Apna Desh (1949 film)

Apna Desh
Directed by	V. Shantaram
Produced by	Rajkamal Kalamandir
Written by	Diwan Sharar
Starring	Pushpa Hans Umesh Sharma Chandrashekhar Manmohan Krishna
Music by	S. Purushottam
Cinematography	V. Avadhoot
Production company	Rajkamal Kalamandir
Release date	1949 (1949)
Running time	121 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Apna Desh (Our Country) is a 1949 Hindi social drama film set against the backdrop of Partition and directed by V. Shantaram for his Rajkamal Kalamandir banner. The story was written by Diwan Sharar and Keshavrao Date. Sharar also wrote the screenplay and dialogue along with acting in the film. Music was by S. Purshottam and lyrics were by Diwan Sharar and Mirza Ghalib. The cast included Pushpa Hans, Umesh Sharma, Sudha Apte, Chandrashekhar, Manmohan Krishna, Keshavrao Date, Krishna Goel, Diwan Sharar, Parshuram, Satish Vyas.

The film was made a year after Shantaram made Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946), which was not a success at the box-office. Apna Desh, is the story of revenge by an abducted woman after the rejection she faces when she meets her family. Using the Partition as background, the film’s theme focussed on black-marketing.

Mohini a Hindu Punjabi girl, is living with her family when the Partition riots break out. In the melee while her family escape their home, which now becomes part of Pakistan and go to India, she is kidnapped and raped by some Muslim rioters. After undergoing several harrowing experiences Mohini manages to come to India and locate her family. Her family and society is unwilling to accept her in their midst. Determined to get revenge on the society that has boycotted her she becomes a smuggler and gets into the black-marketing business. She sends ammunition to Pakistan smuggled in crates that have music instruments. Mohini soon becomes involved with another refugee, Satish. When Satish is implicated in the smuggling racket, Mohini admits her role in the business and surrenders to the police.

Shantaram made socially relevant films and in Apna Desh he dealt with the issues of abduction, rape and black-marketing during, and following Partition. The film "predicted" problems like languages, black-marketing and corruption that India would face following the "newly acquired independepence". The story caused a backlash of criticism from all the reputed papers and magazines and had to be eventually withdrawn from theatres.Baburao Patel's Filmindia in the 1949 issues had readers writing in to ask for a ban on the film and calling it "Apna Trash" (Our Trash). The magazine referred to the fact that the film was passed by the censors due to Shantaram's initiation into the censor board by Morarji Desai who was the then Home Minister to the Government of Bombay. The magazine also hinted at the story being given the finishing touch by Desai. However, Apna Desh is cited as a film of "exceptional merit" and one of Shantaram’s successful films.