Char Dervesh

Char Dervesh (meaning "Four Seekers") is a 1964 Indian Hindi-language action fantasy film directed by Homi Wadia under the Basant Pictures banner. The Wadia Brothers produced it, with music by G. S. Kohli. The film starred Feroz Khan, Sayeeda Khan, Naaz, B. M. Vyas, Mukri, and Sunder. It was a commercial hit. Feroz Khan, who played the hero, appeared in several low-budget costume films like this one before rising to fame as a second lead and later as a mainstream hero, producer, and director.

The story follows Qamar, a carefree young man whose innocent mischief causes trouble for his greedy brothers. He falls in love with Princess Nargis Banu but is caught by palace guards, whipped, and exiled. His brothers throw him off a ship, and he lands in an underwater kingdom. There, he finds a woman turned to stone up to her neck—the mother of two princesses—and another princess, Hamida, imprisoned by an evil magician. The stone mother wants Qamar to marry the imprisoned princess. When he fails, she turns his skin black in anger, leading him to meet three other dervishes. After she learns the truth, she forgives him and reverses the skin change. Qamar must then choose which princess to marry, leading to sword fights, chases, and flights on magic carpets.

The cast included Feroz Khan as Qamar Bakht, Sayeeda Khan as Nargis, Naaz as Hameeda, Mukri, B. M. Vyas, Amarnath, Ratnamala, Jeevankala, Sunder, W. M. Khan, and Paul Sharma.

Babubhai Mistry handled art direction and special effects, as he often did for Wadia films, building a reputation in mythological and fantasy genres. The film featured many effects, including an underwater sea kingdom, two-headed monsters, and flying carpets, and was considered a classic B-movie with numerous fight and stunt scenes.

G. S. Kohli composed the music, with lyrics by Anjaan, Saba Fazli, and Raja Mehdi Ali Khan. Playback singers included Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar, and Jaani Babu Qawwal.