sajid Ali, presented by Imtiaz Ali and co-produced by Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor and Preety Ali. The film is a contemporary retelling of the story of Layla and Majnun.

References

  1. Anil Groverच (29 July 2005). "Forever velvet". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2007.