Cinema
Naila
Sharif Nayyar · 1965
Synopsis
At her aunt's house, Naila prepares a family gathering given for her two cousins, half-brothers: Zafar, her fiancé, whom she loves, and Akhtar, who laughs and jokes with her as in their childhood. Simki, Naila's friend, confesses her love to Zafar, who rejects her. Akhtar, for his part, tells Naila that he loves her; she rejects him, but he asks his mother to give her to him as his wife, and the mother finds herself caught between her son and her stepson.
Context
Released on 29 October 1965 and produced by G. A. Gul, the film adapts the first novel of Razia Butt, a widely read Urdu novelist; its director wrote the screenplay. Shamim Ara played the title role, Santosh Kumar and Darpan the two brothers, Ragni the mother; Inayat Hussain composed the music. It is often called the first colour feature film of West Pakistan; a film of 1964 had preceded it, and the APP calls it the second.
Who it is for
In Urdu, in colour; a sentimental melodrama, carried by Shamim Ara's tragic role and by its songs.
Prizes and reception
More than three years on the bill in Peshawar, and a golden jubilee in Karachi; best film at the 1965 Nigar Awards.