Dulhan Aik Raat Ki (1969)
Cast: Badar Munir, Nimmi, Mussarat Shaheen, Neimat Sarhadi
Director: Mumtaz Ali Khan
Synopsis: Damsel in distress has several near misses without being dishonoured.
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

Dulhan Aik Raat Ki was the sleeper of 1975-6, arriving as somewhat of a non-entity with no-name stars or banner to project it. However, it had gained a certain amount of notoriety (owing to its vulgar dances), and people lined up outside cinemas countrywide to get a glimpse to see what the talk was all about. The film, a Pashto hit remade quickly for the national market, became a smash and scored a “Platinum Jubilee” with a run in cinemas lasting a year or so.

Dulhan Aik Raat Ki made stars out of the intrepid Badar Munir and brought the sublime talents of Mussarat Shaheen to the fore. The film begins with the handsome, dashing, but careless young man being scolded by his father for being reckless and not paying attention to their one surviving business. A ramshackle guest house usually occupied by hallucinating young hippies.

Badar falls for young village belle Nimmi, who enchants him with her heart-stopping beauty. Unfortunately, she has a wicked uncle who is in the business of providing girls to the local sleazeball for their sinful flesh trade racket, and he is tempted into selling his niece, blinded as he is by his lust for money. In a dreadful moment of mounting horror, he pours Nimmi’s ailing mother a new “medicine” which kills her instantly…putting the old bat out of her misery once and for all.

The girl is abducted to be taken and sold to the brothels, but Badar, by habit, arrives just in time to rescue the damsel in distress and carry her home to safety, where he plans on wedding her himself. But things go wrong because, on his wedding night, when he is about to “enjveye” himself with his shiny new bride, his dad asks him to attend to some shady-looking guests.

Of course, the foolish dad has gone and told the sleazy guests that his son has just got married today, and they naturally send the son on an errand that will take him enough time for them to ravage the new bride. This time, Badar arrives too late, and an extended chase scene ensues with him battling his foes on a fast-moving train rattling along to its destination at break-neck speed.

Anyway, all sorts of mayhem ensue, with Nimmi having several close shaves and nearly having her “izzat lootoed” (honour compromised) on numerous occasions. Still, the venerable and charmingly dapper Badar Munir can always be counted on to save the day.

Exhilarating fights and stunts ensue (yawn!), and the lady’s honour is preserved, if only momentarily, as she appears perpetually under extreme peril.

The film became a smash hit due to the several vulgar songs that introduced the hefty, fleshy delights of Mussarat Shaheen to unsuspecting audiences outside the wild frontier for the first time. Audiences couldn’t get enough as lusting young men thronged to cinemas repeatedly to catch the waves of voluptuous flesh thrust at them by the muscular and shapely Mussy.

Dulhan Aik Raat Ki Otherwise, the film was utterly run-of-the-mill stuff, with tens of potential rape scenarios, chase scenes, and several hit Madam Noor Jehan songs, numerous fights, and a lot of posturing and shouting. Perhaps the film has a certain amount of freshness in that it at least featured faces new to most of the country’s filmgoers. Badar Munir got his first break in Urdu movies and carved out a solid career for himself. At the same time, Mussarat Shaheen was destined for great things, and her talent is immediately evident as she burns up the screen with her seductive temptress routine—a sight for sore eyes. One has to admit feeling a little short-changed as only one sleazy dance materialised over the entire movie. One suspects that one or two of the more risque ones might have been given the chop by the prude element, thus denying the film of what was undoubtedly its “charm”. By the standards of current Pashto cinema, Dulhan Aik Raat Ki is nothing short of a subtle, lyrical masterpiece. By any other criteria, it’s a steaming piece of shite!