View source for Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh

{{Short description|1999 Indian Punjabi-language film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2018}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2012}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh
| image          = Shaheed-E-Mohabbat Boota Singh.jpg
| alt            =
| caption        = DVD cover
| director       = [[Manoj Punj]]
| producer       = [[Manjeet Maan]]<br /><small>([[Sai Productions]])</small>
| based_on       = A real love story of [[Boota Singh]] and [[Zainab Singh|Zainab]]
| screenplay     = [[Suraj Sanim]]
| starring       = [[Gurdas Maan]]<br>[[Divya Dutta]]<br>[[Arun Bakshi]]<br>[[Raghuvir Yadav]]<br>[[Gurkirtan (actor)|Gurkirtan]]<br>[[B.N. Sharma]]
| music          = [[Amar Haldipur]]
| cinematography = Parmod Mittal
| editing        = Omkar Bhakhri, Kajal Naskar(Co Director)
| studio         =
| distributor    =
| released       = {{Film date|df=yes|1999|01|01}}
| runtime        = 120 minutes
| country        = [[India]]
| language       = [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]
| budget         = <!--Must cite a reliable published source with a reputation for fact-checking. No blogs, no IMDb. no fan-sites.-->
| gross          = <!--Must cite a reliable published source with a reputation for fact-checking. No blogs, no IMDb. no fan-sites.-->
}}
'''''Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh''''' is a 1999 Indian [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]-language feature film based on the real-life love story of [[Boota Singh]] and [[Zainab Singh|Zainab]],<ref name="ti">{{cite web | url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99apr17/saturday/head6.htm | title=Silver lining in the clouds of Partition | work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]] |date=17 April 1999 | accessdate=27 July 2013}}</ref> starring [[Gurdas Maan]] and [[Divya Dutta]] in the lead roles.<ref name="ti2">{{cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020721/ncr2.htm |title=The game of life is worth the candle |author=Smriti Kak |work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]] |date=20 July 2002 |accessdate=4 March 2012 |location=[[Chandigarh]]}}</ref> The film is directed by [[Manoj Punj]] and produced by [[Manjeet Maan]]. [[Arun Bakshi]], [[Gurkirtan (actor)|Gurkirtan]] and [[Chetana Das]] played supporting roles. The film won the [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Punjabi]] at the [[46th National Film Awards]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm46NFAAward.aspx |title=46th National Film Festival 1999 |publisher=Directoriate of Film Festival |accessdate=4 Mar 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203091624/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm46NFAAward.aspx |archivedate=3 December 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://dff.nic.in/2011/46_nff_1999.pdf |title=National Awards |accessdate=4 Mar 2012}}</ref>
The movie was an international hit and was screened at many national and international film festivals, including the 1999 [[Vancouver International Film Festival]] and the [[International Film Festival of India]]. It is the first film by Maan's home production, [[Sai Productions]].
==Plot==
A [[Sikh]] ex-soldier, [[Boota Singh]], who served in the British Army at the [[Burma]] front during the [[World War II]], is in his thirties when he returns to his village near [[Jalandhar]]. All his age-mates are married, but he is unmarried. He has found no woman to marry as his youth is flying away. A hope to have a family of his own yet lurks in a corner of his heart. A trader assures Boota that if he could raise Rs. 2000/-, he would buy a young bride for Boota from [[Uttar Pradesh|UP]] or [[Bihar]]. Boota starts saving every penny.
===Boota Singh rescues a Muslim girl===
India got freedom in 1947 and [[Pakistan]] was born; communal riots begin on both sides of the new border. Boota's village comes in the grip of riots.
One day while Boota works in his fields, a beautiful young [[Muslim]] girl, being chased by the vengeful locals, comes to him for help. The youths demand the girl or Rs. 2500/-. Boota argues that he only has Rs. 1800, and is able to shake them off by giving them his life's savings. His hopes to settle down by raising dowry money are shattered when he needs to use his savings to rescue the [[Muslim]] girl, [[Zainab Singh|Zainab]]. With nowhere to go she stays with Boota Singh.
===Boota and Zainab get married===
The villagers object that Boota cannot keep Zainab in his home like this: he should either marry her or leave her in a refugee camp, where people bound for [[Pakistan]] live. Boota decides that, since he is far older, he should leave her at the camp. He is about to send Zainab off with a man bound for Pakistan and who is prepared to marry her there. But Zainab, who has learned about the sacrifice he made for her and is touched by his simplicity, asks Boota if he is so poor that he cannot even feed her two [[roti]]s per day to keep her alive. Boota Singh and Zainab fall in love and get married. Boota's life transforms overnight. Then they have a baby girl. Boota Singh is pretty happy, matrimonially speaking; he is leading a pleasant life.
===The end===
An uncle of Boota, who was scheming that Boota would die unmarried and the family property would go to him, becomes envious of his marriage with Zainab. A few years later, when [[India]] and [[Pakistan]] agree to deport women left behind in the riots, he informs the police that there is such a [[Muslim]] woman in their village. In Boota's absence police forcibly dump Zainab into a truck bound for a refugee camp (leaving the child behind).
Zainab is sent to her parents' home in the village of [[Barki, Pakistan|Barki]] in Pakistan. Boota sells all his land and goes along with his child to Pakistan illegally. He is beaten by Zainab's relatives. Then they inform the police and Boota is brought before a judge who is quite willing to free him if his wife owns up, but under pressure from her family, she backs off.
A disappointed and mournful Boota jumps with his daughter before an oncoming train. He dies, but miraculously, his daughter survives. Pakistani youth, overcome by this, hail him "Shaheed-E-Mohabbat Boota Singh" (lit. ''Martyr-in-Love Boota Singh'') and erect a memorial and a trust in his name.
== Cast ==
{|class="wikitable"
!Actor/Actress
!Role
|-
|[[Gurdas Maan]]||[[Boota Singh]]
|-
|[[Divya Dutta]]||[[Zainab Singh|Zainab]]
|-
|[[Gurkirtan (actor)|Gurkirtan]]||Boota's uncle
|-
|[[Raghuvir Yadav]]||Ramzani (mentally challenged)
|-
|[[Arun Bakshi]]||Narrator at Boota's tomb
|-
|[[B.N. Sharma]]||Zainab's father
|-
|[[Amar Noorie]]||Santo (guest appearance)
|-
|[[Chetana Das]]||Boota's mother
|-
|Amrik Singh||
|-
|Darshan Aulakh||
|-
|Hari Om Jalota||Judge in Pakistan
|-
|Amolak Singh||
|}
== Release ==
The movie was released on January 1, 1999.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/punjabi/movie-details/shaheed-e-mohabbat-boota-singh/movieshow/66379666.cms |access-date=2024-03-29 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>
=== Home Media Release ===
The film can be streamed online on the [[Chaupal (streaming)|Chaupal]] OTT platform.
== Music ==
The music director is [[Amar Haldipur]]<ref name="ny">{{cite web | url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/184396/Shaheed-E-Mohabbat-Boota-Singh/credits | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130082544/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/184396/Shaheed-E-Mohabbat-Boota-Singh/credits | url-status=dead | archive-date=30 January 2013 | department=Movies & TV Dept. | work=[[The New York Times]] | title=Shaheed-E-Mohabbat Boota Singh (1999) | accessdate=1 October 2012}}</ref> and the playback singers are [[Gurdas Maan]], [[Asha Bhosle]], [[Anuradha Paudwal]], [[Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan]] and [[Karaamat Ali Khan]], with [[Amar Noorie]] as a guest singer. The movie has six original tracks:
# "Ishq Ni Darrda Maut Kolon," sung by Karaamat Ali Khan
# "Eh Kaisi Rutt Aayi" sung by [[Gurdas Maan]]
# "Meri Chunni Da Chamke," sung by [[Asha Bhosle]], [[Anuradha Paudwal]] and Gurdas Maan
# "Gaddiye Ni Der Na Karin," sung by Gurdas Maan
# "Main Rowan Tarle Paawan," sung by Asha Bhosle and Gurdas Maan
# "Aseen Tere Shehar Nu," sung by Gurdas Maan
# "Ishq Da Rutba" sung by [[Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0308875}}
[[Category:Punjabi-language Indian films]]
[[Category:Films set in the partition of India]]
[[Category:1999 drama films]]
[[Category:1999 films]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1940s]]
[[Category:Films set in Punjab, India]]
[[Category:India–Pakistan relations in popular culture]]
[[Category:1990s Punjabi-language films]]
[[Category:Films set in the British Raj]]
[[Category:Best Punjabi Feature Film National Film Award winners]]
[[Category:Films set in Lahore]]
[[Category:Indian interfaith romance films]]
[[Category:1990s Indian films]]