Albela -1951

Bhagwan Dada, so called for his fascination for wrestling, is noted for his 1951 social film Albela. He scripted, directed and produced this musical comedy which presents the life of day-dreamer and artist Pyarelal (played by Bhagwan himself). The film also features Geeta Bali, Badri Prasad, Sunder and Pratima Devi in other major roles. Both the movie and its music are cited as classic today.

Music composed by C. Ramachandra was flavoured with western music. Tracks like Sholajo badhke and Ye deewana are noted for the use of cabaret type chorus and western instruments like bongo drums, oboes, clarinets, trumpets and saxophones. The film also features Lata Mangeshkar’s hit Balama bada nadan re.