Gumnaam

For the 2008 film, see Gumnaam – The Mystery.

Gumnaam (translation: Anonymous) is a 1965 Indian Hindi-language mystery film directed by Raja Nawathe and produced by N. N. Sippy. Released in India on 24 December 1965, the film stars Manoj Kumar, Nanda, Helen, Pran, Madan Puri and Mehmood. The film is a loosely inspired adaptation of the 1939 mystery novel And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.

Gumnaam
Directed by	Raja Nawathe
Produced by	N. N. Sippy
Written by	Charandas Shokh Dhruva Chatterjee
Based on	And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Starring	Manoj Kumar Nanda Helen Pran Madan Puri Mehmood
Music by	Shankar-Jaikishan
Cinematography	K. H. Kapadia
Edited by	D. N. Pai
Production company	Prithvi Pictures
Distributed by	Ultra Films
Release date	24 December 1965
Running time	145 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Box office	est. ₹2.6 crore ($5.46 million)

The film came to wider attention in the English-speaking world when its opening song "Jaan Pehechan Ho" (a Hindi-Urdu phrase roughly translated as "we should get to know each other") was included in the opening credits of Ghost World and used in the 2011 commercial The Date for Heineken. The song was sung by Bollywood music legend Mohammed Rafi. The lead dancer in the song as shot in the film was Laxmi Chhaya. The psychedelic choreography was done by Herman Benjamin, who also sang the song as picturised in the film.

Plot

The film begins off in good, time-honoured crime-riddled way; on a dark night, wealthy Seth Sohanlal, stepping drunkenly out of a nightclub, is run down by a speeding car. Seth Sohanlal breathes his last right there on the sidewalk and the scene moves to a seedy room overlooking the nightclub. This room is occupied by Khanna (Hiralal) who gives a hefty wad of currency notes to an unseen man being the assassin hired by him to murder Seth Sohanlal. Khanna then sets about making a series of telephone calls - to a doctor, whom he tells that a medical certificate will have to be made; to a mysterious young girl, whom he tells that the will needs to be sent to the "right place"; and to another man, whom he tells that the will will reach him the next morning - but in no case does the audience see whom Khanna is speaking to. Khanna then telephones Seth Sohanlal's niece, Asha (Nanda), and breaks the news of her uncle's death. A devastated Asha breaks into loud sobs and shrieks which get amplified when she hears some gunshots at the other end of the line. Another faceless figure in a long coat and hat has entered Khanna's room and shot him point-blank. Khanna dies with his blood dripping strangely onto the receiver of the dangling telephone.

A few days later, it is announced at a nightclub that the seven winners of a "lucky draw" held earlier that evening have won a free fortnight-long trip to an unspecified destination abroad and will be going in a chartered airplane. These fortunate people are Barrister Rakesh (Pran), Dharamdas (Dhumal), Kishan (Manmohan), Kitty Kelly (Helen), Dr. Acharya (Madan Puri), Madhusudan Sharma (Tarun Bose), and finally, someone whom the audience has encountered earlier, Asha, though she now seems more composed. Soon, these seven people are in their chartered airplane, off for their vacation abroad, when the pilot announces that they are having to make an emergency landing at an anonymous remote island due to some technical issues. The pilot also tells the seven passengers and the only flight attendant who is on board, Anand (Manoj Kumar), that they are free to explore the area of the island while the repairs are going on. However, as soon as Anand and the seven passengers alight from the airplane, the pilot shockingly dumps their bags out and the airplane takes off without them, leaving them all stranded on the island. At the same time, a mysterious, unseen woman begins singing an eerie song on the island without the woman ever being visible. The eight people follow the direction of the woman's voice and finally arrive at a vast and spooky mansion. The mansion seems to be unoccupied except for a comical South Indian lungi-clad butler (Mehmood), who is in charge of the mansion and has been weirdly expecting the arrival of the castaways. The butler also knows each of these people by name and has been given a letter listing all of these people except Anand.

Further, everyone discovers that the butler has a diary which, besides containing a daily expense account, also contains a message addressed to the entire group, accusing each of these people of having conspired to kill Seth Sohanlal and passing a death sentence on them. There is instant consternation, disbelief and fear for the people now having to pay up with their own lives and the mysterious woman begins singing again. That night, Anand goes on a recce of his fellow guests' rooms, peering in through the keyholes - when he witnesses Rakesh having fallen in love with Kitty and flirting with her; Dr. Acharya having brought with him a bottle of poison; and Dharamdas having brought a fearsome-looking dagger - before Anand is caught out in his night-time perambulations by Kishan, but neither says anything to the other, while the butler's mysterious actions indicate the presence of an unknown person in the mansion. The next day passes uneventfully, but at dinnertime, everyone is worried as Kishan is nowhere to be found in the mansion. Following dinner, Anand and Asha together go searching for Kishan with a torch through the ruins scattered across the island, when they are horrified to stumble onto Kishan, stabbed to death. Anand discovers a bit of half-smoked cigar next to Kishan's dead body along with a letter addressed to the group, stating that Kishan was the driver of the car that ran down Seth Sohanlal, and that is why he is now been killed.

At the same time, Anand reveals that the dagger used to murder Kishan was none other than that of Dharamdas, causing everyone to immediately corner Dharamdas and try to get him to confess to Kishan's killing but Dharamdas pleads his innocence. The very next evening, the innocence of Dharamdas is proved when Anand and Asha stumble onto the strangled dead body of the latter in the courtyard of a ruined church and the mysterious woman begins singing another verse of her creepy song. Anand concludes that the culprit is among them and it becomes clear that everyone was connected to Seth Sohanlal; Rakesh wrote Seth Sohanlal's will on Khanna's orders, while Kitty was Seth Sohanlal's private secretary who sent his will to Rakesh on Khanna's instructions, though neither knew about the other. The next day, Anand notices Rakesh hiding an axe and becomes suspicious of his intentions. Just then, Dr. Acharya arrives screaming that Sharma has been apparently killed with an axe and another letter addressed to the group is discovered next to his apparent dead body. The letter states that Sharma was Khanna's co-conspirator in Seth Sohanlal's murder and that is why he is also now been killed. Now only three men - Anand, Rakesh and Dr. Acharya - and two women - Asha and Kitty - are left alive and terrified on the island along with the butler. Will the fivesome be able to escape from the ill-fated island and discover the identity of the killer?

Cast

• Manoj Kumar as Inspector Anand
• Nanda as Asha
• Pran as Barrister Rakesh
• Helen as Kitty Kelly
• Madan Puri as Dr. Acharya
• Mehmood as the butler
• Tarun Bose as Madhusudan Sharma (fake) / Madanlal
• Dhumal as Dharamdas
• Manmohan as Kishan
• Laxmi Chhaya as the masked dancer in "Jaane Pehchane Ho" song (Cameo Appearance)
• Hiralal as Khanna (Cameo Appearance)

Soundtrack

Critic Shahid Khan rated the soundtrack 9 out of 10 stating, "Gumnaam is sometimes unfairly overlooked but I believe that it is one of Shankar-Jaikishan's best albums."

Song	Singer(s)	Notes
"Jaan Pehechan Ho"	Mohammed Rafi	Picturised on Laxmi Chhaya and choreographer Herman Benjamin; features in the opening credits of Ghost World. Also featured on the CD Bollywood Steel Guitar, a compilation by various released in 2008 by the Sublime Frequencies record label.
"Gumnaam Hai Koi"	Lata Mangeshkar	Cover version of the title song by Henry Mancini of the film Charade.
"Ek Ladki Hai Jisne Jeena Mushkil Kar Diya"	Mohammed Rafi	Picturised on Manoj Kumar and Nanda
"Jaane Chaman Shola Badan"	Mohammed Rafi and Sharda	Picturised on Manoj Kumar and Nanda
"Peeke Hum Tum Jo"	Asha Bhosle and Usha Mangeshkar	This comical song was picturised on Nanda and Helen
"Gham Chhodke Manaao Rang"	Lata Mangeshkar	Picturised on Helen. Also known as "Iss Duniya Mein Jeena Ho Toh Sunlo Meri Baat".
"Aayega Kaun Yahaan"	Sharda	Unused in the movie, this song was included on the soundtrack album.
"Hum Kaale Hain To"	Mohammed Rafi	Picturised on Helen and Mehmood

According to film expert Rajesh Subramanian, a cold war prevailed between Mehmood and Manoj Kumar during the making of the film. Kumar tried to convince the director to discard the song "Hum kaale hain toh kya hua", which has picturised on Mehmood, from the film. However, it was kept and went on to become a hit and one of the highlights of the film. An English-language version of the song titled "The She I Love", sung by Mohammed Rafi, was also recorded.

Reception

Box office

Gumnaam became a box office hit. It was the 8th highest-grossing film in India in 1965, grossing ₹2.6 crore. This was equivalent to $5.46 million in 1965, and is equivalent to US$ million or ₹275 crore in 2016.

Awards and nominations

• Filmfare Nomination for Best Supporting Actress – Helen
• Filmfare Nomination for Best Supporting Actor – Mehmood
• Filmfare Best Art Direction Award – Colour Movie – S.S. Samel

External links

• Gumnaam on IMDb