Movie – Ustadon Ke Ustad (1963)
Raat chup hai chandni madhosh was featured in the Films and Television 62’s romedy Ustadon Ke Ustad (1963) produced and directed by Brij. The movie starred Ashok Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Shakila, Johnny Walker, etc.
Dinesh (Pradeep Kumar) is a jobless engineer and earns his living by conning people. Taxi-driver Babu (Johnny Walker) is his friend. Dinesh visits a hotel one night to con a new person and encounters Nita (Shakila) and her friends. It turns out that Nita is the daughter of the man, he had come to meet. Nita tells Dinesh that her father had invited him home the next day.
Dinesh asks Babu to get him a luxury car for the visit and it turns out that the car is owned by Nita. Her father is impressed by the project and decides to invest in it. Nita suggests that Dinesh also invest a lakh (0.1 million) in the project. When Dinesh realizes that the car was Nita’s, he is apologetic and she tells him to forget about his part of the investment.
Dinesh sets out to visit Pune to select a plot of land for the factory connected to the project. Rita (Helen) happens to be on the same bus carrying some money from a recent robbery. Their bags get exchanged and Dinesh is arrested by the police when his bag opens in his hotel revealing one lakh rupees. Dinesh is locked up in the cell since he does not say anything about the dacoits. The goons send Mangal Singh (Sheikh Mukhtar) to kill Dinesh.
Dinesh gives Mangal Singh the slip and meets Babu, in front of whom he commits suicide since he did not have any other alternative. Nita requests Babu to take her to the place where Dinesh had committed suicide. She is in grief. A male voice is heard singing in the background and it turns out that after all Dinesh is alive and had spread the word about his suicide to save himself from the goons. Mangal finds him and is about to kill him when Nita ties a make-shift rakhi on his wrist to save her beloved.
Mangal and Dinesh join forces to redeem the main protagonist of the story, Dinesh. They begin looking for Rita. In the process, they land at a qawwali event and are compelled to compete with the famous Shakila Banu Bhopali (playing herself) because the police are following them. Rita and Babu are among the audience, who had come to watch the performance. Rita leaves. Dinesh and Mangal try to follow her. But, the organizers of the event do not let them leave the place. Dinesh requests Babu to follow Rita and he does a wonderful job of it. Babu gives the girl the impression that he is a rich man from Africa looking for his dream girl in India.
Rita is a gold-digger and she ensnares Babu with her charming personality. When Babu returns to Nita’s home, he has a bad time dealing with Dinesh and Mangal. Babu has fallen for Rita. Dinesh had told him to see if she had a mark on her hand, which the taxi driver hadn’t. But, Babu had found out the club where she lived. Babu and Mangal visit the club where Rita is performing a song.
The owner of the club, Jeevan (Anwar Hussain) is suspicious of Babu and Mangal and so, is keeping an eye on them. At the end of the song, Jeevan switches off the lights and warns Rita, who runs away. Mangal Singh follows Rita and catches hold of her gloved hand. Then, he removes the glove to see the mark. It is present. But, he lies to his friends. Dinesh is dejected and tells Nita to end their relationship because he does not have any hope of his being spared by the law. Nita still has hopes and sings this song to bring him out of his depression.
Song – Raat chup hai chandni madhosh
The lyrics of Raat chup hai chandni madhosh were penned by Asad Bhopali and the music was set by Ravi.
The girl says, “The night is silent and the moon-light is intoxicating. Please smile. The atmosphere is silent.”
Video – Raat chup hai chandni madhosh
The cinematography is by Rajendra Malone.
The video opens with a boat moving on the water and a man is singing. Shakila and Pradeep Kumar turn to look at the sound. The moon-lit night is dark and beautiful despite the use of the black and white medium of expression.
Shakila walks toward the water-front and turns to Pradeep Kumar, singing. He lights a cigarette. The warning of cigarette smoking is injurious to health was perhaps an unknown fact then. She beckons him toward her. But, he moves away from her.
She pulls off the cigarette from his mouth and throws it away. Finally, he smiles and accepts her advances. They sit together for some time. She continues to sing. Soon, the song peters off and the video ends as they are seen reclining together.
Artists
Ravi and Asha Bhonsle have sung the playback of this song. Shakila has performed this song and Pradeep Kumar looks on.
Cultural Influence
This song is a slow-moving romantic melody. These songs are often slow and good for the ear. Unfortunately, today such songs are often not heard. Today’s songs most of the time hurt the ear. The song and the artists are fantastic. The video is watchable for the same.
. The song has been analyzed on the basis of the context and the visualization.){kind=link}