Mahipal Chandra Bhandari’s ‘Nazarana’ | Rajasthan Film Festival

We know a lot about Bollywood and Hollywood films. But do you know what the first Rajasthani movie was? And who was its main lead actor? This is the unheard story of our first Rajasthani film and its hero…

The first ever Rajasthani film was called ‘Nazarana’. This film was released in 1942 and its producers were from Mumbai. The film was made in both Hindi and Rajasthani. Although the film did not make any big box office appearances, but being the first Rajasthani film, it definitely got its name recorded in the history books of Rajasthani cinema.
The first hero of Rajasthani cinema, the lead actor of Nazarana was Mahipal. He was born on 24th December 1919 in Jodhpur. His full name is Mahipal Chandra Bhandari. Since his school days, Mahipal’s interest had been in acting, writing and literature. In 1942, he was chosen as the hero for the first Rajasthani film ‘Nazarana’.

During his struggle through the film industry, Mahipal tried his hand as a lyricist along with acting, which was also his passion. Then in the year 1947 he got the opportunity of a lifetime. In a film called ‘Aapki Seva Mein’, he got a chance to be a lyricist. In this film, the song ‘Pa lagoo kar Jori’ was penned by him and the beautiful voice of Lata Mangeshkar ji gave it life.

In the year 1950, he got the role of Shri Krishna in ‘Shri Ganesh Mahima’. After the tremendous success of this movie, Mahipal became the most popular face of mythological films. After this he became a part of many successful films. The movie ‘Navrang’, which was released in 1959, proved to be milestone in his film career. The role of Rajakavi Navrangi in the film ‘Navrang’ has become his identity.

Mahipal, who has worked in nearly a hundred and eight Hindi films, has maintained his relationship with Rajasthani films too. After ‘Nazarana’ he continued his acting in three more Rajasthani films (Dhola Marwan, Gogaji Pir and Baba Ramdev).

On May 15, 2005, Mahipal ji said goodbye this theatre called ‘world’. Today even though these unsurpassed stars are not among us, but the magic of their sweet songs and glorious characters will be fresh in Rajasthan as well as in the audience of world viewers.

The Sundry Colours of Rajasthani Dance Forms