Kokila (1937 film)

Kokila is a 1937 Hindi social family drama film directed by Sarvottam Badami. The music was composed by Anil Biswas with lyrics written by Siddiqui and Zia Sarhadi. The story was adapted from the well-known novel Kokila, written by Gujarati writer Ramanlal Vasantlal Desai. The film starred Motilal, Sabita Devi, Shobhna Samarth, Maya Bannerjee, Sitara Devi, Pesi Patel, Siddiqui and Kayam Ali.

Cast

 * Motilal
 * Sabita Devi
 * Shobhna Samarth
 * Sitara Devi
 * Sankata Prasad
 * Maya Bannerjee
 * Pesi Patel
 * Kayam Ali
 * Siddiqui

Review and Box Office
The film was not a success with Baburao Patel of Filmindia in his December 1937 editorial claiming it had "failed rather badly". However, it had a large audience attendance in the first week and that according to Patel was due to Sabita Devi. The screenplay was considered a poor adaptation of the story. Patel was critical of Motilal and Siddiqui's performances while praising Maya Bannerjee and Sankatha Prasad for their efforts. Shobhna Samarth had made her entry in films through Nigah-e-Nafrat (1935), but came into prominence with her roles in films like Do Diwane (1936) and Kokila.

Music
The music was composed by Anil Biswas with lyrics by Siddiqui and Zia Sarhadi The singers were Sabita Devi, Maya Bannerjee, Anil Biswas and Dattaram Kadam.