Kalpana (transl. Imagination) is a 1948 Indian Hindi-language dance film written and directed by dancer Uday Shankar. It is his only film. The story revolves around a young dancer's dream of setting up a dance academy, a reflection of Shankar's own academy, which he founded at Almora.[1] It starred Uday Shankar and his wife Amala Shankar as leads and 16-year-old actress Padmini, making her screen debut.[2][3] It also marks Usha Kiran's debut film too.
Kalpana was the first film to present an Indian classical dancer in the leading role, and was entirely shot as a dance ballet and a fantasy.[4][5]
It was shown at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI-Goa) (2008), as a part of the section "Treasures from NFAI" (National Film Archive of India), with other "rare gems" from the archives.[6]
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The music was composed by Vishnudas Shirali, and the lyrics were penned by Sumitranandan Pant. The Bhil folk songs were written by Devilal Samar.[7]
Song Title | Singer(s) | Lyricist | Length |
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"Bharat Jai Jan Bharat" | Everyone | Devilal Samar | 03:48 |
"Behti Ja Behti Ja Sarite" | Devilal Samar | 03:21 | |
"Kya Kahoon" | Devilal Samar | 02:15 | |
"Bhil Folk Song" | Devilal Samar, Sumitranandan Pant | ||
"Deep Jalao" | Devilal Samar | 03:19 | |
"Hindustan Ka Bal Hai Hal" | Devilal Samar | 02:55 | |
"Sadiyo Ki Behoshi" | Devilal Samar | 02:57 | |
Well known Tamil actress and dancer, Lakshmikantham, credited in the film as "Lakshmi Kanta" plays Kamini. 16-year-old actress Padmini and along with her sister Lalitha, makes their debut into Hindi films.[8][9] Tamil dancer and actress Yoga of the Yoga-Mangalam sisters makes an appearance as a dancer credited as "Yogam". Small role actress P. K. Saraswathi credited as "Saraswathi" also appears as a dancer. Gopal Rao, who played a small role in Thyaga Bhoomi (1939 film), also plays a small role. Finally, Usha Kiran made her debut into films in this movie, credited as "Usha".
In 2009, the film process of digital restoration was taken up by NFAI in collaboration with France-based Thomson Foundation.[10] In 2010, it was being restored by the World Cinema Foundation (director Martin Scorsese is a founding member).[11][12]