Pinjara (film)

Pinjara
VCR cover
Directed byV. Shantaram
Written byShankar Babaji Patil
Produced byV. Shantaram
StarringShriram Lagoo
Sandhya
Nilu Phule
CinematographyShivaji Sawant
Edited byV. Shantaram
Jayesh Dalal
Music byRam Kadam
Jagdish Khebudkar (lyrics)
Production
company
Release date
  • 31 March 1972 (1972-03-31)
Running time
175 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguagesMarathi
Hindi
Box office₹ 90 lakh[1]

Pinjara (Marathi: पिंजरा; transl. Cage) is a 1972 Indian Marathi-language film directed and produced by V. Shantaram, starring Shriram Lagoo and Sandhya in the lead roles.[2] In 1972, the film was also released in Hindi with the same title.

Set in the Tamasha folk musical theatre of Maharashtra, the film is about a morally righteous school teacher, Lagoo, who wants to reform a Tamasha performer, played by Sandhya, but ends up falling in love with her.[3] It is an adaptation of Heinrich Mann's 1905 novel Professor Unrat (Professor Garbage).[4] The film is known for its music and dance numbers with music by Ram Kadam. The lead actress is Sandhya, known for her dancing prowess. It is also the film debut of noted theatre actor Shriram Lagoo.[5] The film was remade by Shantaram in Hindi with same cast and title, and even the songs like "Mala Lagali Kunachi Uchaki", which were a big hit in the Marathi version, were re-recorded in the Hindi version.[6]

This was the last major film by the veteran director, who had made classics like Duniya Na Mane (1937), Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957) and Navrang (1959). Produced in colour, it was replete with catchy dance numbers sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Usha Mangeshkar. Prior to its release, one reel of the film was test-screened in the theatres, to check colour reproduction.[7] It went on to become one of the biggest commercial successes of its time and ran for 134 weeks in Pune.[8] This also led to the introduction of colour films in Marathi cinema.[9][10] In 1973, it won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Marathi for the year 1972.

  1. ^ "Pinjra Box Office Collection till Now | Box Collection". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Pinjra (1972)". IMDb. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  3. ^ Subhash K. Jha (23 June 2004). "Films that have dared push the envelope". Sify Movies. Archived from the original on 31 January 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  4. ^ "The German Connection". The Indian Express. 15 January 2006. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  5. ^ "Public displays of affection". Mint (newspaper). 3 August 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  6. ^ "Bollywood is obsessing over Marathi music". The Times of India. 3 January 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference ShantaramNarwekar2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "404 Not Found". nyoooz.com. Retrieved 20 November 2021. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  9. ^ Bimal Mukherjee; Sunil Kothari; Ananda Lal; Chidananda Das Gupta (1995). Rasa: Theatre and cinema. Anamika Kala Sangam. p. 264.
  10. ^ S. Lal (2008). 50 Magnificent Indians of the 20th Century. Jaico Publishing House. p. 276. ISBN 978-81-7992-698-7. Retrieved 3 August 2013.