Howrah Bridge - Ashok Kumar, Madhubala

Howrah Bridge, 1958
Director: Shakti Samanta
Music Director: O.P. Nayyar
Lyrics: Hasrat Jaipuri, Qamar
Playback: Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt, Mohammed Rafi, Shamshad Begum
Choreography: Surya Kumar
Cast: Ashok Kumar, Madhubala, K.N. Singh, Kammo, Madan Puri, Sunder, Helen, Om Prakash, Kammo, Mehmood, Minoo Mumtaz, Chaman Puri
English translation included. The subtitles have been heavily edited by Anu. Those of us not speaking the language are very grateful to her for doing this work for our benefit.
I have several versions of the film but, unfortunately, the one with the best video quality is also missing over 10% of the picture, and that's as compared to other versions that are also probably missing picture. An incompetent Indian media company has cut significant parts of the video on all four sides. You can see it in the credits with text on the sides being cut off, and in the movie with the tops of heads frequently being cut off. The visual compositions seem constantly to be cramped and claustrophobic. There is no excuse for this.
The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema says this about Howrah Bridge:
This crime movie was one of the first to assimilate the Hong Kong cinema’s influence, a trend continued by Samanta’s China Town (1962). Rakesh (Kumar), the son of a Rangoon merchant, comes to Calcutta in search of his brother’s killer. With the help of Joe, a restaurant manager, and Edna (Madhubala), a cabaret dancer, he routs the villains Pyarelal (K.N. Singh) and Chang (Puri). The film ends with a chase sequence over the famous Howrah Bridge in Calcutta and includes Geeta Dutt’s famous cabaret number Mera Naam Chin Chin Choo ... Hello mister, how do you do? performed in the film by Helen.
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION:
The Indian copyright law:
copyright.gov.i...
INDIAN COPYRIGHT ACT, 1957 CHAPTER I Preliminary (f)
"cinematograph film" means any work of visual recording on any medium produced through a process from which a moving image may be produced by any means and includes a sound recording accompanying such visual recording and cinematograph shall be construed as including any work produced by any process analogous to cinematography including video films.”
"CHAPTER V Term of Copyright 26.Term of copyright in cinematograph films.
In the case of a cinematograph film, copyright shall subsist until sixty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the film is published."
My words:
Indian film copyright (including video, dialog, music, lyrics, songs) lasts for sixty years and any film and its songs released more than sixty years ago is in the public domain. No extensions, no renewals, no exceptions. This film is no longer protected by copyright.

[@sakuntalanagesan1745]

Such a delight to watch this movie. Gripping story, nice music by O P Nayyar, and good dances by Madhubala and Helen. Ashok Kumar, Madhubala and Om Prakash acted very good. Great movie, very much enjoyed it. Thank you Tom.

[@tommydan55]

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but Howrah Bridge is one of my all-time favorites, and for all the reasons you mentioned. Thank you for leaving your comment.

[@seemonsamaddar9127]

@@tommydan55 thnx bro ✌❤

[@sivanidutta]

😊

[@brijbhushansinghrawat719]

Thanks सुंदर मूवी कई बार देखी हर बार सुंदर पहली बार १९५७ में बहेड़ी बरेली मैं साधुवाद

[@SalarDurrani-or2oe]

Very amazing movie.

[@niranjansinghjhinjer1370]

Shukriya Hindi Cinema 🙏 Bot sonha uprala Bot vadhia movie apne time ki super hit

[@anikasworld2311]

Only for Madhubala ji❤️❤️

[@sarojbala9621]

Beautiful film

[@amaya5241]

Couldn't focus on anything other than Madhubala tbh, no idea what happens in the story. I'm going to have to watch it again and actually pay attention this time.

[@tommydan55]

She does that to people, doesn't she? I remember reading a comment from Shammi Kapoor saying when filming with her he'd forget his lines and begin to stammer, because she just took his breath away. You see her in a song like Aaiye Meharabaan and you're transfixed by her beauty. Thank you for leaving your comment.

[@aidie2311]

My man...Ashok Kumar. Always my top fav actor. 1:21:15 - that actress looks like Shabana Azmi

[@tommydan55]

That's the very attractive Kammo, perhaps one of the lesser known actresses of the period.

[@zaibali3519]

Super star madhubala no 1 purfomer and great Lagandactor

[@manjur597]

Nice.love.it.all.the.songs.are.treat.to.ears.chin.chin.chu.will.be.my.all.time.favourite.song.

[@Ismail-zo2vn]

Beautiful Madhubala good movie

[@sm_shdsyd5577]

Madhubala's actual life story is quite tragic.

[@drnawaz1]

Classic

[@mohammadfahim9083]

Mumtaz meri jaan

[@patrickdsouza1183]

Thanks a lot dan

[@menjobleeko4135]

I've been wanting to go under the Howrah bridge, and now I have!

[@tommydan55]

Hehe, yep, under it, on it, and on top of it.

[@arunmisra5963]

Good👍 time⌚ paasing 🎉❤ thank you🌹

[@ashok48393]

Nice movie. It may not be perfect print but probably the best version I have seen. I enjoyed it very much. Thanks Tommydan.

[@tommydan55]

And thank you to you, sir, for your reaction. It's one of my favorite films, for lots of reasons, so I did my best with it.

[@sundarkrishnaswamy9342]

Thanks Tommydan55 for uploading Howrah Bridge with English subtitles. Chaman puri , madan puri, k.n.singh and bir sakhuja traditional villains in the fifties. Please upload Mr. X starring Ashok Kumar.

[@khimendrathakur]

Old is gold

[@srinagardiary-lifeinkashmi5731]

Bhikhu (Sunder) had the best role😆even in climax he was not forgotten by the director,wonder why the known drug smugglers dhumal and madhubala were shown to be let off by the police in the plot

[@sm_shdsyd5577]

Dilip Kumar wanted to marry Madhubala but backed off when he learned about her illness, then Kishore Kumar married her when she was at the peak of her career and was the highest earning actress ever, earning even higher than the top heroes of her time,,, but when Kishore Kumar learned from the doctors in London that there is no cure for her illness and soon she will be completely bed ridden and that her very ill heart will not be able to bear the load of pregnancy either and she shall not concieve either,, Kishore Kumar almost abandoned her for sometime and she moved back to her parents. Kishore Kumar started visiting her in her last few years, until she died of a heart attack in Feb 1969, aged only 36.

[@safrazchaudry]

Thanks TommyDan. Superb as usual. Your efforts are always appreciated

[@brysenshiloh8044]

Instablaster...

[@mnsardana1]

Thanks from the bottom of my heart for uploading this beautiful video . You have been so kind and given persons of my age a reason to rejoice by restoring the films like Chor Bazaar,Naujawan ,Daastan and many more ,May God grant you a long life and all the happiness.

[@tommydan55]

Long life is good. Thanks for wishing it for me. And I put special care into working with Howrah Bridge as I like the film a lot. Thanks for leaving your comment, good sir.

[@manjur597]

Madhubala.is.lovely.

[@razimujtaba6076]

It is madhubala movie

[@kamalghalot7447]

मला जे मला

[@kalyanchatterjee6574]

Thank you so much tommydans

[@tommydan55]

You're very welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed one my own favorites.

[@kalyanchatterjee6574]

Can you upload dilip kumar's jwar bhata and meena kumar's ruksana. It's a humble request

[@thomasdaniel7360]

@@kalyanchatterjee6574 I don't have either one. Sorry.

[@TECHV-tw6qp]

Txss

[@kamalghalot7447]

मला खूप आ व ड ते

[@ashok48393]

Have you checked the version on Rajshri channel. It is in 9 parts and beginning part of the movie is missing but I think it is not cutoff on all four sides.

[@tommydan55]

Theirs has more of the picture, yes. As I mentioned in the Video Information, I have other versions of the film (four, actually) but the one I chose to use as a basis for the restoration had the best video quality. You might also notice that the title here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/laacfnVndrWZe8U is cut off, while the thumbnail used for the film is more complete right to left. I used a different version to create that thumbnail, one similar to the one in their channel. And, as you say, they completely lose the introduction to the film. I might also note that although I uploaded it on January 3, Indian date (Jan 2, US date), and it had therefore been out of copyright for a couple of days, Rajshri sent me 'mistaken' copyright claims on the film and for seven of the eight songs in my songs channel. I've both disputed those claims through KZbin as well as sending emails to their representatives, but no replies yet. I might also mention that Rajshri is usually more responsive than the other Indian media companies. Maybe they're still on holiday vacation. Edit later: The next day Rajshri removed their copyright claim on the full movie. And then when I uploaded the Howrah Bridge - Before And After just now, they filed a new false claim.

[@RaghuvirVarma]

There's an apparent restored version somewhere out there but that has an entirely different problem. The frame is cropped to 16:9!

[@tommydan55]

@@RaghuvirVarma Restored? Like for sale somewhere? As near as I can tell, even the NFAI doesn't own a copy. But I'd buy a restored version in the proper aspect ratio.

[@RaghuvirVarma]

@@tommydan55 kzbin.info/aero/PLG7lHFm_yZjlXQtAdNQ61djCnP91Sq4uF Channel "Bollywood Classics" uploaded songs of the movie a year ago or so. I made a playlist for you to navigate through some songs. On another note, prime video (Amazon) has the movies Aar Paar, Kaagaz Ke Phool and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam from fresh prints. While the two originally pillar box films are presented in a mutated ratio of 1.78:1, KKP is there in its OAR (cinemascope)

[@RaghuvirVarma]

@@tommydan55a reply comes to you after 5 years, but hope this helps you - this is a ‘restored’ version, though not as meticulously done as one would like: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnTclnWGYquBeacsi=9mxdF5EKmdyK7u6y It’s degrained very generously (🙄), and is cropped to 16:9, in addition to having an ugly on-screen logo.

[@samdanishaik6805]

This is editing and cutting the upper screen

[@tommydan55]

Yes, I mentioned that in the Video Information, but there are several reasons I used this version rather than one of the other four versions I have. Of course, I would never cut away parts of a film. Thank you for your comment.

[@Vinn4039]

2:26:28 - 2:26:42 Deewana Hua Badal

[@sm_shdsyd5577]

Madhubala only 25 and a natural beauty, while Ashok Kumar was 47 in this movie, very average looking with quite dark complexion, made to look young and better with lot of make-up,, if this was a coloured movie Ashok Kumar would have looked so bad on the screen.

[@hamidbelhadi1659]

مخرج الفيلم ابلاه جمع مادهوبالا مع ممثل فى سن ابيها ههههههههه

[@khimendrathakur]

Maduri dexit copy to madubala

[@rajivpandey9111]

,