In the field of art and culture, Kazi Nazrul Islam is widely known as the Rebel poet of Bengali literature. He is not only a poet but also a novelist, dramatist, essayist, juvenile littérateur, songwriter, lyricist, music director, actor, film director, editor of weekly and daily newspapers, translator and a linguist. I believe in due course and with further research, other aspects of his qualities will be unveiled.
   Nazrul was undoubtedly a genius. A glimpse of his qualities can be seen when we find him joining the film industry at the beginning of a new era of Indian films in 1930. Before 1931, the film industry belonged to the silent era.
   From the year 1931 to 1942 Nazrul worked in different capacities within the cinema industry. During the span of eleven years, he displayed his talents as a story writer, film director, music director, actor, singer, lyricist, etc.
   During my stay in Calcutta from 1952 to 1963, I had started collecting information on Nazrul's film career. One day, as I was passing through College Street to see one of my friends in Shambazar area, I found some old books being sold on the road-side in front of the Chitra Cinema Hall. Among them, I found two small booklets on the films, 'Sapurey' and 'Dikshul'. This inspired me to collect more of these booklets that were sold in the cinema halls the day the films were released. Nazrul was associated with all these films in different ways.
   Ashoke Kumar Mittra in his book, Nazrul Prativa Parichiti stated that he had seen a documentary film in which Nazrul was reciting his poem 'Nan'. It is also known that Nazrul directed 'Dhupchhaya' and composed the music for the film in addition to playing the role of 'Bishnu' in the film.
   Most recently, in 2004, one night I found Durdarshan was telecasting a Bengali film named 'Kapal Kundola'. At the end of the film, there was a song, written and composed by the poet Nazrul. I have also seen the Hindi version of 'Kapal Kundola'. Moti Begum sang 'Kon kule aaj bhirlo tori ey kon shonar gaye', which was written and composed by Nazrul.
   Recently I found a Megaphone gramophone record which was first marketed in 1936. One side of the record has the song, taken from 'Amar durer bandhu', sung by Ahi Sannyal. This song had been taken from the film 'Griha Daho', written by Sharat Chandra Chatterjee and the film was directed by Pramathesh Barua.
   The information I gathered about Nazrul's connection with films, follows chronologically:
   1. 'Kapal Kundola' (at least one song was written and composed by Nazrul). Kon kule aaj bhirlo tori ey kon sonar gaye
   2. 'Dhruba' was produced by Pioneer Films. Nazrul jointly directed the film as well as composed the music for the film and wrote seventeen songs for it. He also played the role of Narod in the film and rendered three solos and one duet with Master Probodh. The film was released on January 1 in 1934 at Crown Talkie Hall, Calcutta.
   3. 'Patalpuri' was produced by Kali Films and was directed by Shoilojananda Mukharjee. Nazrul was the music director of the film. Nazrul also wrote seven out of the eight songs. One of the songs, 'Bon kato durey' was written by Shoilojananda, the music of which was composed by Nazrul.
   4. 'Griha Daho' was first released on October 10, 1936 in Chitra Cinema Hall in Calcutta. The song, Amar durer bondhu was written and composed by Nazrul.
   5. 'Graher Pher' was produced by Dev Dutta Films and was directed by Charu Roy. Nazrul was the music director of the film. Music for six of the songs were composed by Nazrul and written by Ajoy Bhattacharjee. This film was released on 4th December 1937 at Rupabani Cinema I-Tall, Calcutta.
   6. 'Bidyapati' (Bengali) was produced by New Theatres. The story was written by Nazrul for His Master's Voice gramophone records. The film was directed by Deboki Bose. Nazrul wrote one song and tuned one song. Nazrul composed the music for 'Ei bhara bhadorey maho bhador shunya mandiro mor'. This film was released on 2nd April 1938 at Chitra Cinema Hall, Calcutta.
   7.'Bidyapati' (Hindi) was based on Nazrul's play. Until now it is not known whether Nazrul had written or composed the songs. The film was released in December 1938 in Karachi and Bombay.
   8. Nazrul was the music director of the film, 'Gora', was based on the famous novel of Rabindranath Tagore. The song, 'Usha elo chupi chupi' was written and composed by Nazrul. The film was released on July 30, 1938 at Chitra Cinema Hall, Calcutta.
   9. 'Sapurey' was produced by New Theatres and directed by Devoki Bose. The story was written by Nazrul. He also wrote and tuned seven songs. The first lines of the songs are as follows:
   Halud gandar phul ranga palash phul
   Akashey helan diye
   Katha kaibena bou
   Kalar mandas banaiya deogo
   Pichhal pathey kuriey pelam
   Dekhi bo tor bath dekhi
   Futfutey oi chand hasherey
   The film was released on 22nd May 1939 at Purnima Cinema, Calcutta
   10. 'Sapera', the Hindi version of Nazrul's Bengali film 'Sapurey', was produced by New Theatre. Until now, it has not been possible to find out how many songs were present in this film and whether Nazrul wrote or tuned any of them. It was released in 1939 in Bombay and Karachi.
   11. 'Rajato Jayanti' was produced by New Theatres and directed by Pramathesh Barua. It was first released on 12th August 1939 in Chitra Cinema Hall. Two songs of Nazrul were in the film, sung by Malina Devi.
   12. 'Nandini' was produced by K.B. pictures and directed by Shoilojananda Mukherjee. Nazrul wrote and tuned only one song, 'Chokh gab chokh gab', rendered by the famous singer Kumar Sachind Dev Burman. This film was released on November 8, 1941 at Rupabani Cinema Hall, Calcutta.
   13. 'Chowranghee' (Hindi) was produced and directed by S Fazli. It was released on July 4, 1942. Nazrul was the music director of the film and wrote six songs. The first lines of the songs are as follows:
   (1) Chowranghee chowranghee
   (2) Saradin chhad piti
   (3) Aja re nidia
   (4)Ohkabkeayevi
   (5) Jo unpe gujarti hai
   (6) Kaisey khelonajahe
   Although the booklet of 'Chowranghee' (Hindi) shows that the composer of the song 'Chowranghee Chowranghee' is Pratab Lucknowvi but the label of the gramophone record testifies that the composer was Nazrul.
   14. 'Chowranghee' (Bengali) was produced by S Fazli and directed by Nabendu Sundar. Nazrul was the music director. It was released on September 12, 1 942. The first lines of the songs are written by Nazrul.
   15. 'Dikshul' was produced by New Theatres and was directed by Premankur Atorthi. Nazrul wrote two songs tuned by Pankaj Kumar Mulick, the music director of the film. It was released on June 12, 1943.
   16. 'Shor Theke Dure' was released in 1943, at 'Rupabani' Cinema hall, Calcutta. In the title of the film Nazrul's name was shown as on of the lyricists. The song, 'Ke bedashi bon udashi, bansher bansi bajao bona' was twice sung in the film.
   7. 'Avinoy Noy' was produced by Kali Films and was directed by Shoilojananda Mukherjee. Nazrul wrote only one song. The film was released on 2nd March 1945 at Rupabani Cinema Hall, Calcutta.
   In 1960 an Urdu monthly magazine 'Nadeem' was first launched from Dhaka. In this magazine, Dr Wafa Rashedi wrote an article on Nazrul. He described a scene in the film in which Nazrul featured. He specially mentioned Nazrul's accent and pronunciation of Farsi, Arabic and Urdu impeccable. Nazrul was selected for playing the role of Meer the poet.