Chand Par Chadayee
Entry updated 16 May 2025. Tagged: Film.
Indian film (1967; vt Trip to Moon). Cauvery Productions. Directed by T P Sundaram. Dialogue written by Dr Balakishen Mouj (no other writer credited). Cast includes Helen, Anwar Hussain, Padwa Khanna, S Nazir, Bhagwan Palav, Dara Singh Randhara, and G Ratna. 150 minutes. Black and white.
This is apparently India's first Spacesuit Film, though it generally seems like a typical Bollywood production, filled with incongruous musical interludes and extended fight scenes featuring former wrestler Randhara. In the Near Future, Indians have established a base on the Moon, but do not get along with the humanoid lunar inhabitants. The opening scene on the lunar surface shows a beautiful woman (Helen) singing and dancing for an elderly Scientist (Nazir) who is not seen again. The action then shifts to Earth, where Anard (Randhara) and his comedic sidekick Bhagu (Palav) are planning to go to the Moon; but when they arrive, Anand is arrested and condemned to death. He survives because he defeats in an arena the gorilla who was supposed to kill him; Anand then attracts the attention of some beautiful Moon women. But he has fallen in love with princess Shimoga (Ratna), which leads to conflicts with the king of Mars, Barahatu (Hussain), who also covets her. But Anand emerges triumphant despite the efforts of Barahatu and his assistant Simi (Khanna) to eliminate him.
The film does feature characters wearing space helmets – sometimes with clear protective faceplates, sometimes without them – and there is a brief scene illustrating the Moon's lower Gravity; but there is otherwise no evidence of any attempt to depict a realistic Moon, which here seems to have a breathable atmosphere and an environment suitable for humans and Moon men without spacesuits. Overall, the film is similar to the spacesuit films then emerging from Mexico – scientifically nonsensical, only intermittently entertaining, but projecting a certain naïve charm. [GW]
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