Suraj (1966 film)


Suraj is a 1966 swashbuckler Ruritanian romance Hindi film produced by S. Krishnamurthy and T. Govindarajan and directed by T. Prakash Rao. The film stars Vyjayanthimala and Rajendra Kumar in the lead with Ajit, Mumtaz, Johnny Walker, Lalita Pawar, Neetu Singh, Gajanan Jagirdar, David Abraham Cheulkar, Agha, Mukri, Mallika and Niranjan Sharma in the supporting roles. The film's music was composed by Shankar Jaikishan, with the lyrics penned by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri.

Plot

Vikram Singh is the Maharaja of Pratap Nagar and is very impressed with his Senapati Sangram Singh for years of loyal service. He decides to make him a Maharaja and agrees to marry his daughter, Anuradha, with his son, Pratap. Years later, Vikram sends his now grown-up Anuradha to visit the coronation of Rajkumar Pratap Singh and approve of him as her husband, and she sets off without any escort with just her maid-servant, Kalavati, for company. Shortly thereafter, Vikram is informed that Kalavati has been abducted by a bandit named Suraj Singh, he accordingly rushes over to Sangram's and this is where he discovers to his shock that Kalavati is posing as Anuradha, and it is his daughter that has been abducted by Suraj. When Suraj is arrested and lodged in a dungeon, preparations are set forth for the coronation of Pratap and his subsequently marriage with Anuradha.

Cast

The film's music was composed by Shankar Jaikishan in their one of the last successful albums. The lyrics were penned by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. The album also featured the debut of singer Sharda with the chartbuster song "Titli Udi Ud Jo Chali", which became the song that she was most remembered for.
The soundtrack was listed by Planet Bollywood as number 86 on their list of 100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks. The song "Baharon Phool Barsao" topped the Binaca Geetmala annual list of 1966 charts. Similarly, the song "Titli Udi Ud Jo Chali" was listed at No. 21.

Box office

At the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed around 50,000,000 with a net of 25,000,000, thus becoming the second highest grossing film of 1966 with a verdict of super-hit at Box Office India. According to IBOS.com, the film had grossed at about 40.0 million and, adjusted to inflation, the gross is 5042.9 million. The film was also one of the last box office hits of Rajendra Kumar, who was regarded as Bollywood's silver jubilee actor. Vyjayanthimala and Rajendra Kumar had previously worked in many successful films such as Aas Ka Panchhi, Sangam and Zindagi.

Awards