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Bollywood Saturday: Ashok Kumar-Nalini Jaywant starrer Naaz (1954) created a milestone in the history of Indian cinema. Filmmaker S K Ojha’s grand vision happened much before Raj Kapoor shot Sangam (1964) at Switzerland and Paris. A handful lot interested in yesteryear’s classics consider Sangam to be the first Hindi movie to be shot overseas. The same has been reported by several entertainment portals as well. But in fact it was Naaz directed by Ojha which was filmed at Cairo, Egypt. The filmmaker wanted to create a visual spectacle for the audience and hence, chose Cairo as one of the shooting locations. A certain portion of Naaz was filmed at London, United Kingdom, as well. In one of its posters Nalini Jaywant was presented as an Egyptian Goddess as part of the film’s marketing strategy.
Naaz is neither available on YouTube, nor there is any information regarding its story or filmmaking on Wikipedia. It is a known fact that in India film history is one of the most neglected subjects. While in the west even silent era classics are preserved as archives for the students of cinema. Ashok Kumar, otherwise famous for playing character roles showcased his machismo much before Dharmendra, Salman Khan, Hirthik Roshan and Ranveer Singh. A bare chested, shirtless, clean-shaven Ashok Kumar is seen in some of the movie stills and scenes posted on the social media.
Bollywood Saturday: Do You Know Ashok Kumar Starrer Naaz Was The First Hindi Film Shot Abroad?
The only reference to the film are the lobby cards, i.e. the publicity material prior to posters used to attract audience’s to theatres during the 1950s. The lobby cards for Naaz had a lot of Egyptian paintings and drawings in the background to promote the movie as unique and modern storytelling. Naaz was the first film of independent India to be shot abroad. However, some historians claim that a 1939 Indian film during British period was the first film to be shot in Africa. But there is no evidence or document relating to the film. The film had both Hindi and English titles respectively called Africa Me Hind and India Me Africa.
S K Ojha had also directed Dileep Kumar starrer Hulchul (1951) prior to Naaz.
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