Chanway (transl. O, Moon) is a Pakistani Punjabi-language film directed Noor Jehan (in her directorial debut) in the supervision of Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. It was written by Syed Imtiaz Ali Taj. Noor Jehan played the lead role with Ghulam Mohammad, Santosh Kumar and Jahangir Khan in supporting roles. Feroz Nizami provided the music for the film's soundtrack. It premiered in Lahore's Regent Cinema on 24 March 1951.
The film was the first Pakistani film directed by a woman. It became commercially successful and had a successful theatrical run of 18 weeks. "Mundeya Sialkotiya" was a popular track from the film's soundtrack.
After migrating from India, Shaukat Hussain Rizvi established his Shahnoor Studios and decided to produce a film. He was advised to produce film in Punjabi language because at that time Punjabi films such as Pheray (1949) and Laraay (1950) were commercially successful rather than Urdu language films. So, he directed and produced Channway and his spouse Noor Jehan was credited as the director because he himself did not know the Punjabi language. Thus, it became the first Pakistani film by a female director. The film also marked Jehan's return to the screen since her last film Jugnu (1947), also directed by Rizvi and had music composed by Nizami.[2][5][6][1][7]
Release and reception
The film premiered on 24 March 1951 in Lahore's Regent cinema. It became commercially successful with a theatrical run of 18 weeks.[8][1]
Soundtrack
Feroz Nizami composed the film's music on the lyrics of F.D. Sharf and Ustad Daman. All songs were performed by Noor Jehan except one, which was performed by Ali Bakhsh Zahoor.
Track listing
Song title
Lyrics by
Sung by
Notes
Tere Mukhre Da Kala Kala Til Way, Mera Kud Ke Le Gya Dil Way, Way Mundeya Sialkotiya
