Chandrawal Film

[Pinkie Pappalardo]

Chandrawalis a 1984 Indian Haryanvi-language film.[1] It is the third Haryanavi-language film to be released and the first financially successful one.[2] Written by Devi Shankar Prabhakar, produced by Usha Sharma and directed by Jayant Prabhaker, the film's music was arranged by J. P. Kaushik. Starring dancer Usha Sharma, it tells the story of a tragic love affair between Chandrawal, a girl of the Gadia Lohar community, and Suraj, a Jat boy. It was released in March 1984 and became very successful, spurred on by a popular soundtrack.[citation needed] A sequel, Chandrawal-2, produced by Usha Sharma and directed by Nishant Prabhakar was released in 2012.

Chandrawal (Usha Sharma) is the grand daughter of the head of Gadia Lohar tribe, Jodha Sardar. Their gypsy tribe is proud of their heritage that they are the descendants of Maharana Pratap. They believe that after his defeat, their ancestors left Chittoor with the pledge that they would never settle down at a permanent place under roof till they again hoist Maharanas flag at Chitoor fort, and since then the tribe has been roaming about as gypsies, doing Lohars jobs for the people with great honesty and hard work. They never allow their girls to marry the boys of other castes. During their unending journey, Jodha Sardar was camping near Ram Garh village and here the young Jaat boy Suraj (Jagat Jakhar) first saw Chanrdrawal dancing at a marriage ceremony in the camp. Both the young hearts fell in love at first sight. The love affair becomes an open secret soon and Ranjit Chaudhary the father of Suraj who is also the village Chaudhary becomes very angry. On the other hand, Jodha Sardar also reacts very strongly and decides to leave the village at once as he does not like that Chandrawal and Suraj are given any chance to meet. He, before leaving the haveli of Chaudhary Ranjit, warns Suraj that if ultimately with the help of his friends he succeeds in finding out the place of his camp. On seeing Chandrawal after a long time, Suraj becomes so emotional that he runs towards the Dera crying - Chandra. Chandrawal also sees him and immediately rushes towards him without caring for the warnings of her grandfather that he would cut her into pieces with a long knife. At the same time Suraj sees Jodha Sardar throwing a knife to kill Chandrawal. Suraj at once turns himself to the side and takes the fatal attack on Chandrawal upon himself. Realising that Suraj is dead, Chandrawal snatches the knife out of the body of her lover and sacrifices herself there and then.[3]

It broke multiple box office records[4] and was most successful in Haryana, Western U.P., Delhi and parts of Rajasthan,[5] grossing more than Hindi films like Sholay and Bobby in these areas. Chandrawal celebrated its silver jubilee at Gagan Cinema in Faridabad, recovering its entire cost at that one theatre alone.[5] While the movie was in theatres, the sight of hundreds of villagers coming in large-groups boarding rural tractor-trolleys and trucks to watch Chandrawal at theatre, was commonplace. This movie was popular among all age groups. This movie was particularly instrumental in making the Haryanvi folksongs and music a popular choice in mainstream Indian music industry especially Indipop. Chandrawal has set a world record when the Producers honoured a dozen of cine goers of Haryana and Western U.P. who witnessed 'Chandrawal' more than 200 times.[citation needed]

Usha Sharma is an Indian actress and dancer. She is best known for playing the title character in the Haryanvi film Chandrawal. She serves as the president of Haryana Kala Parishad (The Haryana Arts Council) and is an executive member of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee.[2]

Sharma was born in Haryana, India. From an early age she learned classical and folk dance, studying with Birju Maharaj, Kundan Lal Gangani and Maya Rao. During primary school she danced for Jawaharlal Nehru. Sharma married poet Devi Shankar Prabhakar who later decided to become a film producer. He wrote the script for the 1984 film Chandrawal and cast his wife as the leading lady.[3] Sharma also choreographed the film, drawing on her dance training. The film was a financial success, and remains the highest grossing Haryanvi film to date. The two made several less successful Haryanavi films together.[3] Sharma later became the director of the Haryana Kala Parishad, an organization that promotes Haryanavi culture. After her husband died in 2005, Sharma decided to produce a sequel to Chandrawal, a project he had been planning for some years.

He was born in a village of Sundreti in the Jhajjar district of the state Haryana in 1956. His father Surat Singh Jakhar was a farmer. He spent the early years of his life in his village then went to Rohtak to complete his graduation before going to Haryana Agricultural University for higher studies to graduate as a veterinary surgeon.

Jakhar appeared in around a dozen films during his career. He had most success in the film Chandrawal where he played a doomed lover. The film went on to break many box office records.[1] Shortly before his death he was filming a television serial called Sapne.[2]

Jagat Jakhar died in the PGI hospital of Chandigarh at the age of 55 on 17 December 2011 due to a liver infection.[2] He was reportedly in hospital for treatment related to his liver for a few days. On 17 December 2011, his funeral services were held.

He received his early education in the village. Later, for college education, he shifted to Rohtak where he completed his graduation. For higher studies, he went to study at the Haryana Agricultural University at Hisar where he graduated as a veterinary surgeon.

Though he did not act in any Bollywood film throughout his small career, he appeared in over 12 Haryana films. His most famous and notable Haryanvi film was Chandrawal (चन्द्रवल). The film was released back in the year 1984. It was a great hit, and he got lots of praises for his acting in the film.

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