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Kohraa
Directed by	Biren Nag
Written by	Dhruva Chatterjee
Produced by	Hemant Kumar
Starring	Waheeda Rehman Biswajeet Lalita Pawar
Cinematography	Marshall Braganza
Music by	Hemant Kumar
Production company	Geetanjali Films
Release date	1964 (1964)
Running time	136 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Kohraa (transl. Fog) is a 1964 Indian Hindi-language horror thriller film directed by Biren Nag, starring Waheeda Rehman, Biswajeet and Lalita Pawar. The film was adapted from Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel Rebecca, which was previously adapted by Alfred Hitchcock as Rebecca (1940), though some supernatural elements were added to it, including a few from the film Psycho.

Plot

Rajeshwari meets rich Amit Kumar Singh and they both fall in love and get married. Amit brings Rajeshwari to his home - A huge imposing mansion in middle of Moors. Rajeshwari learns from servants about Amit's first wife Poonam who died in mysterious circumstances about a year ago. The housekeeper Dai Maa, who was also the nanny of Poonam is visibly disturbed by this and is cold towards Rajeshwari. Amit leaves on a business trip for a few weeks and Rajeshwari is left to herself. This is when she encounters supernatural phenomena in the mansion and is haunted by the memories and spirit of Poonam. Recovering from shock, Rajeshwari decides to do her own investigation of Poonam's mysterious death. One by one she uncovers shocking dark secrets about Poonam, Amit and various other people.

Cast

• Waheeda Rehman as Rajeshwari Singh
• Biswajeet as Raja Amit Kumar Singh
• Lalita Pawar as Dai Maa
• Thelma as Poonam Devi
• Tarun Bose as Ramesh
• Madan Puri as Kamal Rai
• Manmohan Krishna as Kamal's Advocate
• Asit Sen as Goverdhan
• Badri Prasad
• Abhi Bhattacharya as Advocate Bhattacharya
• Sujit Kumar as Ranjan
• Shaukat Azmi as Rai Sahib's wife

Productions

The film was the second directorial venture of Biren Nag after the film Bees Saal Baad (1962). He had been art director of Guru Dutt productions such as Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) and CID (1956). The role of Poonam was played by Thelma, an Anglo-Indian actress, who did small roles in film.

The scene of the first wife's room, an all white set was built at Rajkamal Kalamandir in Mumbai. The song, "Raah bani khud manzil" was filmed on winding road to Mahabaleshwar, a hill station in Maharashtra.

Music

Music: Hemant Kumar; Lyrics: Kaifi Azmi

• "Yeh Nayan Dare Dare" - Hemant Kumar
• "Rah Bani Khud Manzil" - Hemant Kumar
• "O Beqarar Dil" - Lata Mangeshkar
• "Jhoom Jhoom Dhalti Raat" (version 1) - Lata Mangeshkar
• "Jhoom Jhoom Dhalti Raat" (version 2) - Lata Mangeshkar
• "Kahe Bajayi Tune Paani Bansuriya" - Mahendra Kapoor, Asha Bhosle

Awards

1. Filmfare Nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Lalita Pawar
2. Filmfare Award for Best Art Direction for Black-and-White film category - G. L. Yadhav & T. K. Desai

References

1. "Kohraa". British Board of Film Classification.
2. Mahaan, Deepak (7 October 2010). "Blast from the past: Kohraa (1964)". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
3. Sequeira, Gayle (20 October 2020). "Before Netflix's Rebecca, A Throwback To Biren Nag's 1964 Adaptation With Waheeda Rehman And Biswajit Chatterjee". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 27 February 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
4. "Bollywood borrowed skilfully from Alfred Hitchcock: Richard Allen". Thaindian News. New Delhi. IANS. 1 August 2008. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
5. "The hero who was made up to look like a girl". Screen Weekly. 23 January 2007. Archived from the original on 23 September 2011 – via Bollywood Hungama. 11 August 2024
6. "Merchants of fear". Frontline. 19 July 2017. Archived from the original on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
7. ^ Roshmila Bhattacharya (16 September 2014). "The mystery of 'Kohraa'". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2014.

External links

• Kohra at IMDb 
• Kohra at Bollywood Hungama

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• 1964 films
• Works based on Rebecca (novel)
• 1960s psychological thriller films
• Indian psychological thriller films
• Films based on works by Daphne du Maurier
• Films based on British novels
• 1960s Hindi-language films
• 1960s Indian films
• Indian black-and-white films
• Films scored by Hemant Kumar
• Films shot in Maharashtra
• Films set in country houses
• 1960s Hindi-language film stubs