Kalapani full movie dev anand biography

KALA PANI
(“Life Sentence”)

1958, Hindi, approx. 164 minutes
Directed by Raj Khosla
Produced by Navketan
Story: Anand Pal; Screenplay: G.

R. Kamat; Dialogues: Bhappi Sonie; Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri; Music: S. D. Burman; Cinematography: V. Ratra.

Despite an unevenly contrived plot and some sketchy acting by Dev Anand—whose thin character here risks being overwhelmed by the cresting wave of his trademark pomaded forelock —this crime drama offers enough visual and musical pleasures to make one wish that it were available in a better quality DVD (see below).

As the film opens, the inevitable Mother in Distress rushes toward the camera through a long series of double doors—a motif of desperate motion and the opening of barriers (to truth, freedom, etc.) that will be repeated several times.

She is distraught because her son Karan (Anand) finally “knows the truth” about his father Shankarlal; namely, that he is not (as Karan has been told) dead, but rather