Cinema
Pheray
Nazir Ahmed Khan · 1949
Synopsis
In a village in Punjab, Rani loves Jani, but her brother Raju opposes their union. In debt to Chaudhary Lachhu, a wealthy landowner from a neighbouring village who noticed the girl at a fair, Raju plans to give her to him in marriage to settle the debt. On the wedding day, Lachhi, Rani's friend, fully veiled, performs the ritual rounds around the fire in her place, the pheray that give the film its title, without anyone noticing the swap.
Context
Released in 1949, the film took up a story the director had already filmed in India in 1945. He himself played the role of Jani, opposite Swaran Lata. Ghulam Ahmed Chishti composed the music, to lyrics by G. A. Chishti and Baba Alam Siaposh, sung by Munawar Sultana and Inayat Hussain Bhatti. The release is dated 28 July (28 August according to Pakistani Film Mania).
Who it is for
In Punjabi; a village melodrama carried by its songs, which made it popular as much as the plot did.
Prizes and reception
The first silver jubilee of Pakistani cinema: twenty-five weeks at the Palace in Lahore, five at the Taj Mahal in Karachi.
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