IN 1954, Bollywood across the border produced a movie, Jagriti, which evoked strong patriotic emotions among the Indian masses, particularly because a certain segment of the movie was a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. That scene showed schoolchildren in an assembly paying homage to Gandhi standing in front of his statue.

Since there was a ban in Pakistan on import or public exhibition of Indian films, some producers in Lahore jumped in to cash the opportunity, and produced a film in 1956, titled Bedari. It was a plain and simple carbon copy of the story and songs of Jagriti.

The Hindi script was replaced with Urdu, and the names of Indian leaders who were eulogised in the film were replaced by those of Pakistani leaders. The name of Gandhi, for instance, was replaced with Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in the plagiarised version. The lyrics of most of the songs were adjusted with Urdu words, but the tunes were left untouched.

When Bedari was released in the country, it did fabulous business in the first few weeks of exhibition, but gradually it dawned upon the cinema-goers that they were watching a plagiarised movie.

Particularly upsetting was the realisation that the tribute paid to Jinnah was actually a replication of the original tribute to Gandhi. There was a massive uproar that led to public demonstrations against Bedari, and the deferal censor board immediately imposed a ban on the film.

Four decades later in the 1990s, someone picked one song from the banned film Bedari — Yoon di hamain azaadi kay dunya hui heraan, aiy Quaid-i-Azam tera ehasan hai ehsaan” — and aired it on Pakistan Television (PTV). The original Indian version of the song was, De di hamein azaadi bina khadak bina dhal, sabarmati ke sant tuney kar diya kamal. The song then became a staple on PTV, and was played at public gatherings held to pay tribute to the Father of the Nation.

As a member of the Federal Board of Film Censor, Islamabad, I pointed out the background through national media to Yusuf Beg, who was heading the PTV at the time. He immediately placed a ban on the song.

However, out of public’s ignorance about its plagiarised status, one can still hear the song being played at public gatherings and on FM radio channels.

Is it not a matter of utter shame to pay tribute to the Quaid through a plagiarised song conceived as a tribute to Gandhi?

Sayed G.B. Shah Bokhari
Former Member, Federal Board of Film Censor
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2025