This photo was taken on April 22, 1955 and it shows American actress Ava Gardner at Lahore Railway Station. She was in Lahore for the filming of Hollywood Movie ‘Bhowani Junction‘. When Ava came to Lahore, there was only one reasonable hotel in Lahore. It is still there – Falletis. The suite in which Ava stayed has been named after her – “The Ava Gardner suite”. In it’s lounge one could see a beautiful large size, black & white portrait of Ava Gardner smiling.
‘Bhowani Junction‘ is the name of a novel by John Masters which came out in 1952. 
In mid 50s Hollywood decided to make a movie out of it. The movie is set amidst the turbulence of the British withdrawal from India. It is notable for its portrayal of the Eurasian (Anglo-Indian) community, who were closely involved with the Indian railway system. The film was directed by George Cukor, and was shot on location in Lahore, Pakistan. It starred Ava Gardner as Victoria Jones, an Anglo-Indian nurse in the British Army, and Stewart Granger as Colonel Rodney Savage, a British army officer.
I found following review of movie plot at The Internet Movie Database
The town of Bhowani is a railroad junction and both the Congress Party and the Communist Party are doing all kinds of sabotage to help the British quickly get out of India. Of course each is doing it for their own reasons. In the movie, two people who may have given the outstanding performances of their careers are Ava Gardner and Bill Travers. Both play bi-racial people who don’t fit in either society. But they react differently. Gardner is going through a whole lot of angst, really seeing both the British and Indian point of view.
Bill Travers is the railroad station manager and his whole life is his job. He focuses narrowly on that and his tunnel vision leaves him oblivious to the momentous changes around him. Except for the fact that when the British leave he might lose that little piece of authority where he is, that which gives him stature in the Raj society.
Photo to the left is the book cover image of the novel ‘Bhowani Junction’.
In the movie, the issues are complex, but in the hands of a great director like George Cukor the characters and their struggles become real and even more important, the audience becomes interested. Stewart Granger who was the British Colonel in charge of the whole mess in Bhowani, said that Bhowani Junction was one of the few films he was really proud to be associated with. He has a struggle to, he really does see the Indians as human beings and not just “wogs.” He’s quite knowledgeable about their customs and at one point utilizes that knowledge to unjam that railroad terminal.
Following two images are the movie posters of Bhowani Junction. In the first poster below one can see the wordings ‘Filmed in Pakistan’ right under the title in yellow which says Bhowani Junction.
We are especially proud to feature the photo to the left from Bhowani Junction filming days. It comes from the personal collection of Zohra Arshad Mahmood, who is seen standing in this photo. Photo credits go to her son and my friend Imran Mahmood, who generously agreed to share this photo with us.
Pakistan’s famous writer Mustansar Hussain Tarar‘s has mentioned atleast at two places and dedicated a whole chapter in his book ‘raakh’ on the making of Bhowani Junction. While I could not tell if all of account is real or fictional, there is certainly some degree of truth to it.
Photo Credits:
(1) Bettmann/Corbis.com
(2) Ravindra Bhalerao
(3) The Daily Telegraph
I’ve seen this movie; I had no clue it was filmed in Pakistan….wow, just wow. I especially remember the very realistic and terrifying train wreck scene. After the terrorist attack, the military officer collars Ava Gardner’s character and angrily tells her to get to work helping the survivors. She whines, “But I didn’t do anything”. He points to the helpless being carried out of the train and says, “They didn’t do anything either”.
Great movie, parts of it still relevant to the present day.
There’s another, very funny, very interesting book about the Anglo-Indian community called “Mulligatawny Soup”, the main character being a girl confused about her identity much like Victoria. It’s a true story, too. I forget the author’s name, though.
Thanks Owais for this post!
Although the movie was filmed in Lahore on location, its story was set in colonial India and hence the costumes of the masses in the movie being traditional Indian of that period. Pakistan used be a business and leisure destination for the Westerners but that was before our jihadi brothers and their sympathisers took over the scene. The movie was a positive publicity and a little boost for our struggling state in the fifties. Many of our film technicians and stage hands got chance to experience modern film making of that era first hand without going overseas. Same group later on became directors and cameramen of our budding film industry. Hundreds of our people worked as extras and some in minor roles, most notable being later film stars Saqi and Nilo. The Lahore Railway Station was chosen for its unique architecture otherwise the city had nothing else to do with the film. Owais Sahab thank you for digging up one more gem of our Pakistaniat. Bravo.
Darwaish,
The reason there is an Indian look about this picture is that the railway station is supposed to be Bhowani (somewhere in Eastern India?).
Nice connection as alway. Liked it :-)
Owaish: Fascinating story. I am definitely going to watch this movie. Should be cool to see how lahore railway station looked like in 1956.
I disagree with Abeer. Look at the photograph again and you will find out that most of the guys are actually looking at the camera ;). I love this photograph.. everyone looks so friendly and nice but it gives an Indian kinda look rather than Pakistani (look at people and way they have dressed up).