Return of Mr Superman

History behind the name

Long before more notorious Bollywood interpretations of Superman there was Return of Mr. Superman, a no-budget feature written, produced and directed by Manmohan Sabir. Unfortunately for Sabir, there was also Superman, another take on the apparently not so-all-American-hero directed by Mohammed Hussain during the very same year, which, like Return of Mr. Superman, also featured Jairaj in the title role, in addition to Nirupa Roy. Sabir's film originally bore the same title as Hussain's, but after that film's producer, Ram Dayal—evidencing a very selective attitude toward the primacy of intellectual property rights—raised objections, Sabir changed it to the somewhat confusing moniker that it is known by today. It was "confusing" because Return of Mr. Superman is by no means a sequel, and devotes quite a lot of time to the retelling of the already oft-told tale of how the Man of Steel came to be.

Plot

Return of Mr. Superman is one of two 1960 Indian movies based on the superhero, the other simply titled Superman. Despite the same actor playing Superman in each film, they were both completely separate tellings of the Superman saga put out by production companies (Mukul Pictures made Superman while Manmohan Films made Return of Mr. Superman).

Return of Mr. Superman begins with a farmer who witnesses the crash of a strange aircraft. Out crawls a little boy who the farmer and his wife adopt as their own. The boy grows up to become a newspaper reporter in the city and, unbeknownst to his co-workers, doubles as the flying hero when a group of smugglers arrive.

Jairaj plays Superman and he does well enough, particularly when playing his mortal Kent Clark-like character. He was a leading man in the 1930s and 40s but looked young enough still to be playing the lead well into the 1960s. His superhero costume is made up of slacks, a heavy sweatshirt, a skull cap and goggles, looking more like someone getting ready for a mustard gas attack.

The Lois Lane character, here named Usha, is portrayed by Sheila Ramani. Ramani had a promising start in Hindi films in the mid 50s playing the leading lady in Taxi Driver and NAUKARI (both 1954), before her slide down into B movies with films like Mumtaz Mahal and Jungle King. By the early 1960s she had left films.

Return of Mr. Superman is more a curiosity than a real entertainer. The plot is non-existent and the fight scenes are so poorly done as to be almost childish. Even the musical numbers are unmemorable. Special effects are rather crude.

Cast

Paidi Jairaj
Sheila Ramani
Naazi
Shammi
Majnu
Helen
David

Soundtrack

1. "Dekh O Baabu Dekh Dil Ki Dukaan" - Meena Kapoor
2. "Dil Hamko Dhoondhata Hai" - Meena Kapoor, Suman Kalyanpur
3. "Dil Milaate Jaaiye Nazaren Milaate Jaaiye" - Meena Kapoor
4. "Ek To Hoon Main Haseen Baabu" - Meena Kapoor
5. "Kisiko Yoon Tumnnaon Mein" - Meena Kapoor
6. "Muhabbat Kisko Kehte Hain" - Mubarak Begum
7. "Stella O Stella Tera Jaani Tha Ab Tak Akela" - Meena Kapoor, Mahendra Kapoor
8. "Tu Haseen Hai Tu Jawaan Hai" - N/A