Prem Pujari

Plot

Lieutenant Ramdev Bakshi (Dev Anand) is a peaceful, quiet man who is only interested in wildlife and nature. He is sent then to the Indo-Chinese border in the army by his father, a war hero. Here he refuses to lift his gun and attack. He is then court-martialled. Later he is captured by the Chinese and humiliated, but when a beautiful Chinese agent promises him a better future by working and spying for her (against India), he agrees but foils their wicked plans by spying over them. Later the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 breaks out. He joins in the action to show what he is made of by killing Pakistani soldiers hiding in the bushes in an Indian village in the Khemkaran sector.

Cast

Location

The film was shot in Switzerland and has Grimsel Hotel in one of the songs. Some part of movie was also shot in Bihar near a famous tourist place Rajgir at India. Here Shatrughan Sinha was picked to play his part from the gathered public. Prem Pujari was also shot at Astagaon near Shirdi in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.

Music

The music was composed by S. D. Burman, with lyrics by Neeraj. Several of the songs from the film became popular, "Phoolon Ke Rang Se" sung by Kishore Kumar, "Rangila Re Tere Rang Mein" which was a blend of folk and modern and sung by Lata Mangeshkar, "Shokhiyon Mein Ghola Jaaye" by Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar, "Taaqat watan ki hum se hai" (patriotic song), and the number in Burman's voice "Prem Ke Pujari Hum Hain". According to Anantharaman, Dev Anand stated that "Rangila Re" remained his all-time Navketan favourite song.

Reception

While Prem Pujari did not do well at the box office. However, the soundtrack, which became a success was termed as "superlative" and as a "brilliant score" by author Khagesh Dev Burman. The songs are known for the purity of their Urdu and Hindi languages and are regarded as "evergreen" classics.