B. R. Chopra directed and produced Naya Daur, a 1957 Indian Hindi-language romantic subplot movie. It starred Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala, with Ajit Khan and Jeevan in supporting parts, and also was penned by Akhtar Mirza. Shankar (Kumar) and Krishna (Khan), two closest friends, fall in love with much the same woman, Rajni, in the movie (Vyjayanthimala).
Dilip Kumar received the Filmfare Award for Best Actor again for the third time in a row, and his fourth in total, with this picture. In 1958, this movie was renamed Pattaliyin Sabatham (The Proletariat’s Vow) in Tamil. Naya Daur was also the inspiration for Aamir Khan’s Oscar-nominated movie Lagaan (2001).
Naya Daur has been the year’s second-highest earning Indian film. According to many sources, it is still in the 10 leading highest-grossing Indian movies of all time when ticket prices are taking inflation into account.
The plot of the movie-
Shankar, a tongawala, and Krishna, a woodcutter, are closest friends inside an impoverished hamlet. Shankar encounters Rajni, who arrives alongside her mother and brother at a train station, as well as the two fall madly in love. Krishna, on the other hand, notices Rajni and falls in love with her.
Kundan, a city dweller, arrives inside the hamlet with the intention of modernising and mechanising the business, which he accomplishes by purchasing an electric saw, resulting in the layoff of numerous mill workers.
When Shankar and Krishna learn that they both adore Rajni, they devise a strategy to choose who will marry her: if Rajni brings white flowers to the temple, she will marry Shankar; if she brings yellow flowers, she will marry Krishna. Hearing the exchange, Manju, Shankar’s sister and Krishna’s lover, sneaks into the temple and replaces Rajni’s yellow flowers with white flowers. When Krishna observes Manju switching the flowers, he believes Shankar instructed her to do so, which leads to a confrontation between Krishna and Shankar. Shankar informs Rajni that if he had known that his buddy loved her, he might not have fallen with her.
Upon hearing that, Rajni breaks down and says to him that she can’t alter her emotions for him, then he can when he wants to, and she turns away.
Kundan introduces a bus towards the area, robbing the tongawalas of their livelihood. They request that he take it down, but he refuses. Shankar claims that everything he has done is just for his own benefit. Kundan, on the other hand, informs Shankar that if he can drive his tonga quicker than the bus, the latter would be removed. Shankar accepts to undertake it, but the other tongawalas advise him against it because the bus is faster. Shankar agrees to the race and requests three months of preparation time.
He devised a plan to construct a road six miles shorter than the one which goes towards the temple. The disgruntled villagers inform Shankar that his persistence has driven him insane, and they refuse to help him build the road, leaving him to do this alone.
Shankar begins to lose heart as he begins to construct the road alone, but Rajni joins him and assures him that she would always be at his side, making Shankar happy. The remainder of the tongawalas would soon join them in constructing the road. Krishna joins Kundan’s side and urges him to assist him in preventing the road from being completed. The people work together to overcome obstacles along the road and complete the structure.
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