>Gotitbro at 01:30, 12 May 2021

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{{short description|1962 film}}
{{About|the 1962 Hindi film|the 2011 Malayalam film|China Town (2011 film)}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox film
| name = China Town
| image = China Town 1962.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| director = [[Shakti Samanta]]
| producer = Shakti Samanta
| writer = Ranjan Bose<br />Vrajendra Gaur<br />Salil Sen Gupta
| narrator =
| starring = [[Shammi Kapoor]]<br />[[Shakila (actress)|Shakila]]<br />[[Helen Jairag Richardson|Helen]]
| music = [[Ravi (music director)|Ravi]]
| cinematography = [[Dwarka Divecha]]
| editing = Dharamvir
| studio =
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|5 October 1962}}
| runtime = 139 minutes
| country = India
| language = Hindi
| budget =
| gross =
}}

'''''China Town''''' is a [[Bollywood films of 1962|1962]] [[Hindi]]-language [[romantic film|romantic]] [[comedy thriller film]] directed and produced by [[Shakti Samanta]]. Written by Ranjan Bose and with music by [[Ravi (music director)|Ravi]]. It is a black-and-white movie, starring [[Shammi Kapoor]] in a double role, as a gangster and his look-alike. [[Shakila (actress)|Shakila]] is the leading lady, alongside [[Helen Jairag Richardson|Helen]] in a supporting role. The film was remade in [[Tamil language|Tamil]] as ''[[Kudiyirundha Koyil]]'' (1968), starring [[M. G. Ramachandran]] and in [[Telugu language|Telugu]] as ''[[Bhale Thammudu]]'' (1969), starring [[N. T. Rama Rao]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1101021/jsp/entertainment/story_13079945.jsp |title=Forever Young |date=21 October 2010 |work=[[The Telegraph (Calcutta)|The Telegraph]] |access-date=19 May 2018 |location=India}}</ref>
[[Prem Naseer]]'s 1981 [[Malayalam movie]] ''[[Theekkali]]'' was also loosely based on this movie.

== Plot ==
Shekhar ([[Shammi Kapoor]]), a young singer, lives in [[Darjeeling]] with his widowed mother. He is in love with Rita ([[Shakila (actress)|Shakila]]), the only daughter of the wealthy Rai Bahadur Digamberprasad Rai. Rai does not approve of Shekhar and wants his daughter to marry a wealthy Calcutta-based businessman named Chowdhry. Rita asks Shekhar to get a better position, but Shekhar is quite satisfied with his singing career. So Rita and her father relocate to Calcutta, and Shekhar follows them. An enraged Rai complains to the police, who arrest Shekhar and hold him for questioning. However, the police notice his resemblance to a [[Chinatown, Kolkata|China Town]] gangster named Mike (also played by [[Shammi Kapoor]]), who they are holding in custody. Because Mike refuses to talk, the police convince Shekhar to impersonate him in order to infiltrate the Chinatown criminal ring. Meanwhile, Shekhar's mother reveals to him that Mike may be his long-lost brother Shankar, kidnapped by gangsters as a boy. Shekhar accordingly takes over Mike's life, but there is one thing he and the police overlooked – namely Mike – who escapes from police custody with the help of Rita, who mistakes him for Shekhar. Mike's girlfriend Suzy ([[Helen (actress)|Helen]]) finds out Shekhar's true identity, but spares him when he reveals that Mike is alive and captured by the police, and sympathizes with him after learning that Mike was his long-lost brother. The gangsters overhear this and capture Shekhar, his life is only spared after he tells Mike his true background and the two brothers capture the gang's leader. As a result, Shekhar gets a permanent police job that allows him to marry Rita and Mike receives a reduced sentence of three years.

== Cast ==
* [[Shammi Kapoor]] as Shekhar / Shankar / Mike (Double Role)
* [[Shakila (actress)|Shakila]] as Rita Rai
* [[Helen (actress)|Helen]] as Suzy
* [[Madan Puri]] as Joseph Wong
* [[S. N. Banerjee]] as Rai Bahadur Digamberprasad Rai
* Kanu Roy as Usman
* Mridula Rani as Shekhar & Shankar's Mother
* Rashid Khan as Sundaram (Mahakali's Husband)
* M.B. Shetty as Ching Lee
* Keshav
* [[Tun Tun]] as Mahakali (Hotel Landlady)
* Gautam Mukherjee
* Samson
* Keshto Mukherjee as Keshto
* Suvojit Saha As Pagla Mao

== Soundtrack ==
The movie soundtrack didn't have a grand impact on the Indian Populace, but select songs from the albums were declared hits and a track by the name of "'''Baar Baar Dekho'''" by [[Mohammed Rafi]] went on to become a classic, which is remembered and hummed still to date. The Music of the film was by [[Ravi (music director)|Ravi]] and the lyrics were penned by veteran [[Majrooh Sultanpuri]]. Almost all the songs were rendered by [[Mohammed Rafi]] and [[Asha Bhosle]].
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Song !! Singer
|-
| "Baar Baar Dekho" || [[Mohammed Rafi]]
|-
| "Dekho Ji Ek Bala Jogi Matwala" || [[Mohammed Rafi]], [[Minoo Purshottam]]
|-
| "Bada Qatil Hai Mera Yaar, China Chin Chin Chu" || [[Mohammed Rafi]], '''[[Asha Bhosle]]'''
|-
| "Yeh Rang Na Chhutega, Ulfat Ki Nishani Hai" || [[Mohammed Rafi]], '''[[Asha Bhosle]]'''
|-
| "Humse Na Poochho Hum Kahan Chale" || [[Mohammed Rafi]], '''[[Asha Bhosle]]'''
|-
| "Yamma Yamma Yamma, Tu Parwana, Main Shamma" || [[Mohammed Rafi]], '''[[Asha Bhosle]]'''
|-
| "China Town" || '''[[Asha Bhosle]]'''
|-
|}

== Box office ==
The film earned an approximate gross of {{INRConvert|14|m}} and a net of {{INRConvert|7|m}}. It was declared a "semi-hit" by ''Box Office India''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=168&catName=MTk2Mg== |title=Box Office 1962 |website=[[Box Office India]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120922021831/http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=168&catName=MTk2Mg%3D%3D |archive-date=22 September 2012 |url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0268220}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:China Town (Film)}}
[[Category:1960s Hindi-language films]]
[[Category:1962 films]]
[[Category:Films set in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Hindi films remade in other languages]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Shakti Samanta]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ravi]]
[[Category:1960s spy films]]
[[Category:Indian spy films]]
[[Category:Indian black-and-white films]]

China Town (1962 film) - Revision history

>Gotitbro at 01:30, 12 May 2021