Phagun

About the film

Phagun (transl. Spring) is a 1958 Indian Hindi-language film directed and produced by Bibhuti Mitra and written by Pranab Roy. The film stars Madhubala and Bharat Bhushan in leading roles, and its score is by O. P. Nayyar.

A romantic musical, Phagun revolves around Bijan, a zamindar's son who falls in love with a dancer named Banani. They are not able to marry each other due to social differences in their lifetime and are reincarnated to complete their incomplete love tale.

Plot

The new owners of Deepak Mahal meet with its caretaker, Mattu (Dhumal), who narrates the story of its former owners: Bijondra (Bharat Bhushan) - the only child of a wealthy Hindu Brahmin Zamindar; and Banani (Madhubala) – the only child of a single father, Banjara Sardar Tinkari (Murad). Starting with the move to evict the Banjaras from his father's property, flute-playing Bijondra meets and falls in love with pretty dancer Banani – leading to being asked to leave by his enraged father; while Banani's father plans her marriage to Banjara Madhal (Jeevan). They face several hurdles later in the story but still don't lose their love and compassion towards each other. One day when Bijondra and Banani are running away they meet an accident and both fall unconscious. A princess(Nishi (actress)) and her troops find the two in her way. The princess is attracted towards Bijondra and brings him to her palace where he is given rest. Upon waking up and achieving consciousness Bijondra sees himself surrounded by the princess and her servants. He asks everyone about his identity and gets enraged on getting no replies. The princess is satisfied to discover that Bijondra has lost his memory and tells him that he is her prince. Banani finds Bijondra but Bijondra doesn't recognise her and she is driven away on the orders of the princess. She visits the palace disguised as a monk and meets Bijond…

Music

Lyrics by Qamar Jalalabadi. The music of the movie is composed by O. P. Nayyar. It has a popular song "Ek Pardesi Mera Dil Le Gaya". The soundtrack became popular at the film release.

Reception

Phagun was the sixth highest-grossing film of 1958. It grossed ₹1.4 crore, including a net of ₹0.7 crore.

1958 was a very successful year for Madhubala, as she had four major critical and commercial successes in this year: Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Howrah Bridge, Phagun and Kala Pani.

A critic for Hindustan Times wrote, "The ever popular Madhubala and Bharat Bhooshan are good enough reason for the long queues at cinema houses where Phagun is showing. Even if Madhubala is not expected to do much 'acting' in this film, the close-ups of her beautiful face—smiling, sad, pensive or even just blank—should make up for it to her many fans. [...] O. P. Nayyar's music contribution is the chief attraction of the film. The lyrics on the whole are enjoyable except for an odd line here and there."

Key details