Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

JANHA BAGCHA TEESTA RANGIT

This was a national song of Sikkim sung in the Nepali language during the monarchy system. During the merger with India, the song got banned and later re-released. Two words on the 8th para, which earlier said 'Rajah rah Rani,' were replaced with "Janmah bhumi."     This song was dedicated to the King and Queen of Sikkim. The song lyrics were penned by Sanu Lama, and the music was composed by Dushyant Lama.  The song was first sung on the birth anniversary of Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal on April 4, 1970, at Gangtok by Aruna Lama, Dawa Lama, and Manikamal Chettri.    JANHA BAGCHA TEESTA RANGIT,  JAHAN KANCHENDZONGA SEER   YEHI HO HAMRO DHANA KO DESH,  TAPAWAN HO PYARO SIKKIM     INTERLUDE     PHULCHAN YEHA AANGANAI MAA,  CHAAP , GURAS, SUNAKHARI   SWARGASARI SUNDAR DESH KO  HAMRO PYARO PYARO JANMAHBHUMI     JANHA BAGCHA……     BATASHLE BOKCHAA YAHA,  TATHAGAT KO AAMAR WAANI ...

India’s illegal occupation of independent Sikkim has to be reversed

Extracted from Pakistan Defence India’s “Chief Executive” in Gangtok wrote: “Sikkim’s merger was necessary for Indian national interest. And we worked to that end. Maybe if the Chogyal had been smarter and played his cards better, it wouldn’t have turned out the way it did.” It is also said that the real battle was not between the Chogyal and Kazi Lendup Dorji but between their wives. On one side was Queen Hope Cook, the American wife of the Chogyal and on the other was the Belgian wife of the Kazi, Elisa-Maria Standford. “This was a proxy war between the American and the Belgian,” says former chief minister BB Gurung. But there was a third woman involved: Indira Gandhi in New Delhi. Chogyal Palden met the 24-year-old New Yorker Hope Cook in Darjeeling in 1963 and married her. For Cook, this was a dream come true: to become the queen of an independent kingdom in Shangrila. She started taking the message of Sikkimese independence to the youth, and the allegations started flying thic...

From archeologist to self made Sikkim historian

Satyajit Ray with former King and Queen of Sikkim BY SHITAL PRADHAN I never wanted to be a teacher, and at the same time, I never had any options. I had always been interested in history since school, but destiny had other careers for me. When I completed high school, I compromised my dream of becoming an archaeologist and opted for Pure Science streams simply to please my father. In my early schooling days, we were taught to plant dreams, and I dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. Tutankhamun, Stonehenge, Crop Circles, Incas, Mayas, ancient civilizations, and many others were the only things I fantasized about. I regularly visited forest areas in my hometown and searched for things, believing that I was an archeologist and was destined to discover it. Funny ways of life. One day, I found a fossil; it was a petrified fossil with an impression of a Gramineae leaf.  Since 2003, I have been trying to get more information about it without success. I completed my Pure Science...