Sikkim in hindi celluloid

-->

BY SHITAL PRADHAN

There are talks of the documentary film Sikkim directed by the maestro Satyajit Ray. Ray had highlighted the monarchy rule of Sikkim then in 1971. Moreover thought to be lost had been recovered and converted into DVD format but is yet to make its first screening. So in this talk of a town scenario let’s talk about those Hindi films that were shot in Sikkim.

Satyajit Ray discussing Sikkim with King of Sikkim

The panoramic beauty of the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim had always attracted Hindi cinema to capture its unparalleled beauty. It was 1967 Dev Anand starrer Jewel Thief that manages to have an everlasting impact on the natural beauty of Sikkim recorded on Hindi celluloid. Jewel Thief was shot at Gangtok, the then capital of an Independent country called Sikkim. This film is regarded as one of the milestones in terms of Hindi cinema is a concern.

Apart from Jewel Thief, I want to mention the names of two Hindi films that were made within a few years of the making of each other, while both the film's titles sound interesting. I had tried to trace more information about both but little could be found. Road to Sikkim was released in 1969. Directed by Ravindra Dave, music by Vijay S, and produced by Kriti Films, it had stars in the caliber of Dev Kumar, Anju Mahendru, Helen, David, Dhumal, Jayant, Asit Sen, and Tuntun.

Road to Sikkim

Another film Romeo in Sikkim directed by Harikrishan Kaul was released in 1975 is believed to be produced by a local financier of Sikkim and had the central character of the movie played by Shyam Pradhan, a noted name in Sikkim. The other actors of the film were Amina, Kundan, Seema Kapoor, K. N. Singh, and Om Prakash.

The oblivious question arises how I know all this, nothing to be surprised off. I am a die-hard fan of Singer Mukesh and in my collection of more than a thousand songs; I had these two film’s names that had always grown my excitation.

I here share one of the songs of Mukesh from the film Road to Sikkim, hope you shall enjoy it.

Download

I still remember I had watched Twinkle Khanna shoot her debut film Uff Yeh Mohabbat at Gangtok while I was studying at Tashi Namgyal SSS. The actor opposite her was Abhishek Kapoor. The film had very beautiful songs, especially the song "Utra nah dil mein koi" shot at Rumtek Monastery. Other than that i had seen Rani Mukherjee visit Sikkim for Raja Ki Ayegi Baraat.

Uff Yeh Mohabbat

While I close this small and exciting information on Sikkim and Hindi movie I would surely like to mention there are numerous Bengali and other regional films shot in Sikkim that had stars like Mithun Chakraborty making its presence but nothing more could be heard of those films in a larger scale.