Naya Daur (नया दौर) 1957

Published on October 29, 2011 in Cinema

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Banner	B R Films
Director	B.R.Chopra
Writer	Akhtar Mirza , Kamil Rashid
Producer	B.R.Chopra
Orginal music	O.P.Nayyar
Cinematography	M. Malhotra
Film Editing	Pran Mehra
Art Director	Sant Singh
Camera Operator
Assistant Cameramen	D.R. Chopra, K. Mane
Playback Singers	B.R.Chopra, Asha Bhosle

Character	Actor / Actress
Shankar	Dilip Kumar
Krishna	Ajit
Kundan	Jeevan
Jumman Dada	Manmohan Krishan
Chikhu Master	Daisy Irani
	Babu
Rajni	Vyjayantimala
Manju	Chand Usmani
Seth. Maganlal	Nasir Husain
Shankar's Mother	Leela Chitnis
Tanga Driver	S N Banerjee
Durga Mausi	Pratima Devi
	Nazir
	Ravi Kant
	Sagar
	Uma Dutt
	Laxman
	Nazir Kashmiri
	Raju
	Shashi
Maharaj Narayan	Radha Kishan
Anjana	Johnny Walker
Dancer in song	Kumkum
Dancer in song	Minu Mumtaz
Man who got refused for ride	Moolchand

The film is set in post-independence India where industrialization is slowly creeping in. The focus is on tongawallahs who earn their living transporting people on tongas (horse carts). Their livelihood is threatened when the son of a rich landlord (Jeevan) begins operating a bus service in the town, which he subsidizes heavily with the sole intention of first driving the tongawallahs out of the town and then making profits.

Dilip Kumar plays one of the tongawallahs who petitions the landlord over this injustice. Jeevan's character proposes a competition to decide which service is the best: The bus or the tonga? It is decided that there will be a race between the vehicles. If the bus wins, the tongawallahs will not complain further. If the tonga wins, the bus service will stop. This competition was a farce from the start since nobody could dream that a horse cart could beat a machine. Kumar, however, accepts the challenge to everybody's surprise. His logic is that they would be driven to starvation if the bus service continues. This race at least gives them an opportunity to try and do something.

The rest of the tongawallahs do not share his hope. They blame him for his foolishness. In the end, he is left alone with nobody's support except his sweetheart, played by Vyjayanthimala. As the movie unfolds, a hopeless situation begins to turn around because of the way the people come together. Mishap after mishap occurs, but nothing can deter the determined. The highlight of the film is definitely the heart-stopping final race where the underdog wins.